Red Sex Link Hens Cannibals?

[BK79]

I have a 4'x4'x5' coop for my hens. I had 6 in there, Red Sex link hens. I would open them up and let them roam during the day.
I noticed that my hens are bald of feathers in their vent, crotch area, exposing their vent. My hens had to stay in a few hours till 1 p.m. and 2 hens got their vents picked by the others in there till blood came out.
Are they eating this or just pecking cause they see blood?
I gave half my hens away this week, as I will not be able to tend to so many in the coop I currently have.
Is there something lacking in their diet like sodium which is causing them to repeatedly attack their fellow hen till bleeding?
I already lost one hen to this.
I heard Black Sex Links are less cannibalistic than the Red Sex Links, is this true?
I like the Red Sex Links cause they are friendly, docile and not noisy. I had a few Heritage RIR's and one of them could not be handled and would scream if we touched her.

 

[silkiechicken]

4x4 = 16 sq feet and tiny for 6 hens who do not have a run. The day they had to stay in till 1pm, they probably got bored, picked, and as soon as there was blood, as all chickens do, they will keep going at it. Something about blood turns chickens into vampires and induces cannibalism. They are attacked to red, thus why many chick products are red based.

That said, general rule of thumb to start is 4 sq of space each hen for indoor space, and 10sq feet per hen run space. I keep about 6-10 standard sized birds in my 6x8 coop which they only sleep in. 3 hens would be a good number for your coop. Coat the bloody areas with something to hide the wounds, like blue kote, and hope they do not continue to cannibalize.

 

[BK79]

4x4 = 16 sq feet and tiny for 6 hens who do not have a run. The day they had to stay in till 1pm, they probably got bored, picked, and as soon as there was blood, as all chickens do, they will keep going at it. Something about blood turns chickens into vampires and induces cannibalism. They are attacked to red, thus why many chick products are red based.

That said, general rule of thumb to start is 4 sq of space each hen for indoor space, and 10sq feet per hen run space. I keep about 6-10 standard sized birds in my 6x8 coop which they only sleep in. 3 hens would be a good number for your coop. Coat the bloody areas with something to hide the wounds, like blue kote, and hope they do not continue to cannibalize.

Thanks, I never had problems with 3 hens, 5 hens was ok too. But they must come out by 11 am. We had to go somewhere that day and we locked them up. They should have plenty of food and other things to keep them occupied. I heard a higher sodium diet helps, like .015% or 0.18% sodium in their pellet ration. The one I was using in the purina layer has 0.12% sodium. Overall I am not happy with Purina Hen layer 17% looks like filler in this feed, egg shells are thinner as well for the 4% calcium they claim is in it. I've had better and bigger looking eggs with local feed store made pellet ration. The only feed that has worked well from purina is "Game Bird Chow". Eggs were big and hens really like this feed.

 

[Fred's Hens]

What SilkieChicken said.

You might also dust them for mites/lice. Sometimes this is an underlying contributors to the pecking, especially as it relates to pecking in the vent area. Feather eating is also a sign, sometimes, of inadequate protein in the diet. The likely reason the Game Bird feed worked better for you is because of its higher protein, and in most cases, animal protein sources which most standard Purina products lack.

 

[BK79]

What SilkieChicken said.

You might also dust them for mites/lice. Sometimes this is an underlying contributors to the pecking, especially as it relates to pecking in the vent area. Feather eating is also a sign, sometimes, of inadequate protein in the diet. The likely reason the Game Bird feed worked better for you is because of its higher protein, and in most cases, animal protein sources which most standard Purina products lack.

thanks for reply, dust the with what how?
under wings?
30% game bird chow works good, but I don't want to strain the bird to make bigger eggs, it must be painful passing bigger eggs.
I wanted to go 25% but they were out of stock.

 

[Fred's Hens]

There are lots of youtube HowTo videos.

Here's just one: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...4159C41B2B2973D47F7441&view=detail&FORM=VIRE3

You can either buy Poultry Dust in a 1 quart shaker can from TSC or similar rural store, or just go to KMart or WalMart and buy the same thing, a 1 qt can of Garden Dust.

You can usually choose between Sevin Brand and generic Pyrethrin type powder. I prefer the latter.