BUM PICKING TIL BLEEDING OCCURS

[Northern Quebec]

Space might be your biggest issue.
Do they have access to the open area during the day too? Mine won't walk on snow, but if I sprinkle straw down, then they will venture out a bit more.

The girl that is injured the most - you had mentioned she pooped before you took the photo. I hope that is poop, not pus. I know it's difficult to clean them up in winter. I would wash that one area and make sure the wound is healing well. Also, hard to tell, is her leg joint swollen too? I have that circled.

With 2 out of the coop area, have they stopped picking at each other? Nice looking coop/run by the way!
View attachment 1972622

Thanks so much for your response. What an eye!
The four girls left in the coop are still battling it out. The roundest chicken is no longer just poking, she's down right BITING. Mean little mother. She seems to have taken over the job of the girl I put in a cage!!!

They do venture out. Some days they don't mind the snow, other days they won't like it. The wind and temperature are more the deciding factors. They don't go far even when they do go out.

That was poop - really runny. I cleaned every one of them this afternoon except for the one in the cage. She's not affected at all. It's really tough getting the dried blood off.

What can I use to help clean up the dried blood?
Can I cut the bad looking feathers?
I read about a liquid band-aid - Blue Spray. Can I spray some of that one there bottoms to help protect them and hide the blood from the bum pickers?
I'll check her leg joint tomorrow.

It's nice to know I have someone to discuss this with. Thanks for being there.

 

[Northern Quebec]

By bum, do you mean pecking specifically at the vent or just the rear end of the bird in general?
If it is the vent, are your roosts arranged so a bird on the lower roost has easy access to the vent of the bird on the roost above? That will be tempting.
I had a bit of cannibalism one year with a large flock of 14 week old birds. They would lay around in a group around dusk and start picking right above the tail. I thought I had rats eating them till I caught the birds in the act. I added some fishmeal to their feed and gave some canned mackerel and the problem went away.

Thanks for your reply. By bum I mean the vent. Nasty business.
The roosts are almost at the same level. They make an "L" shape so one is only slightly higher than the other, that is, the thickness of the roost.
Fishmeal eh? I'll try and find some around here. I've been giving them sardines these last three mornings. I'm not sure if it's helping. How long did it take for you to notice the change?

 

[Northern Quebec]

I agree with everybody else. It's an issue with overcrowding. If you have too many chickens in and not enough space, they will start pecking each other.

Chickens will always be picking on each other. Which is why they need a lot of space to run away from who they are being bullied from. I suggest that you expand the coop or get rid of some of your chickens. I'm not saying you should eat them! Give them to someone who wants some chickens.

I have someone on standby should I decide to give away a couple of the girls. They'll go to a good home.
Thanks for your advice.

 

[Northern Quebec]

There should be a minimum of 28 square feet in the coop for 7 full size chickens, with each hen having 4 quare feet of room. Here is a good article about pecking and cannibalism:
https://poultry.extension.org/artic...ibalism-in-small-and-backyard-poultry-flocks/

The girls have got 64 square feet - 8'x8' - in the enclosed run and about 14 square in their sleeping quarters which they only go up into at night.
Thanks for the link to the article. I'll be reading that next.

 

[Cryss]

I'm seriously beginning to think this is a crowding issue. I have 7 rust-coloured hens living in an enclosed run measuring 8' x 8'. I'm including photos. At night they climb into their insulated, heated coop where they sleep on one of two perches. The coop measures 40" 40". No crowding there.

So the run is 8ft x 8ft. That's 64sqft. At 10sqft/bird in the run it is big enough for 6 birds max.
You say the coop measures 40inches x 40 inches. That's 3.33ft x 3.33ft which is 11.0889sqft. At 4sqft/bird in the coop the coop is big enough for 2.77 birds max. I believe you have already come to the conclusion that you are overcrowded. You really shouldn't have more than 2 chickens in that coop. You MIGHT squeeze 3 but I'd be nervous.
I'm so sorry this is happening. It's such a lovely coop and run unit. It's just too small. I hope can get this under control. Consider building a bit bigger maybe?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thanks so much for your response. What an eye!
The four girls left in the coop are still battling it out. The roundest chicken is no longer just poking, she's down right BITING. Mean little mother. She seems to have taken over the job of the girl I put in a cage!!!

