Chickens aggresive??

Chicken101-07

Songster
Aug 18, 2019
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I got 4 friesian hens and they are crazy and peck each other,I didn't have a problem with this as they calmed down after a while but today a sad thing happened,my chicks escaped from the cage I have them in I'm not sure how,(I keep them in a cage inside a coop,minimizes the risk of a snake getting in there since my rooster is in coop I'll hear him give his alarm,as when I kept them outside I lost 2 to snakes),I had a beautiful black even legs with brown dots in his chest chick,he ended up getting pecked to the point he was bleeding that I decided to put the poor thing down :(, with the first chicks my hens hatched,they started pecking themselves when they were 4 months old and pecked a poor one badly that I decided to keep him outdoors the whole time,he eventually healed and I sold him,he became a white with black dots rooster to the person I sold him to,I noticed that another fully black hen doesn't peck her brothers or they peck her,she is pretty calm and wont run if I go near her,I also bought a buff orpington,she was really calm!!!she wouldn't peck others if they didn't peck her,to those who keep friesians, are friesians naturally more aggresive than other breeds?or is it like different chickens have different personalities?is there any way to stop them from hurting each other?what's a breed that wont bully others?
 
Chicken aggression is usually due to crowding birds, and them not getting enough exercise or room to run. Other reasons can be because of protein deficiencies.

Chickens peck each. It's how they communicate the pecking order. That's normal. Pecking each other until they are bleeding isn't normal. I believe it's them trying to drive members out of a flock, which probably happens when there's too many members for the territory to support. Increase the territory, and give birds a chance to move away from each other and there seldom is aggression.

Some breeds are said to be more aggressive than others. It seems more busy breeds who need more exercise can become aggressive faster in a smaller setting. I'm not familiar with a friesian chicken, so I can't comment on the breed.

Can you share more about your set up? Size of it, number of birds, and what you are feeding your birds?
 
Can you share more about your set up? Size of it, number of birds, and what you are feeding your birds?
The coop is 16 feet wide,length:8 feet and 8 feet high,I made it into two coops separated by a door to separate my older chicks(6 month old ones I don't know what term to use) from my older hens and rooster as they tend to be the most aggressive especially the hens,I currently have 14 in all 5 hens,the rooster in one part of the coop,in the other is my 5 6 month old chickens along with the cage where I have 3 1 month old chicks,I feed them cracked corn with purina chicken pellets to my hens and rooster,to my six month old I feed them Dumor crumbs for chickens 3 to 8 months old along with sometimes corn.along with grass and whatever insects they catch when I let them free range.
 
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@aart is good with space requirements. @chickens really is probably right that you do have too many for the space. Pictures would definitely help see.

If you are feeding a layer ration you shouldn't feed lower protein things like corn. Feeding a higher protein ration like that grower to your adult birds gives you some leeway. Minimum daily protein requirements are 16% which most layer rations are. Growers are generally 18-20% protein. Make sure you have a separate bowl of oyster shells for the calcium needs. A layer ration isn't necessary.
 
Can you post a picture of the Coop? Sounds like way too many birds for the space..

16x8 is plenty of room for 4 hens + a Roo... unless I am readying their post wrong.

The widely accepted rule of thumb is 8-10 SF per chicken in a run. So in theory they could have up to 16 chickens in there.

I'm probably not a good one to comment though because my chickens have 363 SF per chicken in their run. ;)
 
16x8 is plenty of room for 4 hens + a Roo... unless I am readying their post wrong.

The widely accepted rule of thumb is 8-10 SF per chicken in a run. So in theory they could have up to 16 chickens in there.

I'm probably not a good one to comment though because my chickens have 363 SF per chicken in their run. ;)
I don't know? I got confused that they have 3 different ages? :idunno..Possibly your right and that's definitely enough for 4 Birds.
 
I don't know? I got confused that they have 3 different ages? :idunno..Possibly your right and that's definitely enough for 4 Birds.
Yes,six month old chickens,1 and a half year old hens,1 month old chicks and im not sure about my rooster
Can you post a picture of the Coop? Sounds like way too many birds for the space..
sure thing!!!I will post it tomorrow
 
The coop is 16 feet wide,length:8 feet and 8 feet high,I made it into two coops separated by a door to separate my older chicks(6 month old ones I don't know what term to use) from my older hens and rooster as they tend to be the most aggressive especially the hens,I currently have 14 in all 5 hens,the rooster in one part of the coop,in the other is my 5 6 month old chickens along with the cage where I have 3 1 month old chicks,I feed them cracked corn with purina chicken pellets to my hens and rooster,to my six month old I feed them Dumor crumbs for chickens 3 to 8 months old along with sometimes corn.along with grass and whatever insects they catch when I let them free range.
16 x 8' for 14 birds sounds like good space to me.
5 hens and 1 cock/erel in 8x8,
5 six month olds and 3 one month olds(in a cage?) in 8x8.
I think I got that right.

Could be integration issues.
Knowing about run space and when birds were added together could be telling.
 

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