Bleeding

[jaide]

Went out this morning to feed the girls and noticed that my one for sure rooster's foot was bleeding quite a bit. We finally caught him (he's not one to be held or petted) and I put some paste on it like for when cutting the dogs nails and he seems to be fine. He has feathered legs and it looks like a few feathers got ripped out and that's why it was bleeding. I have another one I think is a rooster (they're all between 13 weeks and 5 weeks old) is it possible they're picking at eachother already? Aren't they a little young for that? This is only our 2nd flock and last year we only had 1 rooster. Is it normal for them to strip each others legs? One of my hens has no feathers on her legs anymore but I never saw here bleeding. Any suggestions

 

[Den in Penn]

No, it is not to young for such behavior. Do you have a mix of breeds? Other breeds without exotic feathering have been know to pull said feathers out those that do. More space or diversions might stop it.

 

[aart]

Also could have been a pin feather that got snagged on something...they bleed pretty bad.
If you can't get it to stop, pluck the pin feather out and it'll stop bleeding and regrow sooner than the next molt.