Chickens Pecking Each other ( tried everything including spetcials )

[mavis4]

HI, first of all I'm only 14 however i am a huge animal lover and i love my chickens more than anything in the world and I'm really worried. any suggestions will be much appreciated and i will be sure tp try them all. As i am only 14 i have not got a job therefore only birthday and christmas money as I'm not allowed to get pocket money so please don't suggest things that cost over £30 as i simply will not be able to afford it and i would forever feel bad. Thank you.

I got my chickens august 2015 and it was the happiest months of my life. they are amazing they are like my best friends. they are so friendly its amazing. then in october i noticed that my rhode rock had a bald patch on her. i did some research and i thought it was moulting. i thought nothing more of it and carried on for normal for the next few months. then in january roughly her whole bum was bald. and then her legs and above her tail. i then realised it wasn't moulting and did a bit more research and discovered i thought they might be pecking each other. i had never seen them do this before so i was confused and thought maybe they do it whilst I'm at school. i set up a camera and for sure 2 of them were bullying her. they were constantly pecking her. when i watched it i cried. i was so upset that my babies were hurting each other. i intently ran to the shop and bought pecking spray. and that obviously didn't work. over the months i bought ever product. you name it I've had it. and nothing worked. i got to the point i had to put specials on them. i saw a huge improvement and her feathers were growing back. i though i had my nice babies back again. but was wrong. a few days later i see the same 2 attacking her and feathers coming out. once again i cried. there was nothing i could do at that point spot i decided to go and clean them out. to top off my wonderful say i was having i found some bloody red mites. i think I'm onto of that now but I'm in the process of saving up for a plastic coop to make that situation easier. so now basically no products have worked neither has specials. I'm at a lost and id not know what to do to help my baby girl out. it breaks my heart. what can i do and what should i do ?

i have 4 hens : rhode rock ( viaticum ) light sussex and blue tip ( bullies ) and a gold line who is the friendliest chicken you will ever meet in your life. When i am home they are free range. ( school is 6 hours ) and on the weekend they are free range all day.

please help me...

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Sorry you are having issues like this. It does happen. You can try to put the bully in "jail" for a few days. You could try pulling one of them out or both. Separate her into a cage or enclosure within you coop or run where the other birds still see her but she can't get to the victim. Watch to see how the others treat the victim during this time and see if she recovers somewhat.

Make sure your jail bird has food, water and is in a location safe from the weather and predators.

After a while (up to a week) release her back with the girls and see if the pecking order has shifted some.

Sadly, if they continue to bully your girl, I would get rid of the bullies. Re-home them to another flock. As they are new to the flock they would fall to the bottom and would most likely be "schooled" by the resident birds and potentially loose their bully behavior.

I hope this is helpful and I hope it resolves you issue.

Maybe others will chime in with other suggestions as well. Good luck!

 

[mavis4]

hi, i do not have a spare coop so where would i keep the bulls at night ? should i let them sleep altogether or should i try and buy a cheap second hand coop ?

 

[Puddin Fluff]

Just something like a dog crate that you can keep them from getting out of would work. You can even take a plastic storage bin lay it on its side and instead of putting the lid on, replace the lid with any extra wire mesh you might have around. Make sure the bird has room for food and water in the cage with it. You will need to clean it out daily or she will be sleeping in poo.