I think my chickens are killing each other

[UniqueD]

I had 10 chicken which I was told were white rocks when I bought them. They were not, so I'm not sure what they are. They are now 6 1/2 months old and just started laying eggs in the past few weeks. There were 9 girls and 1 rooster. The rooster is oversexed in my opinion as he jumps on a girl about every 15 minutes, at least while I'm outside. He is very controlling. Tuesday when we went to lock them up for the night,we found a dead chicken in the coop. There was blood on her neck. There was another chicken in the corner who appeared scared and she had blood on her neck as well. Everyone else was up on the roosting bar. At that point I thought perhaps those 2 had been fighting and I feared she would be dead by the next morning. The next morning there was another dead chicken in the coop. The injuried chicken from the previous night still had blood on her head and neck. No one else had blood on them. I thought she was the chicken killer so I attended to her that evening...bath, antibiotic cream and I separated her. Well, the next morning we opened the coop and again there was another dead chicken....dead in one of the nesting boxes. Again, blood on her neck. At this point we thought it must be the rooster. So I separed him last night. I was down to only 5 chickens in that coop and thought my girls would be safe. I noticed that four sat together on the roosting bar, but 1 sat at the end where my rooster usually sits....all by herself. I noticed she had some feathers missing from her butt. Well this morning.....she was dead when we opened the coop. There was blood on her neck and I didn't look any closer for injuries as I just devastated. I went back out to observe the other chickens and saw them eating as looks like intestines. Now I am really just sick. They had a feeder full of food and this is what they were eating. This seems like cannibalism to me. I've never seem them really fight, peck each other occasionally, but not fight. I've never seen them even pull each other feathers. Tonight I divided up the coop the best I could and have all of them separate. I don't think I can stand another morning of finding another dead chicken. I hate to kill them and hate for them to kill each other. I've invested a lot in these chickens. Their coop appears predator proof. Do I have psycho killer chickens? Have you ever heard of this? Do you have any suggestions? Please help.

 

[Brookliner]

What kind of wire are you using? If you aren't using 1/2" hardware cloth you might have a weasel or mink getting in they kill with one bite to the neck.

 

[UniqueD]

My run is made with wood and 1/4" hardware cloth... I didn't want snakes to get in. Their coop is made of wood with 4 vent for air. It's about 4 feet off the ground. Would a weasel or mink kill them one per night. The one this morning had intestines out too, but it didn't eat the meat. Can I spray anything around the coop to keep possible predators away....deer begone or anything similiar? Is there anything I can do if it's a mink or weasel? I hope 2 other coops too, one with 2 month old babies. Do you think it's possible they are killing each other? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Brookliner]

I think. You have something getting in. You need to check to see where this is possible. Some predators will come and take one a night. I don't think your chickens are killing each other.

 

[purpletree23]

It would really help if you could post a picture or 2 of your coop.