Reds pecking backs of black speckleds.

[chazcarly]

I am new to raising chickens. i have 3 reds and 6 black speckleds that are all in together. the reds seem to being to attack the backs of the blacks. i don't know what is causing them to do this and i don't have any were to seporate them. please help. also i have a black sepckled rooster that i have seporated and if i put him in with the flock they the reds fight with him too.

 

[chutewoman]

How big is your pen? If they are overcrowed they will peck each other or if they are not getting enough protein or if they are bored they will do it. (search site for more info) If the birds are bleeding you do need to get them away from the others, they will wound each other very badly, even in a couple of hours. If you can't bring them in then you do need to set up a divider, use a board or wire or something. You also need to put some pine tar on the bare spots ASAP before they learn that feathers taste good. Pine tar is in the horse section of your local feed supply store. It taste bad and will stop the others from pecking, it will also help heal the wounds. You do need to put enough that if they peck they will get some on their beaks. If you do this before they kill each other and before it becomes a habit, then you could try to introduce them back together at a later time. Even a small pen can be divided.

 

[chazcarly]

I AM ONLY 14 YEARS OLD thanks for your help my dad thinks that the pen might be overcrouded to, my pen is 4x8 with 4x4 koop i have 8 young birds in there they are less than a year old. i don't dare to put my roo in there. when i do he seems to try to attack everybody or everybody is trying to attack him he gose right for them if they are walking around outside during the day when i try when i try to combine them. i keep him seporated now because 2 months ago his back was bleading and his feathers were picked off also. i thought he was going to die now he is 100 percent better but i don't dare to put them all together. how do you put a roo in with other birds do they all fight at first?

 

[chutewoman]

Your coop is very small, you will have trouble with your chickens pecking on each other. You may have to get your dad to build another one so you can divide your chickens up or make a bigger one if you want to keep them all together. If he can't do that then you may want to give all but a couple away. If they do get hurt you will need to have pine tar to put on them so the others do not peck them to death. You need to talk to your parents about all of this. Maybe do some more research on this site. It has a lot of information to help you raise your chickens and what chickens need to be healthy. ) You can do this!! Good luck.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Welcome. I understand the issues of age, I am a year older than you. And even though I probably shouldn't have, it's not best to post your age on the forums, forum rules. But as you are new then there's an exception.. and now you know. I have to agree that your coop is waaaay to small for 8 birds. The most you could fit in there *happily* would be 2-3, 4 would be pushing it. Also, are you sure you only have one rooster? If you add your rooster to the flock there may be other rooster's in there, and with him being separated for so long, they probably see him as a newcomer. And as far as "attacking" the hens, are you sure he's not trying to mate with them? Mating may seem very violent to us (the hens put up a fuss and sqawk if they are not submissive) and the rooster may also grab hold of the neck feathers. He is also just asserting his dominance. If you could post pictures then we would be able to identify the sex of your birds. Too many roosters can cause big problems, especially if they are large.

I guess the keyword here is: RESEARCH

Is this your first time? Did you just spontaneously get them without reading up on the subject? or chickens in general? We'll be more than willing to help.

 

[chazcarly]

Thanks and sorry for the age messup..... as for the birds i will try to take pics this weekend and post. Thanks for the help!!

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Quote:
That's ok. And No problem!