My Isa Reds are pecking

[besjoux]

It's bad this winter but they have 6 sq ft per bird in the coop and over 14 in the run. They are cooped up a lot due to the cold and huge amounts of snow. I've tried everything but we did have to cull one 2 days ago. She was pecked so badly. ANyways, I have found that ALL of my Isa's are the culprits. The irony is that they are the younger birds. Is this a breed thing? Should I just get rid of the 3 Isa's that are pecking? I have tried lots of scratch, shoveling and adding hay to the run, EVERYTHING and they continue to peck. And it takes little to no time for them to induce some serious damage to the culprit.

I also free range but they have no interesting in leaving the coop right now.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Would you consider Pinless Peepers to put a stop to it? If you are feeding a lot of scratch, what is your protein level at? It seems a lot of the RSLs are bossy birds and can be pushy, and it is a hard habit to break no matter who is doing it.

 

[besjoux]

We do their normal feed and BOSS. I have also added in cat food. I might just cull the 3 that are the culprits. Seems to be a breed thing TBH. I have no time or patience for that. I might, as a last ditch effort, remove the 3 bad chickens for awhile and reintroduce.

 

[Bullitt]

It's bad this winter but they have 6 sq ft per bird in the coop and over 14 in the run. They are cooped up a lot due to the cold and huge amounts of snow. I've tried everything but we did have to cull one 2 days ago. She was pecked so badly. ANyways, I have found that ALL of my Isa's are the culprits. The irony is that they are the younger birds. Is this a breed thing? Should I just get rid of the 3 Isa's that are pecking? I have tried lots of scratch, shoveling and adding hay to the run, EVERYTHING and they continue to peck. And it takes little to no time for them to induce some serious damage to the culprit.

I also free range but they have no interesting in leaving the coop right now.

ISA is a corporation that creates hybrids, like the ISA Brown and ISA Red. These are chickens created for commercial egg production. That probably means they usually put them in little cages to lay eggs so they won't be able to peck each other.

My suggestion would be not to get this type of chicken in the future. If you get a breed you have a better chance of knowing what the personality will be.

 

[chickenboy190]

I saw you gave them cat food that is not good for them.I have 4 ISA Browns and they are really nice so I don't know about that.

 

[besjoux]

I give them a handful a day of cat food. Someone here mentioned that sometimes lower salt and protien contributes to pecking and that sometimes cat food can help. They get a variety of food but mostly eat the layer pellets that we provide.

 

[besjoux]

I decided to get rid of them and get something a little more friendly.

 

[Bullitt]

I decided to get rid of them and get something a little more friendly.

What are you thinking of getting? Usually the larger breeds are calmer and friendlier. Maybe Orpingtons, Brahmas, or something like that?

 

[besjoux]

I am open to suggestions as this is only my 2nd year into chickens. I was hoping for a good producer who is friendly in a flock. I like to look at them but I don't need a friendly chicken with me (someone who sits on my lap). I don't like to get too attached because we free range and have a ton of hawks. I read that the ISA's were calm and good with confinement and that is not my experience. They were somewhat into everything and (now I know) they are bad with other chickens. I love my EE's but we lost one who prolapsed this fall and she was my favorite.

 

[Kelsie2290]

If you are looking for a heavy breed, Australorp, Delaware, Wyandottes and Sussex are some I'd consider. They are all pretty good winter layers and decent layers in general, pretty level temperaments. They won't lay as good as the RSLs. I like New Hampshire Reds, but if you had trouble with the RSLs you may not like those either, and same with the Rhode Island Reds (I actually have found them worse than the RSLs have ever been.) Do you have any leghorn types or would you consider anything like Leghorns, Ancona, Minorca etc?