chicken attacked by flock

[ahilling]

#1 of 5 39 minutes ago

We have a mixed flock including 2 Plymouth rocks, 3 ameracaunas, 1 favourelle and 2 other chickens we were given. Typically the chickens do great as the original group were raised together. We had one chicken that was ostracized by the flock in the past. We had another favorelle that we lost a few months ago to a possum attack that was ostracized after she had to be segregated due to a leg injury. When she returned she was picked in and then ignored entirely. everyone had been getting along until today. I called the girls to give them a treat and noticed one of the ameracaunas had an injury in her head and was missing an eye. She was fine last night when she was in her coop with everyone else. Now the other ameracaunas are attacking her. We have separated her and cleaned her wounds. She is in our garage right now because I was afraid they would hurt her. What should we do? She is so sweet!

 

[The Yakima Kid]

#1 of 5 39 minutes ago

We have a mixed flock including 2 Plymouth rocks, 3 ameracaunas, 1 favourelle and 2 other chickens we were given. Typically the chickens do great as the original group were raised together. We had one chicken that was ostracized by the flock in the past. We had another favorelle that we lost a few months ago to a possum attack that was ostracized after she had to be segregated due to a leg injury. When she returned she was picked in and then ignored entirely. everyone had been getting along until today. I called the girls to give them a treat and noticed one of the ameracaunas had an injury in her head and was missing an eye. She was fine last night when she was in her coop with everyone else. Now the other ameracaunas are attacking her. We have separated her and cleaned her wounds. She is in our garage right now because I was afraid they would hurt her. What should we do? She is so sweet!

Keep her aside until she has healed. Are you sure it wasn't a predator that got ahold of her?

When you put her back out consider putting hot pick o her head and anywhere else they attack.

 

[Eggcessive]

It sounds as if you have a bully or two in your flock, and it may take some time spent watching thrm to find the culprit, and separate her for a few days. Your injured hen may possibly still have the eye when the swelling goes down. Clean her eye with some saline and apply some Terramycin eye ointment or Neosporin if you can't find the other. Put that in the eye twice a day, and also on the injury. You might want to put her cage back into the coop tomorrow so they won't forget her, making her reintegration easier.

 

[ahilling]

I don't think it was anything else besides another chicken that attacked her. It was around 4 pm when I noticed her injury and she was fine when I let then out this morning. They are in a fenced in back yard. Typically I let them roam during the day. So I should out her cage in the run and keep them all in there? I saw two other girls go after her this afternoon. It was weird though...it was not the alpha bird. is that normal that a more subordinate bird would do the attacking?

 

[Eggcessive]

I'm not sure why she was attacked. Is anyone molting now? I have had a couple of girls attacked while having a hard molt. Make sure her wounds are totally healed before she is let out. If she needs extra warmth now because of the injury, you can keep her inside, but I would put her out with them some to stay familiar.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I don't think it was anything else besides another chicken that attacked her. It was around 4 pm when I noticed her injury and she was fine when I let then out this morning. They are in a fenced in back yard. Typically I let them roam during the day. So I should out her cage in the run and keep them all in there? I saw two other girls go after her this afternoon. It was weird though...it was not the alpha bird. is that normal that a more subordinate bird would do the attacking?

Sometimes those frustrated at not being the top hen can be downright nasty to those below them on the pecking order.

 

[Noobchick]

Take it from me: there's no knowing what goes on in their little chicken heads. I had four roosters who all got along fine-- until a couple days ago, when I went out to close them in the coop and found one close to death, beaten beyond recognition, and wheezing through a disconnected windpipe. There was no reason for it, no changes in weather, feed, hens, etc. It just happened. And it totally sucked because the rooster who got beaten was gorgeous. But he was in pain, beyond my or anyone's help, and wouldn't hve had a good life. So I culled him. Sometimes, crap just happens. I know your first instinct is to try and save this bird, but please also consider what kind of life she's likely to have, missing an eye, and a target for the flock.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

The problem with senseless chicken violence is that it makes perfect sense to the chickens. My current go to solution for bullies is the Bumpa-bit, a Scottish invention now in vogue in Europe since the EU has apparently banned peepers (they can apparently cause vision damage.) The other solution is to take a Dremel tool or very sharp toenail clippers and just take off the sharp tip of the upper beak. It will grow back, but sometimes biddies quit pecking when they discover they are firing blanks.

You can give them enough space, good feed, good housing, good pasture and they still get it in their heads that they need to pound the snot out of someone. Frequently, removing the instigator clears up the problem - but not always. One reason for having a rooster, not allowed in most incorporated areas, is to knock some sense into the flock. Roosters like peace and quiet in their flocks and they aren't shy about enforcing it. No one is allowed to pull rank when eating with the rooster, and if biddies want to fight, they have to move away from him - so less aggressive hens can run to him for protection. Since roosters prefer less aggressive biddies as they are easier to catch, one may find that the lowest ranking hens are constantly around him.