Pecking Injury... Did we do the right thing?!

[Shezadandy]

Thank you so much for this insight. I was wondering about those little bits of blood inside the feather when I was cleaning the wound! This bird is the oldest one of the flock, so I think it makes sense her adult feathers would come in first, too. My question is... will this start up happening with the rest of the hens in the next few days?! Or is it because this bird is lower in the pecking order that she has been chosen? I also mentioned earlier, but they started pecking the back feathers of another one of the EE’s.

So far thede two injured EE hens don’t seem interested in pecking each other’s feathers/injuries, and the mean girls seem to mostly be the RIR’s. Do you think they’ll be able to get along long term? Or should we consider splitting the flock? Would the addition of a rooster make it better or worse?

Thanks again for all of your help!! There is definitely a bit of a learning curve it seems We are so glad to have found BYC!

It's hard to say whether a rooster would make a difference. If you're thinking of adding one, I would wait until everyone is laying eggs so they're ready for the rooster's constant attentions, and be ready for some squabbles as they figure it all out. I would also make sure everyone has healed before considering adding one - because the mechanics of rooster/hen mating interactions involve the rooster standing on the hen's back during 'the act'.

If there's anything I 'hate' about chickens (I have a flock of around 150) ... it's their love of blood. If you have a way to monitor the chickens to see if you have a chief instigator or two in the plucking, you may consider separating the offenders to see if it can stop without the leaders making the first move. I had 2 barred rock hens that would mug other hens - just walk right up and yank feathers out, working together. Didn't even have to be blood feathers. They had their own separate condo/run and after a year and a half or so finally stopped (many supervised visits) and have been with the main flock ever since without issue.

I'm glad the two EEs are looking to be good healing partners. Depending on what your RIRs do or don't do to each other when the blood feathers come in- you may want to consider rehoming one group or the other if things just aren't working out- with full disclosure to the new owners, of course, if the RIRs are chosen for rehoming. That's easier said than done, I know.

In the coming days/weeks, feathers will start out like you saw on your EE hen, so I would look at each one every couple days so you'll known when one is about to be vulnerable to the blood feather vampires.

Sometimes it's something of an invisible process when going from the multiple baby chick molts to their first adult feathers. Hereafter, when your hens molt as adults for the first time, they will (in varying degrees) drop feathers and you'll see them covered in the same look as your EE's back all over their bodies.

It could be that the RIRs won't tolerate what they've been inflicting on the EEs and they might not do it to each other. But you'll find out pretty soon, either way. Ugh.

 

[AlderCreekAK]

It's hard to say whether a rooster would make a difference. If you're thinking of adding one, I would wait until everyone is laying eggs so they're ready for the rooster's constant attentions, and be ready for some squabbles as they figure it all out. I would also make sure everyone has healed before considering adding one - because the mechanics of rooster/hen mating interactions involve the rooster standing on the hen's back during 'the act'.

If there's anything I 'hate' about chickens (I have a flock of around 150) ... it's their love of blood. If you have a way to monitor the chickens to see if you have a chief instigator or two in the plucking, you may consider separating the offenders to see if it can stop without the leaders making the first move. I had 2 barred rock hens that would mug other hens - just walk right up and yank feathers out, working together. Didn't even have to be blood feathers. They had their own separate condo/run and after a year and a half or so finally stopped (many supervised visits) and have been with the main flock ever since without issue.

I'm glad the two EEs are looking to be good healing partners. Depending on what your RIRs do or don't do to each other when the blood feathers come in- you may want to consider rehoming one group or the other if things just aren't working out- with full disclosure to the new owners, of course, if the RIRs are chosen for rehoming. That's easier said than done, I know.

In the coming days/weeks, feathers will start out like you saw on your EE hen, so I would look at each one every couple days so you'll known when one is about to be vulnerable to the blood feather vampires.

Sometimes it's something of an invisible process when going from the multiple baby chick molts to their first adult feathers. Hereafter, when your hens molt as adults for the first time, they will (in varying degrees) drop feathers and you'll see them covered in the same look as your EE's back all over their bodies.

It could be that the RIRs won't tolerate what they've been inflicting on the EEs and they might not do it to each other. But you'll find out pretty soon, either way. Ugh.

THANK YOU!! This information is so helpful in understanding some of these behaviors!! I think we’ll continue to keep the two separate from the rest for a while longer, and wait to see how things develop within the group. We’ll keep an eye out for this first molting process!

My mother was also thinking of starting a flock, so it’s eventually possible to divide the birds if things don’t improve or get worse- We definitely want to facilitate a safe and happy coop for all!

Here are some very encouraging progress pics...

And- oh my, 150 is a lot of chickens! That’s amazing!

 

[AlderCreekAK]

Hi All!
Thanks again for your suggestions. Our injured hen was healing up just fine!

In hopes of reintegration, we started doing small amounts of supervised time together and putting everyone in the hen house at night. For the group time, we tried to distract them by putting out fresh scratch and making sure someone is close by to keep an eye on them. Unfortunately, although they seem fine in the evenings, there were only a few successful instances of daytime playtime before the “mean girls” remembered that they could gang up on the two EE’s. I notice that the orange one tries to run away when they peck her back feathers, but the other bird does not run away or try to defend herself. They snatched one of the “blood feathers” and the little sweetheart did squawk... but still didn’t run or fight back. All of the birds appear to have these adult feathers with blood supply coming in, but the four don’t peck at each other.

We are working on a more permanent chicken “hospital/spa”. Thanks to the advice from the bullying article that was posted earlier, we have been giving the victimized hens special treats and letting them free range while we are gardening in efforts to build morale! Still, I don’t think our temporary set up is as empowering as I’d like it to be, though! I wonder if there’s a thread on here with some pictures of hen house “additions”/hospitals/spas....?

A few local chicken tenders emphasized that a roo could help with the bullying, so we have put out some feelers to see what is available in our area at this point in the season. We also started integrating a higher protein food choice rather than just a layer feed (thank you for mentioning that!). It turns out that we will need to do this anyway for the winter conditions here and they actually love the new food, picking it out from the mix we made.

We are considering a few options going forward, and would love your thoughts!

1) Those little chicken sweaters/jackets that we sometimes see for the two EEs?

2) Pinless Peepers?

3) Get the rooster?

4) Rehome part of the flock (full disclosure of the reasons why) ?

Thanks so much for your help with this. We appreciate your advice SO much, and I’m sure our hens do, too! As the saying goes, “you can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs”

CHICKENS CHICKENS CHICKENS!