I think my chickens are killing each other

[dmiravalle]

Maybe they saw The Shining!!!

 

[Miss Lydia]

This morning I opened to can of wild caught salmon for my birds... oh my gosh they had a feast.. I will do that 1x a week for a while, great protein.

 

[Frannabelle]

Regarding using the red lights in the coop, I use a ceramic heat bulb which provides heat but zero light. In the past though, I used a reptile black light because the red light was keeping the flock up at night. My roo was crowing at 3:00 am. Changing to the reptile black light fixed that problem, then I discovered the ceramic light.
I think protein in their diet will help too. I feed mine meat scraps, eggs and also canned cat tuna fish on occasion.

 

[dmiravalle]

Quote:
Ceramic lights are great, because as your red or any other color bulb for that matter gets dusty it will go out or if it gets bumped to hard. You won't run into that with the ceramic and they last a REALLY long time for the money.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Where do you buy ceramic heat bulbs at?

 

[Frannabelle]

Many pet stores carry them, but I ordered mine from drsfoster&smith.com

 

[dmiravalle]

Any pet store with a reptile section will have them. I owned a large store for many years so the bulbs where always being bumped etc., by employees. We had 50 reptile cages so it got to expensive, so I switched all the tanks to the ceramic for their source of heat. Best investment I ever made, oh and you can clean them really easily with just some rubbing alchohol.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Thanks I'll look into that. I have a really good heat lamp I bought from Premier1 but when I used it last the hens pecked one of my roos wattles till they bled so I haven't been using it. and this was with the red light.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I just saw this thread and read through. Lots of good advice from everyone. I think you have a rat. You had openings big enough for it to fit in. You have straw that it can hide in. There are no tracks because they burrow under and you wouldn't see tracks. They can get in during the day when the coop is open and hide out until the birds are in to roost and will attack when they are unable to to run away. They attack from below, which would explain why the bottoms were attacked. A weasel will attack the neck, drink out the blood and leave the rest. I know this for fact because that is exactly what one did to 4 of my rabbits, and that is how you identify a weasel attack. Rats and mice will come around where ever you have grains. I would set a small animals trap, like one for squirrels and chipmunks, inside the coop with some bait (not poison). The chickens can't get into it, but the rodent can. Even if you have sealed up everything, as long as it is open at all, a rodent could get in.
Personally, I don't think that your rogue hen did the original attack. I think once there was blood, she joined in the gruesome feast. She perhaps was in a frenzy because of it, or just thought that the roo had a bloody spot to peck off. Anyway, it is probably good you got her out of there.
I hope this is helpful and you catch the predator you have lurking about.

 

[auntieandi67]

Hi , you haven't posted since 2009, but thought Id take a chance that maybe you check back or this goes to your e-mail and notifies you. Anyway, your'e situation sounds exactly like our coop set-up. Were new to raisining chicks. My husbands done it in years past, but were amaturs. We also have Easter eggers verses Arancanas, Reds, Buffs, had Wyandotts, but that rooster just got killed by another rooster. We belive that a boss hen just kills another hen. She's been terrible. Weve lost another we introduced mistakenly in winter and shortly after a molt. , a BIG mistake, my coworker, who gave us the hens agreed. I've been wondering if its not just boredom and maybe the light source. We keep our heat lamp on 24 hours. Its Jand 2014 and the artic weather is hitting hard. .We have constant fresh water in heated dish, hay and feed them after work. Don't think hunger is the answer. We also don't know what to do to prevent this?