Pecking

[OliveEggs]

I have an Araucana (or Ameraucana..?) who has been badly pecked at on her rump. There are no feathers in that area and its bloody. It happened before but not this bad. I was told by another flock owner to try iodine spray because the chickens don't like the taste. It worked but now, weeks later it has started again. What do I do?

 

[Wyandottes7]

How much room do your birds have? If chickens don't have enough space, they will fight. What feed are you giveing them? Insufficient protein can also lead to picking. I'd spray the wound with BlueKote (an antiseptic spray that you should be able to get at a farm supply store). This coats the wound blue, and hides the red color of blood, which chickens like picking at.

 

[OliveEggs]

I believe their coop is 8x8 and they're being fed crumbles with 16% protein. I also feed them apples, kale, corn, carrots, etc from my kitchen (raw).

 

[donrae]

I believe their coop is 8x8 and they're being fed crumbles with 16% protein. I also feed them apples, kale, corn, carrots, etc from my kitchen (raw).

How many birds do you have in this space? Is this all their living space, or is there a run also? I agree, pecking is often an overcrowding issue.

 

[OliveEggs]

They have a run also. There's 17 birds in a 8x8 coop. I don't know the size of their run off hand but its a decent sized one. They can go between the run and the coop all day long but then I close their coop up at night to prevent predators of any kind getting to them.

 

[jtakacs]

One square foot per chicken?

 

[jtakacs]

Sorry... bad read on my part.

And I'm an engineer... embarrassed! Never mind my post

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

Most recommend 4sq ft per bird inside the coop and 10sq ft per bird in the chicken run. So your 8x8 coop is good for 16 birds, I honestly don't think one more bird would be that big of a deal though but it just depends on your birds personalities. Allowing them the max amount of space is best, always. So if you can expand the coop or cut back on just a few birds it might help.

What are the ages and what's your hen to rooster ratio?

 

[OliveEggs]

Our hens are about 8 months and we don't have any roosters.

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

Then based on the information I gave you in my post I'd say you're probably looking at an overcrowding issue. If it were me, I'd figure out which hens are the meanest and get rid of them. Your remaining flock will have to figure out the pecking order again but hopefully with a smaller flock there would be less fighting. Go with the BlueKote that Wyandottes suggested