Hiya, I've tried reading through other cannibalism posts, but I'm not finding what I need. We adopted 1 yr old hens from a family being stationed overseas. We took four birds last week and got the other four this week. One of the Barred Rocks is pecking an araucana. Now the other barred and a Rhode Island Red are joining in. We're doing vertical, bulk ore and rooster booster. They have an enclosed coop with egg trough, free ranging space around it (30'x90' with grass, dirt) and about 1/4 acre to free range down our hill. I can shoo them down the hill, but they often come back up topside. Any suggestions? These birds were all from the same home, but had two separate, smaller coops. The only change in diet is more grass, more bugs, more weeds and kitchen scraps. same feed. Hoping we don't have to send anyone away... Thanks!!!
i would suggest taking him from the group, bulk him/her up back into a good healthy shape then slowly start re-introducing him/her back into the rest and see if they take him/her back other than that theres not much you could really do, maybe introduce them back with another chicken but if you dont feel like upgrading then probably getting rid of him/her is the only route to go! but then again thats only what i know so maybe there are other ways! hope this helps!
We may need to send her to the neighbors to recover. Thanks for the advice! I've read both views that I should get rid of the picked on hen rather than the bully and vice versa. Thoughts?
I highly doubt that there is cannibalism going on. just because a hen is being picked on doesn't mean they are trying to eat it. more likely, they are asserting their dominance in the pecking order since they just recently came together. Unless the pecking is violent and it seems to be actually hurting the hen, and/or it continues for a long period of time, you shouldn't be worried.
Agreed, unless the hen has open wounds, leave her there. If you remove her then have to reintroduce, the pecking will just start all over again. If someone is to be removed, I'd remove the bully. Separating her may knock her down a few pegs or it may not. When you combine two groups of chickens, this type of behavior is very normal. And unfortunately the hen at the very bottom of the pecking order takes all the crap from the others. If they've got plenty of room to get away from each other (which it sounds like they do) let them work it out as long as there's no blood shed. Good luck
My concern is that they have been part of the same flock for a year. She does have a few leading spots, so we are trying to control it. I has left a large bald patch. We are trying to give it a little longer befor removing anyone. Hopefully they will settle in :/
