Lost our first chicken - cannibalism

[TipsyDog]

Sorry you lost your girl. After all the rain last summer, we built a roof over our run with clear poly paneling. LOVE IT! We had a foot of snow today and I just pulled it off with the roof rake. Their run is always dry and no shoveling or mud. I have 7 chickens and my coop is only 5 x 6 so I could never keep them in there all day. They are outside from sun up to sun down regardless of the temperatures. We did put wood panels all around the run, about 4' up to enclose them for the winter so they are protected from the winds and blowing snow. It's worked out well for us - perhaps you can do some modifications to your run in the spring. Good Luck!

 

[RickMiller]

Thank you every one for all of the good advice. I hung a cabbage in the coop tonight and they showed mild interest. This weekend I need to make some modifications to their run and start letting them out again all day. I've spent a fair amount of time quietly observing them and all of the others seem to get along fine. Juliet was the only one that was really picked on by most of the other five. Not a feather missing from any of the others. Even tonight I watched them for a short time and there seems to be relative harmony.

Thanks again to you all. I'm glad we have a resource like this.

 

[kelidei]

So sorry about your girl

. I've had chickens get picked on but followed the advice here. I take them out, let them heal and paint them up with blue kote and return them. I also think getting them outside might help. I had a problem with mine going out in the snow and what I did was put down straw--- instant happy campers--- now they go out all the time and in fact spend a good part of the day outside. I throw them Black oil sunflower seeds, hang cabbage and other greens for them too --- I put high protein seed cakes in the coops keep them busy inside. good luck!

 

[patandchickens]

To encourage them to spend less time in each others' laps getting grumpy, you can spread straw and scatter scratch just outside the door, as the previous poster noted, and then SHOVE THEM OUT THE DOOR

Seriously. A lot of times it's not so much that they're reluctant to be outdoors (if there is something to actually do out there), it's just that they are reluctant to GO out. Pitch the lot of 'em out, in such a way that they rapidly discover the amusements you've set out there for them, and they may turn into a much outdoorsier flock.

Good luck and condolences,

Pat