Newbies and questions already!

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jessandjeremy

jessandjeremy

Hatching
Sep 5, 2015
7
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7
We're newbies located in central Massachusetts and already tons of questions! We have 6 hens that hatched in April - 2 Rhode Island reds, 2 buff orpingtons and 2 well summers. We have a rooster that hatched around the same time. Those 7 are tight and never any issues. Then we have 6 hens that hatched in June - 2 Easter eggers, 2 blue cochins and 2 black and white speckled ones whose breed name escapes me. The coop is about 40 sq feet with a run underneath about double that size. One of the black and white speckled ones looks like the others are picking on her. She's super docile - lets our 2 year old daughter carry her around. Hasn't shown up with any issues since we introduced them all about 3-4 weeks ago when the younger ones were about 8 weeks old. Tonight, we saw her covered in peck marks, small amounts of blood on her head and her eye swollen shut. We brought her inside and gave her food and water which she gobbled up. We do free range a bit right now but only while we're around. We have Hawks that have been swooping in too close for our liking so we're trying to learn about that problem as well!! Any insight on either issue or other help?
 
This is a cannibalism issue. You need to apply a generous coating of Pick-No-More or another anti-pick lotion, and try to determine which birds are doing the worst of it. Those birds should be caged separately from the flock and each other for 1-2 weeks and then reintroduced during the day. They should reenter the flock at the bottom of the pecking order. If this doesn't work, application of pinless peepers or rehoming are preferable.

A cheap hawk deterrent is fishing line zigzagged overtop your coop and run.
 
Queen Misha is right. Chickens can be cannibalistic. When they see red, or wounds, they will peck mercilessly. They also love to bully those at the bottom of the pecking order.
 
Hi,
welcome-byc.gif


Chickens can be pretty aggressive toward each other, injuring or even killing one another. The anti-pick lotion or peepers may help or the separation of the most aggressive.

I'm wondering if they aren't too crowded. With your 40 sq. foot coop, that's only big enough for 10 chickens and if I read your post correctly, it looks like you have 13...is it possible you could enlarge their space? Chickens hate being crowded and will turn on each other when they don't have enough room. For 13 chickens, you need a coop at least 52 square feet which is 4 sq. feet per chicken (that's just for the birds, that doesn't allow space for nesting boxes, feeders or waterers). And if your run is 80 sq. feet, you need to enlarge that also...they should have about 10 sq. feet per chicken so for 13 birds, you need a run about 130 square feet.

Good luck to you, if you have questions, always feel free to ask.
 

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