Cannibalism...

[SueZ 24]

Some of my hens have gotten a little bit cannibalistic. It isn't very bad, but whenever one of them starts bleeding for any reason, some of the chickens pick at it and I've had a few die from this. Does anybody know a way to prevent this or curb cannibalistic behavior?

 

[sourland]

Has anything changed in your flock ? How old are they ? What are you feeding ? Do they have enough space ? In my opinion the single greatest factor involved in cannibalism is usually overcrowding.

 

[bpoore04]

Chickens love the color red. They will continue to peck at it. If you see one of your chickens are injured you need to treat the wound then put some blu kote on it. You might even need to isolate the injured from the healthy.

 

[Folly's place]

I agree, crowding, low protein feed, and then breed type or individuals who are just nasty, all involved at times.
Any injured bird can be fair game and needs to be treated, and if you can ID a primary culprit, get her out of there!
Mary

 

[aart]

Some of my hens have gotten a little bit cannibalistic. It isn't very bad, but whenever one of them starts bleeding for any reason, some of the chickens pick at it and I've had a few die from this. Does anybody know a way to prevent this or curb cannibalistic behavior?

Having a few die from it is more than a "bit cannibalistic".
We've got some good questions here for you @SueZ 24

 

[SueZ 24]

Nothing has changed in my flock since well before this started, They are all 2-3 years old,I'm feeding them a feed that our feed mill makes for us and I'm not sure of the protein content so I should make sure there is enough, and they shouldn't be overcrowded because they have several square feet per bird and this wasn't a problem until a few months ago.
Thanks everyone

 

[Acre4Me]

Could be a bad habit that is now ingrained. Maybe they learned to feather pick, which can happen due to low protein (especially during a molt) or boredom. Sometimes some blood can appear and that gets them started. Did it start when they were molting?

you can try “pinless peepers” which keeps them from seeing their “target” quite so well, so they miss the target. They can still eat fine. Otherwise you can provide more space, provide higher protein feed (no treats) for several weeks.