pecking

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swartzentrover1

swartzentrover1

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I have 8 chickens. I just inherited them when I bought my house a few weeks ago. I had to separate one of my chickens from the others because they were pecking her so bad that she was bleeding. Does that mean she is sick or that something is wrong with her eggs?
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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It is possible she does have a health issue. You need to give her a good once over to see what the problem might be. Sometimes the lowest in the pecking order gets picked on when they are stressed as well. Make sure they have enough room, 4 to 5 square feet in the coop and 10 square feet per bird in the run. And look them all over for mites, pale combs, respiratory ailments, diarrhea. Do you know if they have been wormed recently? They might need to be wormed too. Flock members know when another bird is sick and will try to run them off.

I suggest you heal this injured bird in a cage within the flock so it is easy to reintegrate her in. If she is gone too long, they will forget her and mixing her in will be a rough experience for her. So rehab her within the flock if you can. Keep her separated til her wounds are healed over. You can use blu-kote on her wounds so that the skin is hidden and they are less likely to bother her.

And figure out who is starting this. Usually it is one bird and then the others follow with picking on her. So who ever is starting it, separate them in a cage for a while. You may need to use pinless peepers on the aggressive one. But always separate the bully out, never the one being picked on as long as the one being picked on his not sick or has any open wounds.

Watch out for her and never let birds bully another. Good luck with your flock and welcome to ours!
 
swartzentrover1 said:
I have 8 chickens. I just inherited them when I bought my house a few weeks ago. I had to separate one of my chickens from the others because they were pecking her so bad that she was bleeding. Does that mean she is sick or that something is wrong with her eggs?
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Were they all "coop mates" at the other place... So you inherited a flock from 1 person.... Did they have like 100 chickens and give you 8...
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! TwoCrows gave you some good suggestions, good luck with your new flock.
 
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seems like chickens in a flock always find one bird they love to terrorize. Are they all the same breed? Generally Polish, Silkies and Salmon Faverolles are the victims because they are docile.
 

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