A few months back I posted that I had one hen (Kiko) that was pulling out feathers and bloodying the butt of another chicken (Buttercup)... I healed the injured chicken (Buttercup) in a seperate pen and put her back in with the other chickens.... Kiko promptly pulled out all her back feathers and bloodied Buttercup's back. My husband culled Kiko while I was at work. Thinking that removing the hen that was causing the issues would fix things.
A month later... I have three bloodied hens and two hens that are causing the issues. Neither one was part of the original problem... it seems it was a learned behavior or something.
Anyway... I don't know what to do. This morning I discovered that my favorite hen, Bones, has been plucked bald below her tail and is now bloody as well... Yesterday she was fine.
The two doing all the pecking and plucking are both the dominant females of their flock.... and they rarely pluck/peck each other... they also eat the feathers and chunks of flesh off the hens they are pestering.
What is causing this? I am so close to just culling all but Bones and starting over in March.
(Edited to add Chicken names in the case that it might make reading this thread easier to understand)
A month later... I have three bloodied hens and two hens that are causing the issues. Neither one was part of the original problem... it seems it was a learned behavior or something.
Anyway... I don't know what to do. This morning I discovered that my favorite hen, Bones, has been plucked bald below her tail and is now bloody as well... Yesterday she was fine.
The two doing all the pecking and plucking are both the dominant females of their flock.... and they rarely pluck/peck each other... they also eat the feathers and chunks of flesh off the hens they are pestering.
What is causing this? I am so close to just culling all but Bones and starting over in March.
(Edited to add Chicken names in the case that it might make reading this thread easier to understand)
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