Chicken Aggression? Small spaces? Debeaking? AH!

[akhadley]

So I have been a chicken owner for a total of 3 days now... but I am an animal lover to the maxxxxx so I want to give them the very best life possible. My boss has been telling me some moderate horror stories about when he raised chickens (but he isn't an animal freak like myself) and was mentioning that he debeaked his chickens because they can get cannibalistic in small spaces. He is giving me his chicken tractor which he says is 8' X 4' and 3-4' tall. I will only be putting three chickens in there ... because that's all I have! Is this going to be enough space for them? Or will they start acting scary and cannibalistic? Do I really need to debeak them? I do know that when one is sick or injured the others can attack it but I'm hoping that never happens. I guess when I envision laying hens I imagine portly little ladies who sit around and cluck all day... hate to imagine them hurting each other or me having to hurt them in order to "help them."

Thoughts? Feelings? Suggestions?

 

[Pyxis]

There's no need to debeak them. Sounds like your boss was keeping way too many hens in there - I only have heard of them getting cannibalistic when too many were cramped in way too tiny a space. That's why battery farms debeak their hens - because they stuff them in cages way too small. For three hens, 32 square feet of space is fine.

 

[akhadley]

Good to hear Thanks so much.

 

[lazy gardener]

Ditto. Debeaking is an abhorrent, painful practice, and has no place in a back yard flock. If commercial poultry keepers would keep their flocks humanely, it would not be necessary there either. But when birds are crammed into space such that they can never stand up to their full height, and only have cage/floor space about the size of a sheet of notebook paper, what else are they going to do but peck each other. Sorry. Rant over now. I feel just a little bit better!

 

[chicksurreal]

Ditto. Debeaking is an abhorrent, painful practice, and has no place in a back yard flock. If commercial poultry keepers would keep their flocks humanely, it would not be necessary there either. But when birds are crammed into space such that they can never stand up to their full height, and only have cage/floor space about the size of a sheet of notebook paper, what else are they going to do but peck each other. Sorry. Rant over now. I feel just a little bit better!

x2

 

[RedDrgn]

For 3 chickens, that tractor will be just fine.

While chickens are flock animals and don't like to be alone, they also don't like to be smashed together in tight spaces any more than you or I do. When they are cramped together like that they can and often do get aggressive with each other, and if blood is drawn, it can get ugly quick. Regardless of whether or not chickens are crammed too tight together or not, they do tend to pick at wounds (even their own wounds) and if it's not stopped quickly, the one with the wound may end up dead and eaten. That's why it's important to check your birds and clean up/cover any visible wounds.

We've got 9 chickens that all have their beaks in tact. No one has ever been mortally wounded or eaten.

 

[chicksurreal]

For 3 chickens, that tractor will be just fine.

While chickens are flock animals and don't like to be alone, they also don't like to be smashed together in tight spaces any more than you or I do. When they are cramped together like that they can and often do get aggressive with each other, and if blood is drawn, it can get ugly quick. Regardless of whether or not chickens are crammed too tight together or not, they do tend to pick at wounds (even their own wounds) and if it's not stopped quickly, the one with the wound may end up dead and eaten. That's why it's important to check your birds and clean up/cover any visible wounds.

We've got 9 chickens that all have their beaks in tact. No one has ever been mortally wounded or eaten.

X2

We have a pullet that had somehow gotten a puncture in her thigh while free ranging, by the time I noticed it (could have only happened an hour or so before) she had pulled most of the feathers off around the area and the rest of the feathers around it were all bloody. That's actually how I even noticed what was going on. She was pulling bloody feathers out and eating them.

We brought her in and cleaned the feathers and stopped the bleeding, but she had done a lot of damage to herself before we saw what was going on. I think if she had been in an enclosed space with the other 13 chickens it could have been much worse.

 

[donrae]

If I were closed in a small space with lots of my own kind and couldn't get away, ever, and could only move the length of my body at a time, I think I'd get cannibalistic too

That said, chicken can be brutal to each other, and you may be in for some surprises at some point on how they treat each other. If you only have 3 birds, and they're all raised together, and have plenty of space, that should keep the issues to a minimum. Adding birds causes a lot of stress to a flock--it can definitely be done, but there's some degree of pecking/chasing/squawking while everyone sorts out who is boss of who.

 

[akhadley]

I've noticed that my chicks are now sort of starting to, I guess, show dominance with each other? I've witnessed each of them flying at the others with their legs out in front - how I imagine they would try to fight. They aren't pecking each other or being super aggressive but this is a new behavior with them. I thought maybe it's because they are a little antsy and we need to take them on more field trips into our yard, anyone agree? I'm still not sure if any of them are roosters so perhaps that could be it too? I'm guessing roosters are more aggressive, but maybe not. I'm really learning everything as I go...

 

[Pyxis]

That's normal They're just starting to establish the pecking order.