Well I am new to chicken raising. I started with 3 Pullets and there was a small pecking order issue that ended rather quickly and they all hang out now and no issues. I have to keep the cooped up during the day but let them out when I get home from work and on weekends. I decided to get a new pullet to add. I added her at night to the roost to lessen the impact. She got beat up the next day but no blood she kind of hid and that was it. I would let the others out and keep her in for the couple hours they were out so she could eat and drink without worring. Well Friday was exactly one week. I was out of town Wed-Fri and they were cooped up all three days. Come Saturday morning I checked them all and they all 4 were fine. I have to do a class on Saturday. When I got home in the afternoon to let them all out I found the new gils burried in pine chips with a hole in the back of her neck all the way to the spine. I could see the bones. I picked her up took her in the house and cleaned her, but she had a massive injury and was really weak I would say do to loss of blood. I had to make the hard decision to end her pain. I have never culled anything. I have hunted but pulling a trigger from a distance is completely different. I found my axe and sharpened it with a file as best I could. I found a 2x6 and nailed two nails in a V placed the head in a V and lightly pulled the body back to expose the neck and then took off the head with the axe. It was tough because I had her with the mindset of eggs and not meat but after a few rational minutes realized it is better to end the suffering. I did not want her life to be a waste though so i attempted to harvest the meat. I did but not much meat on a 17 week amercauna pullet. I have 4 kids and my second child help a lot with the birds. He was upset and wanted to take her to a vet, but when I explained the difference between a pet and utility animal it eased his pain a bit but It still upset him a bit. Luckily this one was the new bird and none of my birds are allowed names for just this reason. I learned the cold hard facts of chicken society that day. The 3 original girls are doing fine and I explained to him (and the others) that this is just the way of birds and that sometimes things like this happen and to not be upset with the other girls. I have learned that I will NOT introduce anymore birds at this time because of the nature of my coop set up and the lack of space to segregate new comers and the fact that i could only handle one more bird and one bird being introduced on her own is dangerous. I will let these girls produce eggs for their 2-3 years and the replace them with a group of 4 next time.
