Suddenly Aggressive chickens

[Orpington11Mom]

Hi Good Morning everyone

I have a flock of 13 chickens , 9 of them are Orpington ranging from 6 years to 3 years and I have never had a pecking issue with these girls . This past summer in July I got 4 Barred Cochins Bantams . The 4 of them have always been together , cuddled and sleep together , stayed together ate together . Recently , about 2 weeks ago I noticed that one of them had been pecked on her neck and was bleeding . I cleaned her up and put medicine on her wound and put her in a separate cage inside the coop . A few days later I noticed another Bantam was bleeding from her neck , so I did the same thing with her . I tried a few times in the past few days to let them out with the rest of the girls but everyone seems to like to go back to the wound area and peck even though the wounds are healed they still have missing feathers and to top it off one of the injured girls tried to aggressively attack the other injured girl . I again separated them for fear they would be killed . I do not know what to do or why this even started . They can't live in separate cages for ever but I don't have any ideas of what I should do. ANY help for be greatly appreciated . The other 2 Bantams seems to be fine with each other , a little pecking here and there but not bad. I am not exactly sure who caused the initial wounds whether is was one of my older girls or the younger ones but as I said I have never had this problem before and have had chickens for 6 years . Thank you again for taking the time to read this and for any advise. I don't know what to do makes me sad

 

[Mrs. K]

Sometimes smaller birds just do not work with older birds. Sometimes it is certain breeds, and sometimes it is certain birds.

I would let some birds go. Either the victims or the bullies.

What they are telling you is this coop and flock are not working together for whatever reason.

Mrs K

 

[Mrs. K]

A lot of chickens, A LOT of chickens do not get BFF. Being raised together has almost no effect on how chickens behave.

Probably the number one culprit is space, and how that space is set up. You cannot wish them nice, changes have to be made.

Not all birds will work in a set up, within a flock. When that happens, let birds go. Sell them if they are laying. Or cull. Always solve fore a peaceful flock. IMO, this behavior just ruins MY enjoyment of chickens. I hate it, and I solve for it.

One really should not plan on keeping each bird forever, instead, keep a flock. The birds in the flock change as needed.

Mrs K

 

[tripletfeb]

How much space do they have? Sounds like they don't have enough and they are bullying each other out of boredom

 

[aart]

My hen only flock still chases the leghorns I added last spring and refuse to mate the roosters.

This is a bit confusing...is it a hen only flock, or are there roosters?

 

[Orpington11Mom]

We have a very large wooden shed that we turned into a coop and a run attached to it

Sometimes smaller birds just do not work with older birds. Sometimes it is certain breeds, and sometimes it is certain birds.

I would let some birds go. Either the victims or the bullies.

What they are telling you is this coop and flock are not working together for whatever reason.

Mrs K

Thank you for the response. I appreciate it
It's the smaller birds that are also attacking the smaller birds. So I am at a loss for what to do

 

[McChooky]

Inadequate protein,too many treats,not enough food, too little space or lack of privacy or hiding places are a few of the most common reasons they become aggressive. A coop that provides each bird 4 sq foot and 10 in the run is usually sufficient.A photo of your set up would help.

 

[McChooky]

This is a bit confusing...is it a hen only flock, or are there roosters?

They were separated for bullying the leghorns

 

[rosemarythyme]

We really could use photos of the set up. Can't say if there's enough space overall, or enough hiding spaces or if they're set up optimally, if we can't see it.

 

[McChooky]

May I suggest installing a camera ? Then you'll see whats leading up to these attacks and how to stop it.