Chicken pecking out of control - running out of ideas

[emmyk23]

I posted a few weeks ago about some pecking behaviors and things have gotten worse. I am a new chicken owner, have 4 chickens in the city in an enclosed run. We have had some pecking injuries and bare spots from pulled feathers starting in early Feb. We tried many things over the last couple of months including saddles and nose clips and cabbage and suet block and separating them for weeks and nothing helps for very long. We even built a tiny timeout coop to keep the problem chicken separated in but now they're ALL problem chicken! We went on vacation last week for a week and came home to all four chickens now having issues. The shy one is now the bully and has pecked bare spots on 2 other chickens, bare legs/thighs. We have now separated all four chickens and have run out of ideas as to how to keep any of them in the same run anymore without them killing each other. We just got another snow storm and I believe the combination of not enough space and a long, nasty winter in Michigan led them to these issues. I just don't know if there's any fixing it at this point? I've read all the articles and tried just about everything I can in a suburban backyard in winter.

 

[Sammster]

Do you have roosts, climbing apparatus, cubbie-tunnel-type hideaways for them to escape each other? Sometimes in smaller spaces, making use of vertical space helps

 

[Sammster]

 

[HollowOfWisps]

How big is there coop/run? What %protein is the feed that you’re feeding?

 

[PenelopeJane]

I posted a few weeks ago about some pecking behaviors and things have gotten worse. I am a new chicken owner, have 4 chickens in the city in an enclosed run. We have had some pecking injuries and bare spots from pulled feathers starting in early Feb. We tried many things over the last couple of months including saddles and nose clips and cabbage and suet block and separating them for weeks and nothing helps for very long. We even built a tiny timeout coop to keep the problem chicken separated in but now they're ALL problem chicken! We went on vacation last week for a week and came home to all four chickens now having issues. The shy one is now the bully and has pecked bare spots on 2 other chickens, bare legs/thighs. We have now separated all four chickens and have run out of ideas as to how to keep any of them in the same run anymore without them killing each other. We just got another snow storm and I believe the combination of not enough space and a long, nasty winter in Michigan led them to these issues. I just don't know if there's any fixing it at this point? I've read all the articles and tried just about everything I can in a suburban backyard in winter.

Have you been successful in stopping the problem? I am at wit's end. Everyone (5) is pecking everyone else. 4 currently have saddles on and now one is getting pecked on the wings and under the tail. I have tried taking bullies out, bullied out, changing diet, adding toys. I read all the books, watch tons of YouTube videos. We tried BluKote, but it lasts a couple of hours. What a nightmare!

 

[Eggcessive]

Are they getting outside to free range in the yard? What breeds are they? Do you have a rooster?

 

[emmyk23]

Have you been successful in stopping the problem? I am at wit's end. Everyone (5) is pecking everyone else. 4 currently have saddles on and now one is getting pecked on the wings and under the tail. I have tried taking bullies out, bullied out, changing diet, adding toys. I read all the books, watch tons of YouTube videos. We tried BluKote, but it lasts a couple of hours. What a nightmare!

Oh no!! Same here unfortunately. At this point we've separated all four birds which is a huge hassle and are just trying to wait out some warmer weather so we can expand their run and hope they can reintegrate. We too have tried everything and my birds just don't seem to care about toys etc. or anything I've read about online and I don't want to give them too many treats. It has become quite a nightmare here too. It would be very helpful if they could free range but they can't here so we're left with few options. I'm sorry I can't be of more help!

 

[emmyk23]

Do you have roosts, climbing apparatus, cubbie-tunnel-type hideaways for them to escape each other? Sometimes in smaller spaces, making use of vertical space helps

These all look amazing but we don't have room for any of that unfortunately.

 

[emmyk23]

Are they getting outside to free range in the yard? What breeds are they? Do you have a rooster?

No rooster. We're in a suburban neighborhood with a dog so no free ranging options. That would be nice and probably solve all my problems 2 buff orpingtons, 1 easter egger, 1 barred rock.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Unfortunately, this sounds like a space problem. I would suggest re-homing and maybe getting two bantams. City farming is glamorized, but actually extremely difficult to pull off. It does sound like you've tried some great options - and that's great!