Pecking order horror???

[Chickentender23]

My flock of 6 is about 10 months old. They have been doing great, I got them in May 2025 and they have been outside in their well established coop together since July 2025. Yesterday 2/17 I went out an noticed that my barred rock had a massive hole in her back. This was from my other chickens pecking at her. I immediately brought her inside and set up a rehab for her. I cleaned the wound and I sprayed it with a wound wash, some blue antiseptic spray (blu-kote) and I also used some corn starch to stop the bleeding. I made her a make shift chicken apron out of a old towel and let her rest for the night. This morning I came home from work and she is already showing signs of recovery. Her wound is actually closing and looks 25% better than yesterday. She has been eating and drinking fine since she came in and she is also on a high protein diet currently with plenty of eggs and meal worms. I’m wondering if anyone else has gone though anything similar and if they have had a chicken recover 100%. Thank you so much!

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Awe poor gal! You've done all the right things so far. Chickens can seem so sweet, yet with each other they can turn into cruel murderers. With my first flock 25years ago I learned the hard way that crowding can cause this. One of my hens was pecked from both sides while roosting and in the morning had a broken neck. Since then I've doubled and tripled recommended space and never dealt with this extreme again. Is there possibly a crowding issue in your coop? I'd either keep her separate until fully healed or keep the wound covered in blue kote so that the others do not see "red," when you re-integrate her. They will take that wound from bad to worse if they are interested in it. Good Luck!

 

[Chickentender23]

Awe poor gal! You've done all the right things so far. Chickens can seem so sweet, yet with each other they can turn into cruel murderers. With my first flock 25years ago I learned the hard way that crowding can cause this. One of my hens was pecked from both sides while roosting and in the morning had a broken neck. Since then I've doubled and tripled recommended space and never dealt with this extreme again. Is there possibly a crowding issue in your coop? I'd either keep her separate until fully healed or keep the wound covered in blue kote so that the others do not see "red," when you re-integrate her. They will take that wound from bad to worse if they are interested in it. Good Luck!

I have a pretty decent size coop it’s hand built and it has a decent size run with the coop on top of the run so there is plenty of room I don’t think it’s that. I think this was more of a “bullying because for matured last” kind of thing.. I also think it could be boredom because they haven’t been able to free range with the snow that we got in NE. I will be keeping her inside until she is fully healed and the re-introducing her to the flock. Thank you for your reply!

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you have a rooster? Or a hen with spurs who might have caused an initial wound that was pecked by the others. I would clean it with a wound disinfectant and apply some plain neosporin twice a day. I wouldn’t leave her separated too long, since they may attack her once she comes back. We can all need extra room and some things of interest for our chickens when weather keeps them inside and they cannot free range. Maybe extending the coop and run, and put out some things to climb on or explore can help. If any one chicken is more aggressive and pecking others, consider using pinless peckers. Make sure that you are feeding at least a balanced 16-20% protein feed so they are not picking feathers for protein.

 

[AinaWGSD]

Poor girl! Good news is I've seen chickens with way worse injuries recover 100% so I'm certain she can recover from this.

Is there any way you could keep her in the same area, but physically separated, as the rest of the flock? I have several dog crates I use to break broodies when I don't want them sitting and a section of run i can fence off with chicken wire in case I need to separate someone. It will make reintroducing her much easier if the rest of the flock doesn't "forget what she looks like." Especially if you plan to keep her separated until the feathers start coming back in.

 

[Chickentender23]

Do you have a rooster? Or a hen with spurs who might have caused an initial wound that was pecked by the others. I would clean it with a wound disinfectant and apply some plain neosporin twice a day. I wouldn’t leave her separated too long, since they may attack her once she comes back. We can all need extra room and some things of interest for our chickens when weather keeps them inside and they cannot free range. Maybe extending the coop and run, and put out some things to climb on or explore can help. If any one chicken is more aggressive and pecking others, consider using pinless peckers. Make sure that you are feeding at least a balanced 16-20% protein feed so they are not picking feathers for protein.

I don’t have any hens with spurs nor do I have a rooster I think this was pure bullying that went too far, I am going to keep her separate until she heals and then I’m going to do the “look don’t touch” method to get her back into the coop and hope for the best. There’s nothing else I can do but let her heal up then go back. They are in a very high protein diet, and have the proper food. This also could have something to do with boredom.