Cannibalism solution

[bethanyjbarrette]

My friends have been having some substantial problems with their flock and we are stepping in to help out. We discovered the hens are killing each other, as well as a number suffering from vent gleet. Most of them are missing some or all of their butt and tail feathers. I’ve helped them make a ton of changes to their setup, given the hens more complete nutrition, turned off the heat lights that had been on all night, and have been treating the vent gleet with baths and anti yeast/fungal cream.

We also separated the 5 hens that we noticed were doing the most bullying/cannibalizing.

My main question is this: the naughtiest hens are currently in their next door neighbors empty coop and we don’t want to reintroduce them to the flock until the hens are healed, stronger, happier, and covered in a nice new layer of butt feathers. How long can you have a group separated before they are no longer part of the flock? Will we be able to put them back together this summer with close monitoring, or should we plan to make a separate coop for them as a long term solution?

 

[SmiYa0126]

First! Awesome job on helping your friend!

I don't have experience with cannibalism in hens, but my farmer friend culls any birds that become cannibalistic.

As far as reintroduction, you'd have to do normal process, see can't touch for awhile and then put them back together, observing for any bad behavior.

 

[Mosey2003]

It only takes a few days for them to become strangers. I would be most worried about the root cause of the cannibalism, it's usually because they don't have enough room. Can that be remedied before they're brought back? I'm assuming your feed help has raised the protein content, awhile on that should help too. Otherwise, you could get some pinless peepers to put on the cannibals.

 

[bethanyjbarrette]

It only takes a few days for them to become strangers. I would be most worried about the root cause of the cannibalism, it's usually because they don't have enough room. Can that be remedied before they're brought back? I'm assuming your feed help has raised the protein content, awhile on that should help too. Otherwise, you could get some pinless peepers to put on the cannibals.

Thank you for your reply!

I did not mention that we also helped with extra space. They have been overcrowded (in my opinion), since they were chicks. It seemed at every stage they were way too big for their home and my friend could never keep up with giving them enough space. So I told the friend he has to keep a very large outdoor area shoveled and covered in straw at all times this winter so that they have more room. We added more protein and nutrients to their feed, as well as fat (their feed had half the recommended fat content). I'm hoping we can reintroduce them this summer with everyone being a lot happier and having even more room to roam, using the see but don't touch method.

 

[bethanyjbarrette]

First! Awesome job on helping your friend!

I don't have experience with cannibalism in hens, but my farmer friend culls any birds that become cannibalistic.

As far as reintroduction, you'd have to do normal process, see can't touch for awhile and then put them back together, observing for any bad behavior.

Thank you for your response! We will just plan to keep them apart for quite awhile, as everyone gets healthier and happier, then reintroduce them as strangers in the spring along with careful monitoring.