Chicken behavior

[Pturn]

I have couple of chickens that will peck on the others until they make holes in them & bleed why do they do this? :/

 

[J-Sanders]

Establishing the "pecking order" which determines who feeds first and such things as mating with the dominate rooster.

Are they pecking or are they pulling feathers and eating them? One is a dominance thing and the other is a nutritional deficiency issue.

What are you feeding and how many chickens per feeder? How many waterers per chicken?

And do you have lots of chickens in the coop? Crowding will cause this behavior every time.

Jim

 

[theoldchick]

1) overcrowding
2) nutritional deficiency
3) too much light for too long
4) genetics-certain breeds don't do well in coops

 

[Pturn]

They don't eat the feathers they just peck at the butts until they bleed & make a hole, we give them layer crumbles, chicken scratch, scraps & oyster shell, we have about 20 in a 24 x 20 coop. We got them all at same time when they were babies.

 

[Pturn]

They are rhode island reds & production reds. Is there another kind of food we need to feed them? We also give them grass

 

[peepacheep]

I have 2 RIR/production reds that have plucked and eaten their rooster's butt feathers as fast as they come in. They seem to target the feathers at the pin feather stage, the feather is still a little bloody. Of course once the is blood splattered these 2 otherwise sweet friendly hens turn into stalking vampires quietly walking behind the roo pecking for his blood. He has had to have baths to wash the blood off. Blue Kote helps cover up scabs, getting the hens out as much as possible also helps. Another thing I have found is Trader Joe's tuna cat food curbs the 2 cannibals. Setting it out for the whole flock to nibble on has not made the eggs fishy. One hen was quite fixated, I ended up putting pinless peepers on her for a few months until she went into her first molt. They were also at their worst their first season of laying, when they were cranking out eggs nearly everyday. They are still good layers, super sweet but these 2 need a little extra protein.

 

[Pturn]

I put pink wound medicine on mine I got from vet it keeps the little vampires away until it wears off then they are back at it. I only have 2 that do it. All mine are great layers we get 18 to 30 eggs a day, I'll have to try the tuna see if it'll work on mine thanks

 

[theoldchick]

If you identified which chickens are doing the pecking you can either separate them, rehome them, or try the pinless peepers. Pinless Peeper look like funky sunglasses that fit on your chickens's head. These plastic blinders prevent the aggressive birds from seeing what's in front of them so they can't peck the others.

You have 20 chickens in a 24 x 20 coop? Might want to cut that number in half, add more protein to their diet (cheap dry cat food will do fine), and give them other things to peck at.

One of my favorite (and cheap!) chicken toy is to take an empty 16 oz plastic bottle (can be smaller or larger) put several small holes in the side, fill with scratch feed, screw cap on and leave on the floor of the coop. The chickens will learn to move the bottle by pecking it to make the scratch feed fall out. You can hang the bottle if you want to. You will have to make sure the feed is clean and dry in the bottle. Make several so you can clean and dry a few bottles while other bottles are being used.

You can add other greens to their diet: Kale, Kudzu, Clover, Spinach-20 chickens can eat a 5 gallon bucket full a day of the fresh stuff. You can feed them cooked beans, carrots, peas, corn on the cob. Table food won't go to waste if you have a flock of chickens. Don't be afraid to use your imagination on how to keep your chickens entertained. They'll appreciate the challenge and you'll have fun watching them.