Hen killed and older chicken. Please help...

[nik0022]

We have 2 hens and a rooster. Back in July one laid eggs and we moved them into the coop with both hens inside. Out of 4 hatched 2 survived and looked like everything was ok. In about a week we found one chicken dead and one hen had blood on her. We got her out off the coop... until last night. So, by now the chicken turned into young hen and was 5-5.5 months old. Despite on my plea, my husband moved all of them in a coop including the rooster. This morning I found the poor chick on the top rafter right under the roof. Just now I went to check on the food and water and found her dead with obvious broken neck from picking... What should we do? Seems like that hen keeps killing all the chicks young or even bigger in size..

 

[Judy]

What is yoru setup? Usually this kind of behavior is due to too little space.

Also, if a chicken dies for whatever cause, the others will peck at the body, even eat it or parts of it.

 

[donrae]

I'm kind of confused by your post. How many birds did you have, how old were they, and how much space in the coop? Is there a run, are they free ranged? Are predators an issue?

I agree with flockwatcher, a bird can die for many reasons and the others will pick at the body.