Chickens Pecking hen

[samnsuey]

I have a hen that is getting pecked at nighttime on their perch. It's only on the tops of her shoulders, I don't want to have to seperate her.
I've heard that you can put duct tape on the area to discourage pecking... If so, what color should I use?
Any other suggestions? Thanks!

 

[emys]

Not red. Blue or grey I would guess. You could use blue kote, I believe it does not taste good to a chicken and would deter the pecking. Any way to get more space on top roost?

 

[dawg53]

i think your hen could be the lowest one in the pecking order and for that reason,getting pecked by the others. also,space could be an issue. is your chicken house big enough,you may need to expand? crowding will cause pecking as well as squawking. i'd like to offer a temporary solution if overcrowding is the problem and until you expand: try growling like a dog or grunting like a hog outside their house after they go into their house for the night.this is when they start the squawking and picking. when you growl or grunt loudly they think it's a predator or something they've never heard before.then they become quiet and go to sleep. believe me it works and they still lay plenty of eggs the next day. i did this for about 2 weeks before payday,then i was able to expand my chicken house with no issues since.

 

[samnsuey]

They have plenty of space, they just like to crowd onto one roost.
She used to be at the top of the pecking order but now she gets pecked at nighttime!!!
Thanks for the suggestions! I think we'll try using the duct tape and see how that works.

 

[brandyb]

I am having the same problem, but i think i need more space. Going to build a bigger coop in the next couple of weeks. I have 6 partridge rocks and 3 of the hens are getting pecked like crazy. I'm going to try the duct tape thing also until my bigger coop is buiilt.

 

[dacjohns]

Duct tape? What's the trick? I'm picturing duct tape stuck to their feathers and the feathers getting ripped out unless you wait for the molt.

 

[brandyb]

I have read on here somewhere that you can put duct tape over the spot where the other hens are pecking and in a couple of weeks the duct tape will eventually fall off and the hen will have some of her feathers back. It said the hens don't mind it, so I'm going to try it with a small piece first and see how they react, then I'll go from there.

 

[walkerkm]

I'm having the same issue.
I have a hen that started to peck the lowest one in the order and caused her to bleed. I think they were board one am (i slept 40 mins. late) when they were cooped up-this how it all started. I applied the blu kote, but she still decides to peck at her. I thought it tastes bad? Her wound is getting better but the bad hen is still up to her tricks of walking past and throwing in a peck. I just ran out to the coop and applied the duct tape again-keeps falling off... i hate to separate her from the rest...what should i do? I'm thinking the bad one needs to go...she gives everyone the stink eye and is just plain old mean...

 

[mdbokc]

Take the chicken that is doing the bullying/pecking and put her in chicken jail for 5-7 days. Then let her back into the flock. My experience was that less than 5 days is not enough to take the 'stuffing out of her' and she'll revert to practice once reintroduced. Just our experience.

 

[samnsuey]

Good idea! That's what we do when one of our hens is being super mean, you just take her out for a couple of days and she enters back into the flock at the bottom of the pecking order.
Thanks for all of the great suggestions!