Chicken Jail

[aart]

I heard that chickens have like a salt sac in their tail

Huh?!
Would love to see a link where you read this, have never heard of it before.
Are you thinking of the preening gland on the back just in front of the tail?

 

[aart]

Have re-homed two recently and have two left.

Why did you rehome the 2?

They are all around seven weeks old and they were all raised together. All hens.

You have no other older birds.... just these 2 chicks, one of whom is trying to 'eat' the other?
That is pretty odd...and a real bummer.
Space is not the issue, nice coop and run BTW.
You might just have a 'bad' bird.

 

[DogAndCat36]

Huh?!
Would love to see a link where you read this, have never heard of it before.
Are you thinking of the preening gland on the back just in front of the tail?

My sister told me this.

 

[Tedd444]

Why did you rehome the 2?

They plucked and pecked four of the other chicks until they bled. Flock was calm for a week before this other RIR started up.

 

[Tedd444]

You have no other older birds.... just these 2 chicks, one of whom is trying to 'eat' the other?

No older birds. The others peck each other of course, but this RIR pulls feathers and pecks until they bleed.

 

[Hortgirl]

You have no other older birds.... just these 2 chicks, one of whom is trying to 'eat' the other?

No older birds. The others peck each other of course, but this RIR pulls feathers and pecks until they bleed.

The first post mentioned one of the remaining RIR pulling tail feathers from a Brahma, also a Buff being bullied didnt mention total number.

 

[Tedd444]

We have:

2 RIR
2 Silver Wyandotte’s
4 Buffs
2 Brahmas

RIR pulled tail feathers from a Brahma, feathers from a Buff, and from a Wyandotte.

 

[KikiLiana]

Supposed to be out of site of others for 2 weeks, then reintroduce them. Good luck to you!

I put a chicken apron on the picked on chicken. Until at least she is healed. A few weeks. You can get them at the local feed store. They are also easy to sew. If the picked on area broke the skin put some good salve on it before the apron so it will heal faster.

 

[50-45-1]

I have had to deal with several feather pickers through the years and most of them have been RIR.
I wont have them any more because of it.
None of my feather picking issues have been in chicks this young however.
Maybe the strain of RIR's you purchased have a strong tendancy for picking or something is off with feed or space.
I like your set up and your little isolation cage is perfect.
I am not sure your coop and run will be enough room for your birds when they get older.
Good luck!

 

[nao57]

So...reading back on this it sounds like the Road Island Red breed is more prone to bullying than others? Am I understanding this right?

Then is it better to use other breeds? Or are other breeds also likely to bully also?