hens attacking one another - help

[carol.lewishowe]

I need some advice what to do with my girls. I have now a flock of 4 reduced from 6 when 2 succumbed to what I believe was an outbreak of coccidosis earlier this summer. Yesterday my neighbor and I found 3 of the remaining hens (americauna, white leghorn and black astraulorp) beating up on the silver laced wyandotte. It was a pretty severe attack - all the feathers on her head were pecked off and her comb was really bloody. She was lying down on the ground in the corner of the coop. I separated her for 2 days from the others and then tried to reintroduce her to the others when they were all free-ranging in the yard. Immediately the white leghorn and black astraulorp got their feathers all fluffed up and attacked her, pecking her severely.
I don't know what to do now or why this is happening. I have a feeling that my hens had been tending towards cannibalism - 2 out of 3 have had their neck feathers pecked off. I have let them free range more, given more protein and put a flok-blok in the run for them to peck at. Is this extremely aggressive behavior just the next step in cannibalism? or is something else going on?
Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[chookchick]

Can you give us a little more information about them? How old are they? What is their diet? How big a run and coop do they have? Sounds pretty nasty, and in the summer?!

 

[becky3086]

Sounds like they are re-establishing the pecking order since the others died. Not a good thing though that they are being so rough. You may have to keep them separated.

 

[carol.lewishowe]

Thanks for your responses. The run is 4 feet by 12 feet with a 4 X 4 house above it. The hens are about 1 1/2 years old. They eat commercial organic pellets and I give them also grit, oyster shells, and sometimes cracked corn when I need to get them in from free-ranging which they do all over my yard about once a day for 1-4 hours. I also give them sometimes black oiled sunflower seeds, melon and berry leftovers and fresh corn cobs.

Later today when I tried to reintroduce the wyandotte with the others out in the garden, the americauna came up to her and it looked like a cock-fight. It was horrible. I am losing hope that I will ever be able to get them back together.

 

[Judy]

Cannibalism is literally eating the other chickens' body, not the same as feather picking. Feather picking is due to too little space or too little protein; as far as I know, nearly always due to one or the other.

Usually you can deal with severe chicken attacks by isolating the attacker, but you have more than one. I don't know a magic answer for you.

I would probably try separating all of them and do something different with the feed to increase protein.

Their coop and run are around the minimum recommended here. Maybe that's not enough for your birds; chickens are definitely individuals. I have a lot more space than the minimum so have no experience with this; have only done way too much reading here. Any chance you could turn them loose in the back yard for a while?

I imagine most organic feeds are vegetarian, though don't know this; never looked into it. Chickens are certainly not vegetarian, so I try to buy feeds that have animal protein in them, and my treats often are animal source. Perhaps some canned mackerel or tuna or a bit of cooked hamburger, or whatever is convenient, would be helpful. If the feed is 16% or 17% protein, that is minimum, and if it is organic, I suspect it is probably mostly soy protein. I'm not anywhere near enough of a feed expert to fuss about soy officially, but must admit, I have serious doubts about it.

If you really want to do some research, here are two excellent sites:

http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi

http://www.lionsgrip.com/chickens.html

 

[LynneP]

Might also be a protein or calcium deficiency. Check feed bag for quality and make sure there is enough ground limestone around. You'll have to separate the victim for a while to get her healed and to get the others up in protein if that is the problem. I'm finding my birds quite agressive in the extreme heat, and I've been replacing water often with cold well water. Apparently, like us, their blood sugars go up if they dehydrate even slightly and they turn into mega-witches.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd suggest keeping the injured hen separated from the others until she heals but keep her next to the others if possible. Then introduce the other hens one at a time, starting with the least aggresive if possible. If you can, keep separate feeding and watering stations for a week or two after you get them back together. Your space is tight so that might be part of the problem. With your space and the personalities of your hens, you may be able to keep only three hens.

Feather picking can (not necessarily will) lead to cannibalism. The feather picking becomes a habit and when a hen gets injured, it changes to cannibalism. Hopefully some of the dietary suggestions from the others will help.

Good luck!

 

[Brindlebtch]

Try upping the protein and putting clip on peepers on the aggressors.