Getting pecked to pieces

[Kyzmette]

Take the barred rocks out a couple of days and isolate them, then reintroduce them?

 

[mcDuck]

I'm sort if running out of places to put all these critters. Each seems to need a private room! Maybe I'll invest in a large dog cage and then try to manage it... Aaargh

 

[Kyzmette]

Cages and dog carriers work really well. I got some chickens I didn't expect this weekend and the guy building my new pen is taking longer than he was supposed to. I have one pair in a large carrier and a trio in a dogloo.

 

[mcDuck]

So is the thinking to isolate in such a way that they cannot see or hear each other for the time frame you pick? 3 days? 5? Or can they be nearby but physically unable to connect?

 

[Kyzmette]

Any time you take a chicken which is higher in the pecking order out of the flock then reintroduce her, the pecking order has to be reestablished. The pecker becomes the peckee. So yes, it's best to completely remove the hen. If it's just a pecking order thing you may find peace tgis way. If you have a hen with a naturally aggressive personality, she may wrest the top pecking spot back with some vicious pecking.

There's a lot of other issues you want to look at, too. Chickens can be overly aggressive for a number of reasons, but especially if the competition for resources is too steep. If their pen is too small or there's not enough food or water they can be aggressive. I'm definitely not an expert, but there are some great threads on pecking order. Do a search and you'll get some great info.

 

[Pathfinders]

Any time you take a chicken which is higher in the pecking order out of the flock then reintroduce her, the pecking order has to be reestablished. The pecker becomes the peckee. So yes, it's best to completely remove the hen. If it's just a pecking order thing you may find peace tgis way. If you have a hen with a naturally aggressive personality, she may wrest the top pecking spot back with some vicious pecking.

There's a lot of other issues you want to look at, too. Chickens can be overly aggressive for a number of reasons, but especially if the competition for resources is too steep. If their pen is too small or there's not enough food or water they can be aggressive. I'm definitely not an expert, but there are some great threads on pecking order. Do a search and you'll get some great info.

I agree, you want to make sure there's no lack of space or feed that could be causing this. A cramped, bored chicken is a destructive chicken. Giving the ones lower in the pecking order room to run away from the ones higher will reduce injuries too.

 

[Kyzmette]

Try this thread...

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/820878/whats-the-purpose-for-pecking-order

 

[The Yakima Kid]

You may have to keep her separated until her feathers are mostly in. Cannibalism seems to be a heritable, genetic trait.

Chickens will learn it from an instigator; if you can determine who starts the attacks, sometimes removing them alone for a while will help. I take them out for a minimum of a week.

 

[mcDuck]

Thanks for your reply. She is back with the mellower other two now, and my aggressors are locked up in maximum security... One week seems to be the consensus on wait time, but my previously Unfeathered sad sack can't seem to get her mojo back and hangs on the roost avoiding the other two gentler ones... I guess after the week when I mix them up again it will have to sort itself out. I hate to "rehome" the sweet sad sack, but she has to hold her own or the behavior seems to be encouraged ...this all reminds me entirely too much of my days as a middle school principal.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

You could try getting some BlueKote spray.... Some people say that BlueKote causes chickens to peck more at the blue color, but others say that it works. I haven't used it extensively, but the few times that I have used it, its worked.

In the dim dark past BlueKote or a similar blue medicine like Jensen Violet was marketed as "Blue Anti Pick Lotion" What ever the name it works.