How To Get Chickens To Stop Pecking Another Chicken?

[LUVMY5HENS]

I have one chicken that gets constantly pecked, (to the point of bleeding) by the other girls. We moved her to a tractor with a new friend for about six months and she /they did fine. We had to get rid of the tractor, and put her back in then main coop. She has been back in there for about 3 weeks, and they are at it again. They have pecked a big patch of feathers off her back by her tail, and it is bleeding. How do I get the other girls to accept her and leave her alone? There is only 5 of them with a huge coop and run, they also get to come out in the yard when we are home. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! Btw, amerucauna is one getting beat up, by buff orps, and gl wyandottes.

 

[kscottjoyce]

I recently took a hen from my brother and the hen was getting pushed out of the coop and beaten by the other hens. I took her since it seemed like the most humane thing to do and now is happy in my flock. I guess you can either try to train every hen you have to stop pecking at her or find her a new home. Many people have that one hen that gets a real beating by the flock. Sad, but it is just the pecking order.

 

[kscottjoyce]

I would take her since I have a flock of all different aged hens and that seems to create a situation where hens do have a pecking order but are not as aggressive as they would be if they were all the same age. But who knows where you are. I do think the humane thing is to get her away from the flock.

 

[ralleia]

You'll certainly need to cover up that wound with some kind of dressing--otherwise the other chickens will continue to do damage and might end up killing her from infection.

Pick of some kind of anti-peck dressing (a lot of them contain tar to discourage pecking). You need to do something fast--or isolate the hen for a while so she can heal.

 

[Uzuri]

I had great success with putting Vicks Vapo-rub on the feathers of the ones being pecked during an integration dispute (if you've ever got the stuff on your lips, you'll understand why). Just put a gob on a pair of rubber gloves and wiped them across the problem hens' backs.

We've used it effectively when handling young rabbits as well (you put it on momma rabbit's nose); animals seem to be very scent oriented, and when you overpower their noses, sometimes the things that they're upset about just don't seem so important to 'em any more.

 

[LUVMY5HENS]

We have already moved her to a temporary pen and cleaned the wound. Thank you for the vicks idea! We will give that a try as soon as the wound is healed. She is our favorite chicken and we don't want to have to get rid of her.

 

[Tikkijane]

We used the Blu Kote with sucess on bloody feathers, fwiw. Once she was dry, we put her back in and she was ok. I have not tried the Vicks, though.... at least no one will have the sniffles, lol.

If you can't rehome her, can you just keep her in the tractor?

 

[floridachickhatcher]

I might have to try that vapor rub i cant buy the vicks brand though we have 67 hens and the price would be sky high or make my own by buying petroleum jelly and just pouring some eucalyptus oil in it

 

[aabbott]

the vicks idea is a great one- we have had a chicken in the house for 3 days because she was egg bound- although she is still walking and standing a bit like a penguin (someone had wondered about a hernia).... but we tried integrating her with her flock and it was not successful- One because she still isnt standing/walking normal- and Two- maybe we should have introduced her while the others were roosted- But if she isn't able to walk and stand lke the others, will he ever get back into the flockk successfully?

 

[Froggy with chickens now!]

When I brought in a new young hen, I didn't want my others to peck her, so I used the vick's on her back. I only had to do it twice, and they never bothered her again. You only have to put it on the one chick that is being pecked on. Just make sure to watch after several days when it is wearing off that the others are still leaving her alone. Or, put another dab on her! Keep her separated until she is healed, then use the Vicks! Good luck!