Hi - New member who just lost her first chicken - help!

[daveandlily]

I recently began raising 4 chickens and all seemed well last night when I put them to bed and today I found one dead in the coop. There are no obvious signs as to what happened but they all looked healthy and were eating and drinking well. I have a suspicion that one of the larger birds may have done the other in??? She is now following the other two around (who are quite a bit smaller) and occasionally pecking at them. What should I do next?

 

[wyliefarms]

Are they all the same age? Their is a pecking order in chickens, so maybe they are refiguring it out with one dead?

Sorry for your loss!

 

[wolftracks]

from California.

I had a problem with a dom that would peck my polish without mercy.
I fianlly walked around the yard wth a broom one day and although I didn't sent her flying ( I want too) but I would give her a light swat in the rump every time she went after them. It took a couple of times and next thing I knew she was sharing their coop. Never had a problem after that, but I was out there a couple of hours and made sure I caught her each time.

 

[b.hromada]

Sorry for the loss for your baby.

and

from S. Florida! Glad you joined us. You'll get lots of answers to questions you may have.

 

[BarredBuff]

from Eastern Kentucky.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

and

from Ohio. So sorry for your loss.

 

[ThePigeonKid]

from Ohio!

Glad you joined!

 

[CMV]

I'm sorry it wasn't under better circumstances. I have an insufferable bully in my coop. She has been a terror for a long time. When she gets too uppity I lock her in birdie jail for a few days. I have a wire bottomed cage in my garage that is used for quarantine/broody breaking/bad behavior/babies as needed. Removing the bully for a few days is likely to knock her down a few pegs on the pecking order. If the bully is much larger than the others then you may have an on-going problem. Is the size disparity an age thing or a breed thing? If the bigger one is just older then the problem may resolve as they all reach full size, but if the disparity is related to different breeds then... You may need to provide the smaller birds with places to hide from the brute or obstacles they can dart around to avoid getting pecked at. Lastly, make sure they have enough space. Chickens get stressed and show bad behavior if they are too crowded in a space.
I hope this helps. Chickens are a tough bunch with hard rules sometimes. Hopefully they are just working out their pecking order, but it doesn't generally lead to fatalities. I hope things start to settle down soon.
Good luck.

 

[Soaring Chicks]

from Wv.