Pecking and bleeding

[pansophia]

So I went out to spend some quality time with the girls (about three and a half months old now) for the first time in a few days due to rain. I noticed what looking like a little bit of blood on their ramp up into the coop but they both seemed to look and act normal.

After a bit longer, Patsy (the silver one) gave Eddy (golden) a hefty peck on the butt. A few minutes later it happened again and Patsy had blood on her beak. It looked like Eddy had some blood on her tail feathers.

Is this just them sorting out the pecking order? (I had thought Eddy was top bird before this but Patsy has grown bigger) Do I need to separate them for a time? How concerned should I be?

 

[bigzio]

pansophia, Could be either stress from being crowded, or a change in pecking order which happens, although the need to draw blood isn't necessary. Enough protein in the diet is always something to consider also.

Boredom can cause pecking problems too.
Chickens are busy bodies and need to stay active by going around pecking, something they need and love to do. Hope I helped.

bigzio

 

[pansophia]

I certainly hope it's not crowding as we built a coop in the hopes of having four birds eventually but only have two to start. They have been dealing with a smallish run so far, about 4'x4' so we'll hurry up on building the extension.

They've gone through all the vegetation that was in their run so boredom could be it. Any tips on how to supplement their feed for protein?

I let them free range in the yard for the first time last night so they had a bit of an adventure. Even in that huge back yard, Patsy was still pecking Eddy. Hrm.