My chickens are fighting

[RookieChicken15]

So I have had 3 little chickens that have been together since they hatched, they were so nice to each other. I'm going to use their names Rosie, Willow and Sunnie.The are Red Sex Link (Red Stars) hens. They lay just fine and are just dandy. I woke up this morning to find blood on Rosie's waddle and comb. Willow has some blood on her nose. Why are they doing this? They have plenty of space, they have a 6+ foot run and there is only 3 of them. Please help.

 

[microchick]

Sounds like a power struggle for alpha statis amongst your hens to me. Even hens have a pecking order. One will be dominate. Once they work things out they will stop fighting. One of the other hens may occasionally challenge the alpha for dominance but for the most part, chickens are quite happy and accepting of their flock statis once it is established.

I'd just clean them off and keep an eye on them so they don't start pecking on the injured one. If one is fighting enough to draw blood you may want to put her in time out for awhile to let things cool off. Don't seperate her from the others for too long though or they will reset the pecking order and it will all start over again.

 

[RookieChicken15]

OK, sounds good. Thank you, I was getting worried about what they were trying to do.