Fighting chickens and bloody combs. Not sure what’s happening!

[LaFleche]

In addition to provide more privacy, you could put a fake egg in each nest to prevent them fighting over nest boxes as they will always want to use the one where they can see an egg already in.

 

[ChicksNBoys]

How many chickens do you have?
If you are not sure of their gender, just upload good pictures of their heads and their back seen from above, so we can assess their appearance and try to determine the gender that way.

I have 10 total. All were purchased in the sexed bins at Tractor Supply. I know that doesn’t mean they will be female. Here are two that I have always questioned being female.

How many chickens do you have?
If you are not sure of their gender, just upload good pictures of their heads and their back seen from above, so we can assess their appearance and try to determine the gender that way.

I have 10 total. I purchased them from the sexed bins at Tractor Supply. I know it isn’t full proof. Here are the two I question the most.

 

[LaFleche]

These are all female. Leghorns have enormous combs and your black Australorp is already laying or will start very soon..

 

[ChicksNBoys]

Some dividers for your nesting boxes may help.
How big is your coop? Are you feeding a good quality feed & without too many treats? Crowding and poor nutrition seem to be the biggest issues when fighting occurs among hens.

I feed them a pellet feed from purina. Here is the area we have for our chickens in. I only let them out in the gated area once a day or so. My dogs love to pester them.

 

[ChicksNBoys]

These are all female. Leghorns have enormous combs and your black Australorp is already laying or will start very soon..

So the black one in the photo is the same one in the video. If she isn’t a rooster are they just fighting over who is going to lay where?

 

[keesmom]

Has the black one laid an egg yet? She looks like a Minorca.

The Leghorn wants that spot, and is making that very clear. A divider will help.

 

[ChicksNBoys]

Has the black one laid an egg yet? She looks like a Minorca.

The Leghorn wants that spot, and is making that very clear. A divider will help.

I’m not sure if she has yet. The other girls squat almost every time I go to pet them where she has only once or twice.

 

[janiedoe]

You really need some nest dividers for privacy. And honestly, if they are locked in the coop for most of their day, they are probably bored and you'll have more problems with fighting.
You need a run that they can access during the day. You also need hardware cloth on the coop. Chicken wire isn't really much protection from predators, especially at night.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I got my chickens at a day old in July and some started laying last week. I haven’t really seen them get nasty towards each other and being that this is a first go around for me, I’m not sure what is happening. Are they going broody? Are they just mean? And what do I do about the bloody combs?

Nest boxes separated by a divider may help. Also when they are starting to lay they frequently become a bit aggressive.

x2. Doesn't have to be anything fancy, some scrap wood would do just fine, but they're fighting over the nests and because they can see each other so clearly, they're sitting targets, basically.

And laying onset can mess with their hormones and behaviors, so this isn't unexpected.

I don't typically mess with bloody combs. They'll heal well enough on their own if you just leave them be.