cannibal hens

[Billysue]

Hi
I just (Saturday) rescued 4 chickens, 2 Skinny, fast ones and 2 fat slow ones. Otherwise they look the same. The 2 skinny ones are eating one of the fat ones. The Butt of this chicken is torn apart and bloody. when I separated them, They attacked the other fat one. How can I make them stop eating each other? I'm feeding them cracked corn and there is also goat, pig, and duck food to nibble. They have a huge yard & yet stick close together for all their space. Also
Any idea what I can do for this guys butt? I was going to throw him in my bathtub but my girlfriend said he could contaminate my house? Is that true? Thanks for your advice.

 

[hcammack]

You should probably buy some high protine chicken food.

Henry

 

[SeaChick]

Hmmm, by "eating" do you mean they are pecking and eating the feathers? It's my understanding that a primary reason for that behavior is that they aren't getting enough protein. Maybe you could get them some Layer Feed (assuming they are old enough to be laying) that has the correct amount of protein for chickens. The corn won't give them enough, it's not a balanced diet, and I have no idea about the other animal's feeds.

 

[picklespickles]

chickens will definitely eat other chickens. but i am wondering like everyone else if you mean plucking feathers from them or ?

like other said, you definitely need to supplement their food. also, they may need more space to run around in. negative behaviors develop more when they can't get far enough away from other ones they don't get along with. if you don't have a lot of space to do this for right now, then maybe stick some into a pen and keep feeding the heck out of all of them for a while.

good luck

 

[Dawn419]

Wet or dry cat food will also help if protein is missing from their diet, which, from what I've read, is the main cause of cannibalism.

Hope this is some help!

Dawn

 

[TxChiknRanchers]

Separate the perps and feed them some high pro feed. there are several products that will help. one we used was a show chicken finisher feed that had 24% protien and there is also turkey and chucker starter that is higher in protien than reg chick grower.

How old are the chickens?

That makes a difference also layer has protien but not quite as much as grower so it is important to know how old. if you do not know post some pics and maybe someone here can tell, close anyway. And they definitely need more than corn if they are undernourished.

Hope this helps

Randy

 

[Scrambled Egg]

How did you rescue them BillySue? Did they fall off a truck or where they neglected and you chicken-napped them to save them? Just curious. Sounds like they needed rescuing whatever their story was, good for you for having a big heart.

 

[FrozenChicken]

Sorry to say this but cannibalism is a problem with some particular breeds in my experience. White Leghorns are particularly bad for this that is why I don't get them anymore. They pick on the broiler or heavy birds and sometimes other dual purpose birds. Feather browsing is the start of it then it usually escalates to full blown canibalism. One time I had a pen of broilers and 2 white leghorns flew over the fence and killed a couple of my broiler hens. In the end I had no choice but to cull the perps. Diet was not an issue as these birds were free range along with being grain fed.

 

[rooster-red]

First of all you need to seperate them and keep them seperate until they are well again.

If the 2 that have been "eaten" are bloody, use saline solution to clean the wounds and keep them in a place where flies can't get to them.

The skinny ones need a high protien diet, and cracked corn just won't cut it. Get them some grower feed and you could even suppliment that with some dry cat food once or twice a week, but not everyday because of the high salt content.

Give them a little plain live culture yogurt to insure healthy crops. Watch their poop and search out threads pertaining to it, dlhunicorn has excellent information on her site that can help tell you if they have parasites by the description of their poop.

They won't "contaminate" your house if you wash them in your tub.

Tell us about the rescue and what conditions they were rescued from.
Thank you for helping them out.

 

[Billysue]

Hi
I rescued 4 chicken and 1 duck. They were brought to me by a neighbor of a farmer. The farmer didn't want the chickens and ducks any more. They were set free to be eaten by coyotes. This neighbor lady caught the few she could and brought them to my house. I'm known for collecting animal.
I now have 2 pigs, 3 ducks, 3 goats. 4 chicken, 4 dogs and 5 cats.
Thanks for all you help.