It was an inside job!

[lovesgliders]

Woke up this morning to blood all over the inside of the coop, of course I panicked and started doing a headcount, looked all over for a predator but not a sign, and every bird is accounted for...

One of my Sicilian buttercups is definitely the owner of the blood, part of her comb is missing and she is acting very poorly (fluffed up and not moving much).

My flock consists of 9 hens (three of which are tiny Silkie bantams), 1 RIR rooster, and 5 guinea fowl (2 male/3 female). I honestly have never observed any bullying and I spend a lot of time with my birds.

And if someone was going to get picked on and beat up, I would've assumed it would be my wimpy Salmon Faverolle or one of the little Silkies...

Any thoughts? Anyone ever been through this? Is there anything I can do for the buttercup? I am quite scared to bring her inside because it might stress her out more, plus it's very warm in here and very cold out there and I don't want to make her uncomfortable, plus I don't want the flock to "forget" her if she convalesces in here and then has to be re-introduced.

I think it must've been the guineas that did it but I hate to assume and get rid of them if I am wrong. I am quite fond of them! Do guineas usually pick on hens?

 

[kreagerm]

It just takes one good peck to rip off a piece of comb, and as you can see the comb is very vascular. It could have been a peck during the roosting pole line up. I know mine will peck when they are starting to jump on the roosting pole. They all seem to want to be near the window at night, lol

 

[lovesgliders]

Bump! Anyone else?

 

[mickey328]

As with most animals, the workings of a "pecking order" are mysterious. Human logic never seems to apply. It is, however, fluid. If you have a "bully" you can separate it for a day or two and the pecking order generally changes.

As kreagerm said, it might well have just been a "misplaced" peck, in which case there's not much to be done. If it had hit her body or anywhere other than her comb, it wouldn't likely have caused any damage at all. If there are no other signs of bullying, ie bald spots, then I wouldn't worry too much about it.

We have one that picks on 2 of the others fiercely...the bullied ones (and one with a sprain) are in a different spot now, but when we re-integrate them, we'll remove the bully for a couple of days to see if that doesn't take some of the feistiness out of her.