They do venture out. Some days they don't mind the snow, other days they won't like it. The wind and temperature are more the deciding factors. They don't go far even when they do go out.

That was poop - really runny. I cleaned every one of them this afternoon except for the one in the cage. She's not affected at all. It's really tough getting the dried blood off.

What can I use to help clean up the dried blood?
Can I cut the bad looking feathers?
I read about a liquid band-aid - Blue Spray. Can I spray some of that one there bottoms to help protect them and hide the blood from the bum pickers?
I'll check her leg joint tomorrow.

It's nice to know I have someone to discuss this with. Thanks for being there.

The girls have got 64 square feet - 8'x8' - in the enclosed run and about 14 square in their sleeping quarters which they only go up into at night.
Thanks for the link to the article. I'll be reading that next.

If you have blue spray (Blue Kote?) you can use that.
As for getting the dried blood off, probably by the time you put them back it may be worn off, but if not - you can give them a wash if you wish - just dry them well.

The night time coop area seems small for that many birds - are you providing light inside there too?

 

[Cryss]

At night they climb into their insulated, heated coop where they sleep on one of two perches. The coop measures 40" 40". No crowding there.

As I've said that's 3.33ft x 3.33ft which is 11.0889sqft. Only big enough for 2 chickens.

and about 14 square in their sleeping quarters which they only go up into at night.

Not sure which measurement you quoted is correct but this one is only big enough for 3.5 chickens. In this case you could have 3 birds comfortably. 4 would be too many.

 

[Northern Quebec]

So the run is 8ft x 8ft. That's 64sqft. At 10sqft/bird in the run it is big enough for 6 birds max.
You say the coop measures 40inches x 40 inches. That's 3.33ft x 3.33ft which is 11.0889sqft. At 4sqft/bird in the coop the coop is big enough for 2.77 birds max. I believe you have already come to the conclusion that you are overcrowded. You really shouldn't have more than 2 chickens in that coop. You MIGHT squeeze 3 but I'd be nervous.
I'm so sorry this is happening. It's such a lovely coop and run unit. It's just too small. I hope can get this under control. Consider building a bit bigger maybe?

So the run is 8ft x 8ft. That's 64sqft. At 10sqft/bird in the run it is big enough for 6 birds max.
You say the coop measures 40inches x 40 inches. That's 3.33ft x 3.33ft which is 11.0889sqft. At 4sqft/bird in the coop the coop is big enough for 2.77 birds max. I believe you have already come to the conclusion that you are overcrowded. You really shouldn't have more than 2 chickens in that coop. You MIGHT squeeze 3 but I'd be nervous.
I'm so sorry this is happening. It's such a lovely coop and run unit. It's just too small. I hope can get this under control. Consider building a bit bigger maybe?

Thanks for your comments. We won't be building a bigger coop. Instead we'll be supplying fresh chicken eggs for our household only. The friends and in-laws will have to go back to the grocery store.

 

[Northern Quebec]

If you have blue spray (Blue Kote?) you can use that.
As for getting the dried blood off, probably by the time you put them back it may be worn off, but if not - you can give them a wash if you wish - just dry them well.

The night time coop area seems small for that many birds - are you providing light inside there too?

AH HA! The LIGHT issue. Kept coming back to me during the night. Short answer is NO, there is no light in the coop itself, just in the enclosed run. Last night I did a lot of reading, watched webinars and learned that the bare minimum of 14 hours of light (16 hours is better) is not being adhered to here. I knew that but for some reason, I chose to overlook it. So we've got to install a lightbulb in the coop - and fast.
Also, in the enclosed run we have two LED "daylight" bulbs - each 100W. Something else I read - a light too bright might cause aggression. So I might have a problem there as well.

QUESTIONS: What wattage should I place in the coop?
What wattage should I place in the enclosed run?

 

[Northern Quebec]

As I've said that's 3.33ft x 3.33ft which is 11.0889sqft. Only big enough for 2 chickens.


Not sure which measurement you quoted is correct but this one is only big enough for 3.5 chickens. In this case you could have 3 birds comfortably. 4 would be too many.