Chickens pecking eachother- help I'm new to this!

[jsmolerat]

My mom and I are chickingsitting my brother's chickens and roosters and he warned me that they have been pulling eachother's feathers out. He plans to double the size of their coop when he returns home later this week. The pecking is getting worse in the 2 weeks we've been watching them. They all have large bare spots on their backs and yesterday we noticed that one has an open gaping hole on her back. Its about an inch wide and an inch deep- all purple and bloody. I know that I can't leave her in their with the other chickens so I just brought her home to my house and have her in a dog crate. I have a temporary enclosure I can set up in my grass to let her out during the day. Can I leave her in the dog crate at night in the garage? Can she be away from the other chickens while she heals? I'm totally new to taking care of chickens so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[fer-gar96]

i would keep the chicken in the dog cage until it heals....... and concerning your chickens pecking each other they probably need more protein ..... i would buy them a different feed with more protein..


Hope this helped if it did plz like

 

[moomoodiddy]

keep any bleeding chickens alone chickens are attracted to red and will peck at it if he has just gotten the chickens from diff places they are probably establishing a pecking order but most likely bored to death try putting interesting things in there like shiny pie pans hangong from the ceiling tasty treats like fruit yogurt bread and if there is one mean in particular or one being bullied seperate them good luck!!!!!!

 

[7L Farm]

Might want to put some blu-kote on the pecked area.

 

[jsmolerat]

Thanks so much for your advice!

 

[Lotusbud]

My 16-week old pullets started picking on one sickly bird (EE) and another one who looks very similar to the sick one. I think your worst injured one should be separated from the group until she heals (poor thing!) and either way, she'll still be at the bottom of the pecking order for a while. My girls behave better if they get plenty of foraging time, plus good protein in their diet, plus interesting things to peck at. I hang a head of broccoli by twine in the coop, just enough above their heads that it becomes a game to jump & peck at it. Other veggies work too (cabbage, etc.). I read that putting up a red-bulb heat lamp in the coop, or covering the windows with red see-through plastic (hard red plastic like in those 3D glasses) will help curb the pecking. Finally, I sewed up a couple of 'hen vests' for my picked-on girls. I used old jeans material and elastic banding, and I cut a V-notch to cover the tail where they get pecked. Google 'hen saddle' or something like that to find a photo - they are sold commercially by a few places. Good luck!

 

[jsmolerat]

Thanks so much for the great ideas. She is currently resting in a little enclosure in my backyard while she recovers. Sounds like everyone is suggesting more protein in their diet, which we will change right away. And I am on my way to the store to get a head of broccoli to hang in the coop- sounds like a great idea (and distraction)! I will check into the little hen vests as well, although I can just picture my brother laughing when he comes home and I have his chickens wearing clothes! But you gotta do what yougotta do!

Thanks again!

 

[Lotusbud]

Happy to help! My girls are out of their hen vests now and all are behaving. The sickly one has even moved up in the pecking order! Hope your girl heals up soon.