chickens gone crazy!

[msmechanic58]

We are having trouble with pecking and pulling feathers. One bird in particular seems to be the aggressor but even with her put in chicken time out, the others have pecked at our wyandotte to the point of drawing blood around her tail feathers. We have 10 hens together in one coop and they are mixed in breeds. 3 production reds, 4 rhode island reds, 2 barred plymouth rocks, and one silverlaced wyandotte. The wyandotte was isolated and the wound healed but her feathers had not grown back over. After reading on the forum, we tried blue-kote and it worked for just a few hours even after reapplication. We bought flock-blocks and installed a bug zapper over the pen yesterday. Four of the hens have begun laying and the other 6 have not. Any thoughts as to causes or methods of stopping this behavior. It is to the point of isolating several chickens. Do we need to separate by breeds? We also have 5 smaller chickens that are in separate quarters that we would like to try to move together at some point. That is not looking promising at this point. The heat has been terrible the last week and that is when the pecking has started to become violent. HELP!

 

[cindylo]

Get any bird that has blood segregated asap. Chickens instinctively attack if there's blood. You could try dividing the coop to segregate small from large birds. Also, check your birds for mites or other pests that could be a contributing factor. Get come "Blue Kote, Hot Pik" or similar brand anti pick salve from the farm supply store and use it liberally to discourage the practice of picking. Good luck to you and your flock. I'll bet things settle down once all of the chickens are more used to each other and there's fewer differences between them.

 

[hcppam]

Quote:
agree

Hi, from big bear, you'll love all the info you get here!

 

[msmechanic58]

They have been together since week 1. The wyandotte is separated and hopefully healing! She is where they can still see her and she them but they cannot get to each other. We have dusted the coop again for mites and dusted the hens today with sevin. I did not see any evidence of mites, lice, etc. The wyandotte was the top hen until the others started laying. She is one of the girls who is not laying yet.

 

[msmechanic58]

Quote:
agree

Hi, from big bear, you'll love all the info you get here!

Thank you for the warm welcome!