My chicken is pecking its mum! Her comb is bleeding!

[Min27]

Just when I thought they'd all get along well. I have a young ancona bantam chicken who has just started laying (well she's been laying for about a month). A broody hen of mine hatched and raised her, and she was eventually accepted into the flock.

Full thread on this here - https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/708502/first-time-hatching-eggs-with-broody-hen/30#post_10979336

Just recently I've found she's started to chase the mum hen and peck her savagely. Yesterday morning I found her comb bleeding, and she was trying to hide her head. So I put the young chicken in solitary confinement (locked her in the chicken tractor) for the day and made the injured chicken sleep separately in the garden shed last night.

I don't know why this is happening. Usually they can sleep right next to each other and not have a problem. The ancona chicken does attack the color red though (I was wearing a red shirt once and she tried to eat it) and the color of blood might have set her off. I'm keeping her separated until the injured chicken has completely healed.

Is there anything I can do to make them get along again?

 

[Clackclack]

Try putting Blue-Kote on the wound to cover up the colour.

 

[Min27]

Sorry I've taken so long to reply.

I tried putting a band aid on the chicken's comb to cover the colour, but she was still chased and pecked (then I took it off, because it didn't look very comfortable).

Maybe I just need to separate the two until the wounds have healed. All the other chickens seem to be getting along fine with the injured one. They don't peck her wounds like I thought they would.

 

[Min27]

Just an update. I've tried separating the bullying chicken for a couple of days. I guess it didn't work because we had to put her in a cage inside the chicken run where all the other chickens could see her. But she has stayed and slept in there for the whole time, being very stressed.

Today I let her out to graze with the others. For the morning her behavior looked promising. She was grazing normally and wasn't chasing her mum (well, only when she got too close to her). Then when the afternoon came she began to get more aggressive towards the mum chicken, chasing her and pecking her. At bedtime, I noticed something different. The bully chicken wasn't pecking the chicken's comb anymore. It was pecking at the feathers around the neck and head. They're all sleeping together tonight because I was able to arrange the chickens so that the mum chicken had another chicken between her and the bully on the perch, and another chicken (that's higher up in the peck order) close by in the laying tray (they sleep in a chicken tractor with a perch and a laying tray). So she's got chicken bodyguards around her.

 

[donrae]

How much space do you have for your birds? That's usually the first consideration with pecking. Second is, is there anything wrong with the bird being pecked? Chickens can sense weakness or illness and are ruthless about culling.

 

[Min27]

Sorry I've taken so long to respond.

They have a lot of space to run around in. Their run is about 10 square meters in area, and there's a vine growing that they like to hide under and dust bath. It helps that I only have four chickens (including the bully) so it seems like a lot of space for them.

The chicken being pecked doesn't seem to have anything wrong with it. She's a pekin/cochin bantam, which is a fluffy, docile and non-flying breed. She might be getting a bit old, because we've had her for a few years. Her comb is completely healed, but she still has a bald spot on her head from when the other chicken has pulled some feathers out.

I've tried putting the chickens back to together for short times, but the young ancona still chases the mother and pecks her bald spot, so I'm keeping the offending chicken in isolation.

My parents suggest I trade her at my local produce place for a docile chicken (maybe another pekin). So far I've researched that pekin and wyandotte breeds look friendly enough. Are there any other placid and docile breeds that aren't likely to fight? It would be a bonus if they were a good egg layer.