Hen being pecked raw

[MelissaB]

I have three 7 month old Rhode Island Red hens. They have a large coop and a run they always have access to. One of the hens has been sick and I have made posts about her prior to this one. Unfortunately, she is now being pecked relentlessly by the biggest hen of the bunch. I removed her from the group and set her up in the garage to heal. One afternoon I had the garage door open to give her some fresh air and she escaped and ran out to the other birds in the run. She really wanted to be back with them. I put her back in with the others but bought some spray that is supposed to discourage pecking. I soaked her backside in hopes it would stop, however, it seems to have continued. She continues to get more bald and more raw. I threw a head of cabbage in the run to give them a distraction. (I read this on another site.) This also seems not to have worked. Does anyone have any ideas? I really hate to see her being bullied.

 

[Freebie]

I seem to remember another post kinda like this, and someone recommended removing the one doing the pecking for a few days, and see if that helps. If you have an excessively mean hen, I have read that some people rehome them or have them for dinner.

I have been lucky not to have had this problem yet.

 

[warren]

I only have 2 hens. One is very greedy used to gobble up any treats before the other could get much. The slow one has started to peck the greedy one unmercifully and draws blood. The greedy one now keeps back until the other has had what she wants. She seems very afraid of the other. I have found that a liberal dusting of talcum powder helps a lot especially if there is blood. It tones down the colour of the blood and must feel nasty on the tongue. The only problem is that you have to apply it often as it gets shaken off....It makes them smell nice too! lol

 

[SeaChick]

Hi Melissa,
When my RIR pullet started laying, her normally sweet personality changed and she began pecking and eating the feathers from our red sex lin's lower back. Over the course of several days the behavior increased so that she drew blood. We removed her to a temporary cage inside for a while (I can't remember now, 4 days or so?) in hopes that by re-introducing her she'd change. Apparently that HAS worked for some folks. Unfortunately not for us. I also tried BlueKote and mentholatum on the victim's back, but the aggressor just switched to haunches instead, and started attacking everyone of the other 4 girls, even when she was happy/busy out free ranging!
It became obvious we couldn't keep her, since we have such a small flock and she was disturbing the peace so badly. Angie n Maine, a member here, adopted her. Angie has roosters and her birds free range all day. Apparently our girl (Hazel) is doing very well there, no bad behavior at all!!!
Maybe you could try a "vacation" for her with another flock (though then you have the whole quarantine issue) to break her of the habit?
Good luck, you have my sympathy!
Stacey