Severe neck injury

Crystalrising

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Im not sure what to do. My lavender Orpington has been getting attacked by our other chicken when she lays her egg. She’s a new layer and hasn’t figured out the nesting boxes. She’s been laying in the run. Since she’s started laying my Easter Egger attacks her and today has made a sever neck injury. We separated her. I sprayed iodine on it and put the Vetericyn Plus Antimicrobial Pet Wound spray on her. It’s a very deep wound and don’t know if I should wrap it with something or leave it open. Please help. Thank you!
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If she's in a clean area, leave it open. It will heal up fine uncovered, and that way feathers won't stick to the wound. Keep her separated until the blood is gone. She'll be fine in a few weeks, probably a month tops, you won't even see where she was injured.

I'd put pinless peepers on your easter egger / bully chicken before you introduce her back with other chickens, and especially your lavendar orpington. Definately separate her from anyone she is bullying. If she doesn't stop, you'll need to rehome either her or the lavendar orpington. How does the EE treat your other chickens?
 
If she's in a clean area, leave it open. It will heal up fine uncovered, and that way feathers won't stick to the wound. Keep her separated until the blood is gone. She'll be fine in a few weeks, probably a month tops, you won't even see where she was injured.

I'd put pinless peepers on your easter egger / bully chicken before you introduce her back with other chickens, and especially your lavendar orpington. Definately separate her from anyone she is bullying. If she doesn't stop, you'll need to rehome either her or the lavendar orpington. How does the EE treat your other chickens?
We only have 4 chickens and my EE has been sweet and everyone has gotten along perfectly until my lavender orpington started laying and then my EE has only been bullying her and only on the days she lays. I’m guessing my lavender orpington is doing something to annoy her when she’s trying to lay and maybe that’s why she attacks her. I’m not sure.
 
We only have 4 chickens and my EE has been sweet and everyone has gotten along perfectly until my lavender orpington started laying and then my EE has only been bullying her and only on the days she lays. I’m guessing my lavender orpington is doing something to annoy her when she’s trying to lay and maybe that’s why she attacks her. I’m not sure.
Nope, the orpington is not annoying the EE, this behavior is pretty common, it is usually due to the personality of the bully. When hens are laying, they are in a submissive position, they can't defend themselves because they are focused on the laying process. You will also see hens gang up on and peck the neck/head of a hen that is getting mated by a rooster - similar behavior. It is a fault in the behavior of the EE. The EE is trying to assert her dominance over the orpington - some pecking to show dominance is fine, but the fact that she's drawing blood is a problem - that's not normal behavior, it is too extreme.

Since it hasn't gone on long, if you interrupt this now, and can prevent it from becoming a habit for the EE, you may eventually be able to reintroduce everyone and have a peaceful flock. But there's no guarantees. The orpington may need to grow some more and get bigger before she stops getting bullied, and she'll need to be more assertive. It depends on how she responds as to whether this continues. If you remove the EE from the flock for about a month (don't let her see them), and put some pinless peepers on her right before re-introduction, she will lose her place in the pecking order, and be more focused on figuring that out for a while then on bullying the orpington - sometimes that can help stop the behavior from continuing. I'd have her wear the pinless peepers for a month or two, and then see how she is once you take them off. She has to totally stop this behavior long enough to forget about it, and that takes time. If she goes right back to drawing blood on the orpington after several months break, the EE is not right in the head, and you'll need to rehome either her or the orpington. An experienced chicken keeper told me - always solve for peace in the flock - it is SO very important!

One other thing you can do is try to make a safer/unobserved place for the orpington to lay her eggs. Like a hidden nest, where the orpington can sneak off to, and the EE doesn't notice. Also maybe nest box curtains can help. I use 5 gallon buckets on their sides in the covered run, and cover them with upside down plastic lawn chairs. I change where they point in relation to the rest of the run and whether they're behind stuff, etc, and that changes how "hidden" the hens feel. When they feel more hidden, they use that nest box more often.
 
Nope, the orpington is not annoying the EE, this behavior is pretty common, it is usually due to the personality of the bully. When hens are laying, they are in a submissive position, they can't defend themselves because they are focused on the laying process. You will also see hens gang up on and peck the neck/head of a hen that is getting mated by a rooster - similar behavior. It is a fault in the behavior of the EE. The EE is trying to assert her dominance over the orpington - some pecking to show dominance is fine, but the fact that she's drawing blood is a problem - that's not normal behavior, it is too extreme.

