pecking

[georgeb]

I have 4 chickens 2 Golden Comets and 2 Rhode Island Reds, they are about 2 years old. I have a run for them which is fenced in and about 16 ft x 10 ft. I tried letting them run in my yard which was fine when they were young but the older they got they destroyed my flower beds. They constantly peck each other pulling out their feathers. You can tell the top hen because she has all her feathers. The Rhode Islands are laying pretty good and one of the Comets. The one Comet, the most beat up is not laying. I have tried everything I could find to stop them from pecking, food suppliments for protein , oyster shell for calcium, hanging pots of scratch food to occupy them in case their bored, some nasty purple stuff that supposedly tastes bad, spraying for mites ( never saw any) and nothing works. I don't want to trim their beaks, I think that's cruel. What else can I do short of getting rid of them and starting over with another breed that are good layers and are more gentle and social.

 

[GitaBooks]

It sounds like you are taking good care of them.

Some chickens are just harder to work with then others.

Is there any way you can expand their run? Bullied hens escape bullying in larger enclosures. You could also try offering more perches, bushes or stumps to hide behind, more feeding and waterer spaces, nest boxes in a variety of other locations, roosts set further away from the others, and continue offering things like watermelon and other treats to keep the other hens busy.

Here is a helpful link:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/03/chicken-feather-loss-cannibalism-causes.html

Best of luck!


By the way, in my experience, Rhode Island Reds can be a little out-going. If nothing works, you could get rid of those two hens and keep your other two.