canabalism among our feather friends :)

[juice]

Hi , We don't know really how it started but I went out there yesterday and first one was bleeding, then three more later...so we have now 4 separted into indiv. cages and the other 4 are in the chicken coop/tractor...So far no more injuries.
If I knew which one for sure was the bully(although I think I have an idea between two) I would get rid of it.
But I don't want
to guess about this.
Our square footage is 36 sq feet for the 8 hens. So I guess technically it's good but I still think it's too small myself.
I'm grateful for my hubbies work though on the thing.
As I wrote earlier, I want to free range them and am trying to NOT worry about the two barn cats getting them....who thought this would be soooo much thinking-huh??? LOL
juice

 

[debilorrah]

You definitely have to determine which one it is.... That is more than just a bully, that hen is nuts. I really hope you figure it out soon!!

 

[katrinag]

I would sit out withthem if you can and let them range outside. Sound like they are sick of each other and pecking.

Can you give them something to do like hang cabbage or something.

I hate to say it but if you sit out with a bb gun and when the cats come around to raise some ruckus shoot them. We have an old pump bb gun just for this. Just a nuff power behind it to sting but not hurt. After a couple times of this my barn cats could care less about the chickens.

 

[juice]

wow!great idea...thank you very much.
I'll let you know how it goes. The BB gun i mean

juice

 

[Teach97]

I put my boys outside behind some hay bales that we shoot arrows into...cats come once and don't usually want to return!

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
Total? Like in the coop and run 36 sq feet? If so, that is probably your problem. The "rule" is 4 sq feet per bird inside, and an additional 10 sq feet each bird in a run, but there are many who have found the "rule" to be too small.

 

[Chicken Woman]

setting up a video camera works well. Then you will know who the bad girls are .

 

[juice]

Ok. tonight I sent my 12 year old out there with the BB gun and I swear the cats 'knew' why he was there.....they lurked but hugged the wall. The cats belong to my daughter but after a LONG talk with her she was willing to try this. Well, the birds had an hour of free range and then we closed them up again...tomorrow I'll do longer and have my son hiding...thank you so much for all the tips.
Need more space,set a camera up and discipline the cats if need be -got it! I'll be in touch with progress...thank you . juice

 

[farmergal]

One troubleshooting tip: is there ALWAYS enough food in the feeder? I found that mine are much more likely to peck at each other if food isn't readily available. (i.e., when the dodos kick the litter into the feeder, clogging it up.)
My birds have access to a 60 x 60 foot yard during the daytime... so it's not always a space issue... sometimes it's a pecking order/boredom/hunger issue.
As for finding one culprit, I thought I had found one culprit. But then she quit, and others started... part of it is just jostling for the position of Top Hen or Top Rooster.

 

[rachel]

I had one faverolle that was terrible to a silver laced polish, she would peck at the poor polish girl until her back was just a bloody mess, it seemed way more like a cannibalistic vendetta than pecking order stuff. Usually if pecking gets a little to vigorous for my taste I just squirt some 'rooster booster' on the affected area and that deters the pecking hens, but this faverolle didn't seem put off one bit. I rehomed her and put her with my neighbors marans they all got along great and no more problems.