Since it hasn't gone on long, if you interrupt this now, and can prevent it from becoming a habit for the EE, you may eventually be able to reintroduce everyone and have a peaceful flock. But there's no guarantees. The orpington may need to grow some more and get bigger before she stops getting bullied, and she'll need to be more assertive. It depends on how she responds as to whether this continues. If you remove the EE from the flock for about a month (don't let her see them), and put some pinless peepers on her right before re-introduction, she will lose her place in the pecking order, and be more focused on figuring that out for a while then on bullying the orpington - sometimes that can help stop the behavior from continuing. I'd have her wear the pinless peepers for a month or two, and then see how she is once you take them off. She has to totally stop this behavior long enough to forget about it, and that takes time. If she goes right back to drawing blood on the orpington after several months break, the EE is not right in the head, and you'll need to rehome either her or the orpington. An experienced chicken keeper told me - always solve for peace in the flock - it is SO very important!

One other thing you can do is try to make a safer/unobserved place for the orpington to lay her eggs. Like a hidden nest, where the orpington can sneak off to, and the EE doesn't notice. Also maybe nest box curtains can help. I use 5 gallon buckets on their sides in the covered run, and cover them with upside down plastic lawn chairs. I change where they point in relation to the rest of the run and whether they're behind stuff, etc, and that changes how "hidden" the hens feel. When they feel more hidden, they use that nest box more often.
Thank you so much! This is all super helpful!!
 
Thank you so much! This is all super helpful!!
I forgot to ask, sometimes bullying is a sign of stress in the chicken that is doing the bullying. How large is your coop (floor space in inches x inches or feet x feet) and how large is your run? Do you have pictures of your run and coop that you can share? I'm wondering if there's enough space in both, and enough hiding places / things that block line of sight in your run. Do they free range at all, or do you keep them in the run at all times?

Also, what do you feed them? Protein percentage in the feed?

If there's not enough space or hiding places, birds can be stressed.
If they're not getting enough protein, after a while cannibalism can result. Doesn't seem to be the case here, but thought I'd better ask.
 
I forgot to ask, sometimes bullying is a sign of stress in the chicken that is doing the bullying. How large is your coop (floor space in inches x inches or feet x feet) and how large is your run? Do you have pictures of your run and coop that you can share? I'm wondering if there's enough space in both, and enough hiding places / things that block line of sight in your run. Do they free range at all, or do you keep them in the run at all times?

Also, what do you feed them? Protein percentage in the feed?

If there's not enough space or hiding places, birds can be stressed.
If they're not getting enough protein, after a while cannibalism can result. Doesn't seem to be the case here, but thought I'd better ask.
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This is their set up. The coop is 46”x 66” and the run is 10’ x 13’

Their food is 16% protien.

Not sure what to add to give them hiding places.
 
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This is their set up. The coop is 46”x 66” and the run is 10’ x 13’

Their food is 16% protien.

Not sure what to add to give them hiding places.
What an awesome setup! I'd like to be a chicken in there! Looks like they have plenty of space, especially in the run. I'd suggest upping their food to 20% protein and see if that helps some. If they have 16% protein feed, and then they eat other things also, amount of protein could be getting diluted. 16% is the minimum amount of protein that birds need to lay eggs in a commercial setting - I'd suggest upping it for better long term health, and to ensure they get adequate protein when they also eat other things (grass, scratch, food scraps, anything besides the commercial feed). You can provide all flock feed (example Purina Flock raiser) or feed unmedicated chick starter (20% protein), and put a separate dish of grit and oyster shell out so they can get their calcium. 18% protein feed would also work.

You have some really awesome sunny areas for dust bathing and grazing.

For hiding places - what you want to do is have a variety of things to block line-of-sight. So the objects don't need to be higher than about your knees to block chicken's eye level. One thing you could do - put old feed bags, tarp, shade cloth, house wrap, or other non-transparent material on the inner or outer side of the enclosure under the coop - that way a chicken walking behind the coop, between the coop and the wall of the run, wouldn't be seen by folks over by the feeder/waterer. Sheets of lightweight plywood, plastic yard signs, metal roofing sheets (anything lightweight and durable to water and large enough) can be laid up against the wall of the run to make a tunnel, you can add upside down lawn chairs, or literally a piece of wood on stakes anywhere in the run to block line of sight in various ways. Chicken ancestors used to live in the jungle, and even when free ranging they will hide under bushes, in trees, in shrubs, etc. when foraging or avoiding predators. A few open areas are good, but also add "hidden" areas - anywhere they can be out of line-of-sight of the others will help reduce stress in the flock.

