Chicken Bully and chicken Injury advice

[Burkeeks]

I’m a first-time chicken owner and could use some advice. This afternoon, I found one of my chickens injured, and I suspect it might be the result of pecking or bullying.





The injured chicken is about 8 months old, while the others are around 9–10 months, so she’s not much younger. I don’t think it’s molting since she’s under a year old, and none of my other chickens have similar feather loss.





I’ve noticed that the four older chickens often pick on the two younger ones. One chicken in particular can get quite aggressive—she’ll peck at their necks and even grab hold when she’s really upset.





For now, I’ve brought the injured chicken inside and placed her in a dog kennel for the night. I cleaned her neck and applied some Vetericyn to the wound.





What would you do in this situation?


• Should I keep the injured chicken separated until she heals and her feathers grow back?


• Should I isolate the aggressive chicken?


• Would it be better to separate the two younger chickens from the older flock altogether?





I’d love to hear how others have handled similar issues. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

1: Yes, keep her inside until you know it's safe for her to return without getting picked on, but not until her feathers grow back as that can take weeks/months. Also, she'll do better back with her friends so I'd just be sure her wound is healing/healed, then try it again.

2: I would definitely take the most aggressive one out for a week or so. See if the rest are calmed down or if there's still another being mean. Then take the next one out too.

Usually pulling the mean ones out resets the pecking order so when they are returned, they aren't as aggressive. That takes at least a week though, but should work.