Pecking question

[farmgirls]

We have 14 mixed chicks 5wks old. They are in the coop and are enjoying their run. All was great except one of the Ameraucanas seems to be the queen and pecks anyone in her way. We have noticed today a few of them had blood by their tail feathers and saw her peck one in the same spot. What's the problem there? How do we stop this aggression. They always have ample supply of food and water, a clean coop and seemed to be doing so well. Is this just the natural pecking order thing taking place? Please advise. This is our first little flock of chicks and the first, I am sure, of issues with girls behaving badly. Martha

 

[jerseygirl1]

OK, First, once they start to bleed, it will draw the others over, so maybe some Bluekote on the bloody spots
Could they be too squished? How big is the coop and the run? If they don't have enough elbow room, they will get antsy

 

[farmgirls]

It's a 5x6 coop (walk in)6 nests boxes, 2 posts and another 5x6 enclosed run. I thought they had plenty of room. The queen , we call her Jude, has always demonstrated dominant behavior even in the brooder. I am afraid all the others will pick up on this. We were thinking of enlarging their run with a moveable type of fencing. Thanks for the help!

 

[jerseygirl1]

I think rule of thumb is 4 square feet indoors per bird- 5 x 6 is 30 sq - so maybe it is too small?

 

[farmgirls]

Do you think it will help to get them out early and enlarge their run? I don't know what to do now. When I peeked in on them they were all lined up nicely on their posts. The coop was built by the Amish and we were told it would house 12 very comfortably so when we couldn't find a home for 2 remaining chicks we figured "what's two more". Yikes!!!

 

[lilblessings5]

5x6 sounds to small for 14 full grown birds- but these are only 5 week old right? So they don't take up that much space yet.

Be sure and remove any bloody /injured birds as chickens like the taste of blood and you don't want this ameraucana's cannibilism to spread to the rest of your flock ( speak from experience here)

Do you have a place you can isolate the problem chick to for awhile?(we use a rabbit hutch or large dog kennel if we have to isolate for awhile) and perhaps re-introduce her to the flock at a later time? THey would have to re-establish the pecking order then and she might lose her place as queen.

 

[Qi Chicken]

From what I've read the minimum inside the coop for a large fowl (not a bantam) is 4 square feet so 4 X 14 is 56 square feet. I think you said yours was 30---5X6. I think the run is the bigger issue though. The recommended square footage there is 10 square feet per bird. So you would need at least 140 square feet. I think maybe if your run were bigger you might not have to enlarge your coop. Especially if you live in a place where they will be outside most of the time. You might want to think about it though!

Definitely watch the girls with blood closely as they could get seriously hurt.

 

[chickensnax]

i HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MY GIRLS WHEN WE INHERITED THEM AND THEIR COOP. thEY WERE IN A SMALL COOP AND A SMALL PEN. WITH 15 GIRLS THERE WAS A LOT OF PECKING GOING ON. I WOULD WATCH THEM ONE WOULD PICK A GOOD SPOT TO REST AND ANOTHER WOULD COME ALONG AND PECK HER AND TAKE IT AWAY SO SHE WOULD GO AND PECK ANOTHER AND TAKE HER SPOT, WHO WOULD THEN DO THE SAME TO ANOTHER HEN. tHERE JUST WASN'T ENOUGH ROOM FOR THEM TO GET AWAY FROM EACH OTHER. MY HUSBAND AND I BUILD A NEW COOP THAT WASN'T MUCH BIGGER BUT HAD BETTER FEATURES, ROOSTING BARS AND NICE CLEAN NEST BOXES TO LAY IN INSTEAD OF LAYING ON THE FLOOR IN THE HAY. THE PEN ON THE OTHER HAND GOT MUCH MUCH BIGGER AND EVERYONE HAS THEIR FAVORITE SPOT, LOTS OF TREES TO PROVIDE PLENTY OF SHADE, SO NO ONE HAS TO FIGHT AND PLENTY OF SANDY PLACES TO BATHE IN. tHE GIRLS WERE ALL OF LAYING AGE AND ALREADY SET IN THEIR WAYS BUT OVER TIME AND MOULTING THIER FEATHERS HAVE GROWN BACK AND THEY LOOK LIKE COMPLETLY DIFFERENT BIRDS. I HAVE ALSO READ THAT GIVEN A LARGER NUMBER OF BIRDS THAT THERE SHOULD BE MORE THAN ONE FEEDER AND WATERER, SO THAT THE LOWER RANKING MEMBERS CAN ALWAYS GO TO THE OTHER FEEDER IF THE FLOCK LEADER IS AT THE OTHER ONE AND CAUSING PROBLEMS. aND THAT THE SEPERATE UNITS SHOULD BE SPACED APART. iT IS INTERESTING TO SEE THE GIRLS COME IN AFTER AN AFTERNOON OF FREE RANGING (ANOTHER THING THAT HELPS) AND EACH GO TO THEIR CHOSEN WATERER OR FEEDER.. NOBODY LIKES BEING CROWDED.

 

[gritsar]

First off, if any one of them have obvious bloody spots it would best that you isolate them for their own good. Chickens see blood and they can turn cannibalistic in a hurry.
Jude needs to be isolated for awhile in chickie jail, for a few days perhaps a week. This will take away her status in the flock and usually when they are re-introduced they have to start all over at the bottom.
To prevent the others from pecking sore spots, I like pine tar better than blu-kote. Pine tar is messy, but very effective.

 

[farmgirls]

Thank you everyone! We are enlarging their run big time and will isolate "Jude" for a bit. If this doesn't help, I am afraid construction is in order. You are so helpful. It's appreciated. Also, looking for bluekote or pine tar to keep on hand.