1 out of 14 gets picked on

[jkingston]

Hello,

Looking for any advice here... I have 14 easter egger hens (28 weeks old/no rooster) and one consistently has pecking sores on her butt (vent height but more to each side where the tips of her wings lay - but now its getting dangerously close to her vent) my birds free range minimum 2-3 acres we have 10 but it gets dense forest so they tend to just go around the outbuildings, house, riding arena, etc. from wake up till dark. They have quality food, water, clean feeders, get happy chicken mix (grubworms, seeds, corn) morning and night, swings, roosts, logs, you name it.

And its not just one bird picking on her, its random ones everytime (likely because shes weak or sometimes scab is exposed?)

WHY?? Why just her? I can separate her but its starting to get into negative temps so i feel like inside out barn its cold for her to be alone overnight... I could also give her away to a friend if this is just a thing that may never end, but shes one of my favorites and then I worry that if I take her out the next lowest will get picked on? its been this way for at least 1 month now, sometimes the scabs heal up for a few days, no attacks and then somedays there are days that are worse...?

thank you!

 

[Mrs. K]

You could try pin-less peepers. I am not a big fan of separating birds as I think it causes a lot of problems. Once the pecking becomes an entrenched habit, it can be very hard to break.

How does your run look? Is it just a bare open area, where a bird cannot get away from each other? I am a believer in cluttered runs. It is unclear to me from your post, how long do they free range each day? Generally this is a problem of confined birds. Even a couple of hours every day, will not make a difference if they are locked up for 20 hours a day in too tight of set up for the number of birds.

Sometimes, you have a bird that just does not work out in your flock. Personally, keeping a bird because she is your favorite, if that means she continues to be pecked on is not real humane. Not judging here, but look at it from her point of view.

Mostly - you need to solve for peace in the flock. Generally, in my experience, this type of aggression negatively affects even the birds not being attacked. There is tension in the flock. It might be that you just have too many birds, and the flock is trying to drive one bird out. Being raised together has almost no influence on chicken behavior, and what was more than enough room for chicks, often becomes not enough room for full size birds.

Try the pin-less peepers, or reducing your flock. You can either re- home the victim or if there is one or two very aggressive birds, cull those. This ugly behavior can really decrease the enjoyment of the flock for the human too.

Mrs K

 

[jBabychickn]

Hello,

Looking for any advice here... I have 14 easter egger hens (28 weeks old/no rooster) and one consistently has pecking sores on her butt (vent height but more to each side where the tips of her wings lay - but now its getting dangerously close to her vent) my birds free range minimum 2-3 acres we have 10 but it gets dense forest so they tend to just go around the outbuildings, house, riding arena, etc. from wake up till dark. They have quality food, water, clean feeders, get happy chicken mix (grubworms, seeds, corn) morning and night, swings, roosts, logs, you name it.

And its not just one bird picking on her, its random ones everytime (likely because shes weak or sometimes scab is exposed?)

WHY?? Why just her? I can separate her but its starting to get into negative temps so i feel like inside out barn its cold for her to be alone overnight... I could also give her away to a friend if this is just a thing that may never end, but shes one of my favorites and then I worry that if I take her out the next lowest will get picked on? its been this way for at least 1 month now, sometimes the scabs heal up for a few days, no attacks and then somedays there are days that are worse...?

thank you!

Hi there!
Just curious as to how you’re doing. Is your girl still being picked on?
I was wondering why you don’t have a Rooster around, since you have such a large property area? A good Roo would not only provide your girls protection, but he’d also police all of their hen pecking behaviors/any squabbles they might get into. — Just a thought…