Pecking at each other

[Chicken_Little_AGray]

My chickens peck at each other really bad, and I’m looking for the best solution. Is there a favorite ointment for healing? What do you all use to heal/detour chickens that peck at each other

 

[Debbie292d]

Two reasons chickens will peck each other...

1. They are overcrowded. They need 4 square feet each in a coop, and 15 square feet in a run. Less than that promotes picking and fighting.

2. They lack nutrients, especially protein. If they have plenty of room, then it could be they are getting too many treats and not eating enough feed with nutrients or they could use some more protein. An "all flock" version usually is higher in protein, but you'd need to supply a dish of oyster shell as it's lower in calcium.

Most folks use either Vetericyn spray or something like it, or triple antibiotic cream without the pain relief in it.

If there is one that's especially the worst pecker, you may want to separate that one out for a while until you get the situation under control.

 

[Crs1]

My coop is 8x16 and I have 30 hens. My roosts are 8 ft long and there are 4 of them. There is a pecking problem of the neck going on and it is involving more hens.
Thinking it’s that they all vie for the top roost so was thinking about putting another up on a different wall at same height?

As to the thought of the protein. I feed egg producer 20 from local grain co. is that enough protein? I do leave out coral shells with egg shells. When eggs shells are gone the don’t much eat the coral shell. So am afraid to feed a feed with no calcium because I’m not sure I could come up with enough shell to keep up with them. They are up and down in their production too some days 15 but never more than 23. I do give poultry grain only to get them back in the run, and I don’t throw out a lot

Which leads me to I have an egg eater!! Not sure which one it is so what do I do?

Thank you,
Connie

 

[Happy hen lover]

I think 20 is a good number on protein level. I throw my oyster shell on ground and they're eating it better than when it was in dish.My hens give me 7 -11 eggs a day so they'll go up and down daily that's normal. I've noticed if I have a good day next day numbers are lower. Egg eaters are rare but possible. Tough to diagnose and tough to break.
They may just be bored but sounds like they free range? If so I bet it's roosts. I've never had one roost taller than the other. If possible I'd try that 1st.

 

[Crs1]

My hens do get to free range during the day. They have a pretty large area to roam when they are fenced in but they have made it all dirt,which is good for dust baths, so they can’t wait to get out! Yes, I think we will put up another roost at the level of the one they are on to see if that stops the pecking. I’ll try putting coral shell out on the ground too and see if that helps. It kind of frustrates me that they don’t eat it better
Thanks!

 

[Chicken_Little_AGray]

My coop is 8x16 and I have 30 hens. My roosts are 8 ft long and there are 4 of them. There is a pecking problem of the neck going on and it is involving more hens.
Thinking it’s that they all vie for the top roost so was thinking about putting another up on a different wall at same height?

As to the thought of the protein. I feed egg producer 20 from local grain co. is that enough protein? I do leave out coral shells with egg shells. When eggs shells are gone the don’t much eat the coral shell. So am afraid to feed a feed with no calcium because I’m not sure I could come up with enough shell to keep up with them. They are up and down in their production too some days 15 but never more than 23. I do give poultry grain only to get them back in the run, and I don’t throw out a lot

Which leads me to I have an egg eater!! Not sure which one it is so what do I do?

Thank you,
Connie

I give my 5 hens half a scoop of an all flock protein mix with 20g of protein, and half a scoop of egg layer mix daily with 15g. This gives them protein, and calcium. I do not give them separate calcium. They all lay healthy eggs with good shells. Sometimes one doesn't lay everyday, but that is normal. Hens only lay every 24-27 hours. This could be every other day for your hens. I have 4 roosts on different levels, and my hens like that.

I've given them more time outside the coop to free range, and the pecking problem has almost completely resolved.

How old are your hens?

 

[Debbie292d]

I give my 5 hens half a scoop of an all flock protein mix with 20g of protein, and half a scoop of egg layer mix daily with 15g. This gives them protein, and calcium. I do not give them separate calcium. They all lay healthy eggs with good shells. Sometimes one doesn't lay everyday, but that is normal. Hens only lay every 24-27 hours. This could be every other day for your hens. I have 4 roosts on different levels, and my hens like that.

I've given them more time outside the coop to free range, and the pecking problem has almost completely resolved.

How old are your hens?

You just gave me the answer why mine rarely touch the oyster shell. I have been mixing probably only 1/2 of what they recommend of Rooster Booster granules in their crumbles (silkies) for years. That's high in calcium, so even though I'm not giving them the full amount recommended, they're still getting more calcium. Doh me!

 

[Crs1]

The hens are 1 and 2 yo. I’m nott sure how much calcium is enough. My feed is 3.9-4.4% I just know I’ve read to have coral shell available also. So I mix egg shells with it and they don’t eat the coral shell. I did throw some on the ground today and they seemed to eat it then.