We have 9 chickens or varying breeds and two ducks, our first flock. The Leghorns have been, for the most part, the dominant ones since they were chicks. In the past few days, however, they have become a bit violent towards our Ameraucana, who is quite docile. They have pecked out the feathers on one side of her neck, leaving bare flesh and a little (very little) blood.
Other than seperate housing (not a possibilty in our situation), does anyone have any advice? Can the Leghorns be trained not to attack her?
Thanks for your help!
This is happening to us as well. We have already lost one Americauna to our chickens pecking it to death. A few months ago before this all began we were noticing bare spots on our chickens. We then decided to watch the coop for a few minutes and noticed other chickens going to my Americauna and taking a feather off of its back and walking away. Over time it began to grow larger and small red spots would appear. We applied treatment, but it doesn't seem to work. Instead of separating the good chicken (The one getting pecked), put the bad ones, (the ones pecking) in a different area of a coop or smaller wire cage/coop. Whatever you have. Being separated from even one chicken is a huge punishment to mean chickens in the flock.
As usual, chickens are highly attracted to red, so blood, even a little, NEEDS to be gone. Otherwise over time, slowly but surely your chicken is going to get pecked more and more till death. I recommend treating your chicken's bare spot with Rooster Booster Pick-No-More Healing Lotion. You can normally find it at your local
Tractor Supply depending on where you live or order it online for less than ten dollars on Chewy.com or
Amazon. The lotion will turn anything it touches purple immediately but it can come off of hands. It tastes bad to chickens, so when they attempt plucking feathers or getting blood, they won't do it again because of the taste. It will also heal the bare spot and take away blood. I switched to this and notice a difference.
Again, do not separate the chicken getting pecked, if you do then she will one, feel punished, and two, when you put her back in the coop the other chickens will get upset and more aggressive. WIth the horrible sport of chicken fighting known in some countries, they pick up the rooster and throw it in the coop. For some reason, this makes other chickens mad, and begins fighting. This has happened to me when I put a chicken in after escaping a few times. Now, take some time to watch the chicks in the coop. Try to notice the chickens pecking your poor Americauna, and notice the ones being kind. Put the ones being kind, or at least a few, with the Americauna when you take out the bad ones. Then watch the Americauna and friendly side of the coop to see if there is still any attacking or pecking going on. If so then take out more of the bad ones.
For separation I recommend either buying a crate, or if possible, closing the door to the main coop and putting bad chickens in the run, and good chickens in the main coop. The main coop offers more comfort and already has food and water, the other chickens, believe it or not, will get jealous. You can place food in the run if you need to, but chickens can dig for worms, and they will be fine in the meantime.
At night, if possible, but the kind chickens wherever your nesting boxes are, but only if there is a door to separate the main coop from the nesting box. If there is not a door to separate then buy a small dog crate. One that is able to fit inside of your coop. This sounds crazy but it works! Put the one Americauna inside that small crate and put some food inside. It will have water the next day and will be fine overnight. Put the crate inside the coop so that all chickens are together. The next day, do it again, and don't forget to re-apply the treatment. If this doesn't work I am so sorry and hope that your chicken is healed and the others are kind! Blessings!!
