Picking on each other....WHY?

[country girl44]

I have 9 2 month old chicks that I finally have outside in a yard bigger then they know what to do with. and they are still picking on 2 of the chicks. there picking at their butt feather to the point where there drawing blood. I sprayed them with that blue stuff everyone talks about but there still picking on each other. why with so much space are they doing this. I have raise 8 chicks before these 10 and I never had this much trouble before....please any ideas will help!!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How long have they been picking, it could be a habit now. I would separate out the pickers for a few weeks to see if you can break the habit.

What are you feeding them? Protein amount? Production date? You could try adding some higher protein treats like scrambled eggs, they could be craving more protein.

 

[country girl44]

ok I will try that with the eggs. I am guessing your telling me that missing protein has them picking on each other for the protein??. there feed has 20% protein, and I tried separating the bully, I did it for 2 days straight, then I thought at that time it was time to have more running room. but I guess not. I'm going to try the eggs.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

if its just one bully cull her.

Gary

 

[country girl44]

if its just one bully cull her.

Gary

cull her????

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

cull her????

Yes, remove the bully from the flock. That could mean eating her or giving her away. If one chicken is the issue....

Gary

 

[Chandra Prater]

Yep, what Gary said. Bullies can't really be broken but a lot of times they won't be bullies in a new flock because they start off on the bottom of the pecking order. I've also heard that birds will peck one another's preening glands (near where you say the pecking is happening) when they are missing some nutrients.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

ok I will try that with the eggs. I am guessing your telling me that missing protein has them picking on each other for the protein??. there feed has 20% protein, and I tried separating the bully, I did it for 2 days straight, then I thought at that time it was time to have more running room. but I guess not. I'm going to try the eggs.

I would separate for a minimum of 2 weeks, maybe even longer, it can be within the coop. It takes a while for them to forget about something they are doing daily. I doubt it's protein related with feed with that protein percentage, but it can't hurt to see if extra protein helps.

 

[country girl44]

I would separate for a minimum of 2 weeks, maybe even longer, it can be within the coop. It takes a while for them to forget about something they are doing daily. I doubt it's protein related with feed with that protein percentage, but it can't hurt to see if extra protein helps.

OK I will try to separate her, but it's not going to be easy. If it doesn't stop I will Re- home her.

 

[aart]

I have 9 2 month old chicks that I finally have outside in a yard bigger then they know what to do with. and they are still picking on 2 of the chicks. there picking at their butt feather to the point where there drawing blood. I sprayed them with that blue stuff everyone talks about but there still picking on each other. why with so much space are they doing this. I have raise 8 chicks before these 10 and I never had this much trouble before....please any ideas will help!!

Big yard is good, but how big is coop?
How long have they been outside?