2 hens locked together, beak on beak, chomping each others' combs

[miltnerunit]

i just reintroduced one of my 2 little bantam hens back into the flock after an injury -- she got mauled by a dog last Sunday, and a very deep wound has closed, but she still has some crusty -- but totally dry -- scabby areas next to her crop, under her feathers, and will for a long time, as under the closed skin it's a very deep wound. It's been a week since the injury. The vet said wait 2, because 'when they smell blood, they start picking.' The 2 bantams are best friends; up until the dog incident, the smaller one always slept underneath the bigger one at night. I have been keeping the injured one in a small pen inside the chicken yard, and sure enough, the other little banty is always near the cage, sometimes crying because she can't get close enough to her. If I get home, late, the little banty will sometimes not roost with the other birds, but will roost on a perch sticking through the wall of the isolation pen. Surely after a week of watching this kind of thing, I wouldn't have a picking problem. Can you already see where this is going?
I noticed different behavior this morning, however. When I put the injured one outside ( I bring her in to sleep in the cat carrier at night, so I can dose her with antibiotics before bed and when I get up in the morning, and to keep her safer from predators than out alone in the isolation pen) I put her in the pen, and immediately the 2 'best friend' bantys started pecking viciously at each other through the wire mesh of the cage. Now comes the inevitable part where I do something that's the opposite of better judgment -- curiosity got the better of me -- I figured it coudn't be THAT bad, because they're usually buds, so maybe they have to work some pecking order thing out, and I can always separate them if it gets too violent. I would hate to see them forget about their bond by all this isolation and not being able to roost together. So I let her out of the enclosure to see what they would do.
Well, it was pretty bad. in a space of about 10 seconds, the littler one had a bleeding earlobe, the bigger one with the dog bite had a bleeding comb, with a chunk of comb gone. Do they really go this crazy when they smell blood? I guess I didn't quite believe it. NOW I sure do. They were spinning around together like a little whirling dervish, going for vulnerable spots like the comb and eyes. I managed to separate them right when they both got a good grip. Brought the one with the dog injury back inside to the cat carrier because I could see that the pecking through the cage wall thing was going to go on for a while, possibly all day, and I didn't want them to further injure themselves.
My question is, will this all go back to normal in a week or so? Will they remember their loving sisterhood after the blood smell is out of the air? Will they re-bond to each other, even if I have to keep them separated for another week, or longer?

thanks, hopefully you won't think I'm too horrible for letting them get to each other when I knew something wasn't right.

- kristin

 

[Year of the Rooster]

I doubt it was actually the smell of blood that made them do it. After a bird is separated from the flock, especially for 2 weeks, they lose their position in that flock and will fight with the others in order to replace themselves. Even the best of buds do it. It's just a pecking order thing. As far as chickens being interested in blood, it's more of the color rather than the smell. Chickens are attracted to red things, so when they see blood they will become curious and continue pecking if allowed to, possibly resulting in more injury to the bleeding bird or the ones pecking may become cannibalistic.

 

[miltnerunit]

Thanks, Brad. I think I will keep them separated until next weekend, when the injured bantam has recovered even more, and then try again.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Anytime, Kristin.

It may help to have them in a pen next to each other, but with wire separating them. That way they can see and be next to each other but not hurt each other.

 

[sourland]

It will most likely happen again. They are just establishing the pecking order i once agau in. The littler hen wants to see if she can dominate the injured hen. Normal chicken behavior. They can be brutal. It has nothing to do with "the smell of blood."

 

[miltnerunit]

yeah, i thought that seemed a little off when my vet told me that. Doesn't go with what I've read. She's not an avian specialist, she's primarily cat and dog. You can kind of tell by chickens' day-to-day behavior that smell isn't the main thing. Mostly seems to be about the way things look in their microcosm - they look, then they peck.
I'm just sad, because when they were first introduced to each other up til now they have almost had a momma and baby kind of relationship. The bigger one is about 6 - 9 months older - I'm not sure, she was a foundling. Now the little one definitely wants to establish dominance.

Do combs grow back?

thanks

k

 

[miltnerunit]

Brad: That's what I was doing until today, when I foolishly let the injured one out. I was keeping her within an isolation pen I made out of 1 x 2s and chicken wire (the square weave kind, as opposed to the hexagonal kind) within the bigger chicken 'run' which is actually a fenced in yard to the side of our house that contains our driveway and grass and leads to the garage.
I kept her inside today - they are so into attacking each other that they are both attacking the side of the cage. I thought the recovering chicken could use a break from that. I might put her back out tomorrow.