Anything you add should have two ground exits, so one chicken can't corner another one. They don't often/always think to fly over something. Also, the chickens may be "hidden" from each other, but not to you.

A side note - Not sure what your predators are like for your area, but it looks like your run has chicken wire covering it. Chicken wire does nothing but keep chickens contained. Almost any predator can go through that like butter. Raccoons will pull it apart, and most predators can bite through it. They see it, and think it's a barrier, but one day, someone will think to test it, and then there may be a massacre. Locking the girls up in the coop at night is good (coop is sturdier), having dogs that know not to eat your chickens patrol the outer area can help, motion alarms, electric fence / hot wire outside the run can also help deter predators. Supervising the girls whenever they are in the run can also help. Some folks go for years using a run like this with no issues, but for most of them, eventually there is an attack.

Covering this with welded wire and/or half inch hardware cloth can provide a sturdier barrier against predators, but it is more pricy. You seem to really love your chickens, and they are pets to you, so I wanted to be sure to mention this. For some folks, they just accept the possibility of predator losses, and refresh their flock if/when something happens. For me, I'm not willing to accept a single predator loss (we have so many of them where I live), so I covered my entire covered run with half inch hardware cloth and use a 3 ft apron. Going on 4 years with no breaches, and the predators test it often.
 
What an awesome setup! I'd like to be a chicken in there! Looks like they have plenty of space, especially in the run. I'd suggest upping their food to 20% protein and see if that helps some. If they have 16% protein feed, and then they eat other things also, amount of protein could be getting diluted. 16% is the minimum amount of protein that birds need to lay eggs in a commercial setting - I'd suggest upping it for better long term health, and to ensure they get adequate protein when they also eat other things (grass, scratch, food scraps, anything besides the commercial feed). You can provide all flock feed (example Purina Flock raiser) or feed unmedicated chick starter (20% protein), and put a separate dish of grit and oyster shell out so they can get their calcium. 18% protein feed would also work.

You have some really awesome sunny areas for dust bathing and grazing.

For hiding places - what you want to do is have a variety of things to block line-of-sight. So the objects don't need to be higher than about your knees to block chicken's eye level. One thing you could do - put old feed bags, tarp, shade cloth, house wrap, or other non-transparent material on the inner or outer side of the enclosure under the coop - that way a chicken walking behind the coop, between the coop and the wall of the run, wouldn't be seen by folks over by the feeder/waterer. Sheets of lightweight plywood, plastic yard signs, metal roofing sheets (anything lightweight and durable to water and large enough) can be laid up against the wall of the run to make a tunnel, you can add upside down lawn chairs, or literally a piece of wood on stakes anywhere in the run to block line of sight in various ways. Chicken ancestors used to live in the jungle, and even when free ranging they will hide under bushes, in trees, in shrubs, etc. when foraging or avoiding predators. A few open areas are good, but also add "hidden" areas - anywhere they can be out of line-of-sight of the others will help reduce stress in the flock.

Anything you add should have two ground exits, so one chicken can't corner another one. They don't often/always think to fly over something. Also, the chickens may be "hidden" from each other, but not to you.

A side note - Not sure what your predators are like for your area, but it looks like your run has chicken wire covering it. Chicken wire does nothing but keep chickens contained. Almost any predator can go through that like butter. Raccoons will pull it apart, and most predators can bite through it. They see it, and think it's a barrier, but one day, someone will think to test it, and then there may be a massacre. Locking the girls up in the coop at night is good (coop is sturdier), having dogs that know not to eat your chickens patrol the outer area can help, motion alarms, electric fence / hot wire outside the run can also help deter predators. Supervising the girls whenever they are in the run can also help. Some folks go for years using a run like this with no issues, but for most of them, eventually there is an attack.

Covering this with welded wire and/or half inch hardware cloth can provide a sturdier barrier against predators, but it is more pricy. You seem to really love your chickens, and they are pets to you, so I wanted to be sure to mention this. For some folks, they just accept the possibility of predator losses, and refresh their flock if/when something happens. For me, I'm not willing to accept a single predator loss (we have so many of them where I live), so I covered my entire covered run with half inch hardware cloth and use a 3 ft apron. Going on 4 years with no breaches, and the predators test it often.
Thank you for all the great advice! We have a couple of pallets maybe we can add those for some hiding places. We live in the middle of a neighborhood and don’t have any predator issues that I know of. I do love our chickens and hope we can make the changes so we can have peace again. I really don’t want to get rid of the bully or the one being picked on.
 

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