I went to check water and food tonight and found the chickens had cornered one of the other chickens and were pecking at it. The chicken would run away and they would chase after it and peck it in the back again. I grabbed the chicken that was being abused and seperated it from the flock for the night. Any suggestion on what I should do to cure the problem?
Dia duit !!! ( Irish saying) I have a New Hampshire hen with same bullying. She now has no tail. I have tried everything. Vicks you name it. Separated her. kept her with younger chicks and they did the same. Wish I could help but I cant. I am beginning to think that there may be another problem with her and other than keeping her in the house with me I dunno. And she jumps on my knee like a baby. And shes not!! I don't know either....
I have the same thing. I just got five white rock hens yesterday and two of them had their tail feathers pulled out by other chickens. I have had them for about 24 hours now and while there was a little pecking early on, they have pretty much stopped. I did some reading and saw that chickens kept in wire floor cages, or densely populated coups, or heavy stress are prone to this type of cannibalism. I have them in a large tractor whereas they were in a small cage with many other chickens before. Now they have plenty of room and have no need to eat each others butts I guess.
I had this happen- my chickens suddenly turned on my white chicken, and drew blood. I think the blood made it worse. I put her in my smaller tractor, which I put right by their run, so that way they could still see each other, but she was safe. I kept her there for a few days until she healed, then put her back in with them. It's been ok ever since. I have noticed a couple of my hens have their feathers plucked away around their necks, but I'm not sure who is doing it. They are all still really picking on my rooster, and I still haven't felt comfortable putting him with the girls full time; I'm not sure he'd survive yet. I have no idea what the long term solution is.
