Fighting chickens?

[meandmypekins]

Hi all,
I've got three Pekin Bantams who seem to have been getting along pretty well lately. However, I've noticed that two of them have some really quite large areas of feather loss on their backs (as if they've been jumped on and clawed by the others) and under their wings that are looking pretty raw and one has quite a lot black scabs on her comb that I'm pretty sure are peck marks. I haven't actually seen them fighting, though, although they tend to squawk a lot when I shut them away at night so perhaps they're fighting over sleeping arrangements? Or maybe something else is causing this? They've got good appetites, are pretty active and are laying well at the moment although they did have a spot of red mite about a month ago. Any suggestions as to what's going on and how I can make things better for my girls? I've heard that putting a red light in the coop at night can put them off fighting...
Sorry that their other threads like this out there but I wanted some specific advice as I'm fairly new to chicken keeping.
Thanks in advance for any tips

 

[Judy]

This sounds like damage from a rough rooster. If you are sure there is no rooster, one may have taken the role of rooster. A hen can climb on other hens' backs and act as if mating the hen, and even (sort of) crow, when this hapens.

 

[meandmypekins]

They're definitely all hens but their injuries do fit that description- any ideas on what I can do about it?