hen pecking and wounding another

[Tigertrea]

AHHHH!!! I came home today and one of my hens had a (a coumbian mix) bleeding spot on her rump. I saw one of my black sex linked peck at her a few times. I remembered it can be lack of protein so, I just went and got a layer supplement (22% protein). Should I replace their layer with flax (17% protein) with the supplement or, use it as a, well, supplement LOL. I have separated the bleeding hen. We don't normally get very much cold weather so, I didn't insulate their coop but, I put a heat lamp (hung from with 2 "backups" in case my main chain breaks) in the coop yesterday with a 250W red bulb. Yesterday and today they have spent most of their time in the coop. I have a coop that is only 8X4 for them so, I know they are tight in there. It is 8' high and they have lots of room to move about on roosts and a walkway. I wasn't worried about them being a little tight in the coop, they have enough roosting space and an attached run (10X8) that they have access too from dawn to dusk. They have never seem stressed until today. Besides building them a new coop tomorrow is there anything else I can do? I have some food scraps and a little scratch in their run as well as perches. I'd put a cabbage head or pumpkin in but, it would just freeze solid in an hour or less. (I'm changing their water every hour today!)

 

[sumi]

It could be boredom. If they peck each other and eat each other's feathers it could be lack of protein. But boosting their protein intake during this cold spell wouldn't harm them though. Put some blu cote on the injured hens' rump to mask the blood and stop the others pecking it. A bit more coop space would help too. Good luck!

 

[Tigertrea]

Thanks. I currently have their nest boxes inside the coop and that does take up floor space since I didn't put them high enough for them to get under the nests. I am planning on changing that this summer.

another question, is it normal for them to still look like they are molting this time of year? 3 of my hens (all the same breed, columbian mixed breed) still have no feathers on their lower back area (rump) and bums. My RIRs have almost all their feathers except on their bums, the black sex linked have the most feathers but, still have slightly bare bums.

 

[donrae]

How long have they been bare? Sounds like you might want to check for mites.

 

[Tigertrea]

They have been bare about month and a bit (I'd say around 5 weeks). I'll take a look at them for mites. I looked a couple weeks ago and didn't see any but, their dust bath is frozen solid too so they haven't been able to use it for about 2 weeks now.