Starting over with new hens?

[tcarter]

I could use some help from some long time breeders. I am a first time chicken owner this year. Got a lovely coop with two joined runs, 16x6 & 8x12, with attached 4x6 hen house with 6 nest boxes. I also built a fenced play yard around the whole coop for extra free ranging. I ordered from Ideal Poultry in Feb., two SLW, two Columbian Wyandottes, two Buff Orpingtons, and three Speckled Sussex. Other than the varied hen sizes, egg colors, wrong comb type (on the SLW), and feather colors within each breed, they were the correct breeds. They were healthy and happy up until August. They were changed to the layer feed at the right time (20% H&H organic layer), got free choice oyster shell, and scraps of fresh greens a few times per week. They were beautiful last summer. About a month after they started laying the behavior changed. The two SLW became very aggressive and I had to give them away. It was terrible. The hens were beat up and two hens lost all their rear feathers. The Buffs became feather eaters after that, so my SS with no rear feathers could never grow anything back. I finally separated two of the worst pecked SSussex in my "chicken hospital" in my barn. They have both grown back a lot of feathers. However, my whole flock is still badly damaged (except my one large Buff hen). The bad behaviors in my flock are supposed to be rare and I think I have experienced all of them! I'm starting the SS reintroduction slowly right now. They are in the separate run next to the other hens. They can see each other, but cannot attack. Before I try sneaking the hens into the hen house at night I will be giving away my Buffs. I cannot risk the pecking order, or get them to stop grazing on feathers, and I have no solution (I have tried everything I've read). My two SS will be attacked if I don't remove the worst offenders. I fear they will be attacked anyway! When the Buff Orps leave I will be down to 5 hens. Well, unfortunately, another SS is plucking feathers now, too. I am just beside myself. I planned to buy only Speckled Sussex from Ideal Poultry next Spring and add them to any hens I might keep. I thought having nearly one breed (still have the 2 Columbian Wy's also), maybe that would help my behavior problems. But good grief....even careful introduction can be deadly! Lots of people mix breeds with no trouble, but not me. I'm having reservations about getting new hens from Ideal Poultry. Hatcheries breed for quantity, not necessarily quality as evidenced by the variety within my breeds. Ideal is a good company, of course! Please do not misunderstand me. They produce a lot of good stock, too. However, mass production has it's limits. Maybe I got a bad batch of hens with bad temperaments. I look at a lot of posts with hen photos on here and I rarely see anyone with feather damage like my hens. I wonder if I should start over and give away all my hens? Should I buy 16 week pullets from a breeder and add them to my remaining flock? Should I just buy pullets from a breeder and start from scratch? Or, should I try again from Ideal? I love the Sussex a lot. I would consider just doing that breed, but I'm almost scared to start this trouble all over again! Any thoughts or suggestions would be great.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I will tell you that I have had similar issues. Tried EVERYTHING that I read and everything I could think of.
So far what has worked for me....
I have 20 hens with various attitudes some mean as heck and some beyond docile.
I built a large coop 8'x14'.(I had 5 yes 5 smallish coops)
I built a large run 16'x20'.
I put them all in with places they could hide behind. (boxes, boards leaned up, branches etc)
I hung cabbage in the coop and run using eyebolts and rope. (Something to peck instead of each other)
I put scratch each morning both in the shavings for the docile ones and in the run.

I had no luck with using higher protein foods or isolating the meanest one for a week or two.
So far the new coop and run are working well. Everyone molted and no one is picking feathers.
I also toss torn up radish tops and spinach as well as other greens in the run.
I think the thing that did stop the picking was putting 2 flakes of alfalfa in the run each week. They have to look harder for the treats and also eat the leaves.
I had been banging my head against the wall and wondering why these hens pick and not the ones I had in the country. Then it donned on me. My country gals were constantly in the bull pen eating the left overs.

I hope yours can get it figured out before any more damage gets done.

Babs

 

[lazy gardener]

Are you saying that your coop is 4 x 6? If so, that may very well be your problem. You don't say where you live, or what your climate is. But, a 4 x 6 coop is too small for more than 5 - 6 hens, and even with 5 hens, being in close confinement if you have harsh winters will bring out the worst behaviors in all of your birds. My recommendation: cut your flock down to 4 birds, or get a larger coop. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[tcarter]

Thank you for the reply! No, my coop is huge. It has one run that is 6'x16' with a hen house at one end. Carolina Coops built my coop and it is featured as one of their largest. The hen house alone is 4'x6' with 6 egg boxes. Then connected to that run is a second run that is 8'x12'. This is all one structure! The whole structure is over 6' tall to walk in and take care of things. Then...beyond the coop itself I built a perimeter fence that is about 50'x50' that the hens can go outside in during the day with the coop door open. I live in south Texas, and the heat sure cannot help matters.

 

[tcarter]

Are you saying that your coop is 4 x 6?  If so, that may very well be your problem.  You don't say where you live, or what your climate is.  But, a 4 x 6 coop is too small for more than 5 - 6 hens, and even with 5 hens, being in close confinement if you have harsh winters will bring out the worst behaviors in all of your birds.  My recommendation:  cut your flock down to 4 birds, or get a larger coop.  I wish you the best of luck.

Just wanted to ask one more question to clarify. Do you only count the size of the hen house or the whole coop when determining number of birds? My coop, as I described earlier, is a hen house with the two runs all under one roof. So, are you saying I really do not have a big enough hen house, regardless of the coop? I was told mine was okay for up to 12-16 hens. If it truly is too small maybe getting new hens and adding is the last thing I should do? Let me know. Thanks for your help! I am attempting to add a photo of my coop. I don't know if it will work or not.

 

[tcarter]

Thank you, Babs! I will try adding more things in the pen to hide around, more treats to peck, and I will check on the size of my hen house with my coop builder. I posted a picture of my coop you can see in one of my replies, too. Thanks for your help. I really do love chickens. They are so social and sweet! They are a joy to watch. I just wish I didn't know their dark side. Hurts my tender heart!

 

[tcarter]

Are you saying that your coop is 4 x 6?  If so, that may very well be your problem.  You don't say where you live, or what your climate is.  But, a 4 x 6 coop is too small for more than 5 - 6 hens, and even with 5 hens, being in close confinement if you have harsh winters will bring out the worst behaviors in all of your birds.  My recommendation:  cut your flock down to 4 birds, or get a larger coop.  I wish you the best of luck.

Posting one more photo for you. It is the inside of my hen house (when it was new).

 

[21hens-incharge]

I see that your house is actually very nice. It is however rather small for more than 4 or 5 hens. I found with the house I had that was 4x6 they would pull each others feathers out in the evening when going to bed. I had 7 in there and 4 were bantams.
One roost that is 6 foot long is only enough for 6 hens BUT they have to have room to hop up and down and that means they have their wings spread. They need the floor space inside too.

In looking at your set up is there the possibility of walling in one of the run areas and making that the coop? Keeping the little house as perhaps a grow up spot?
It is a super cute set up you have.
The other option would be to keep the flock small.

 

[lazy gardener]

If their COOP is 4 x 6 (that being the enclosed space where they sleep at night) then, yes, that is only room enough for 4 - 5 birds. And yes, you do have a very nice set up. If you could turn one of those attached runs into more coop space, with more perches, it would accommodate a larger flock than the 4 - 5 birds. I agree with 21 hens. They need lots of elbow room on the roost, and I think you'll find that is where the feather picking starts, on the roost. I had 5 girls in a 4 x 8 (with 7' of perch) loft coop last winter, and one of the EE became a notorious picker. She picked off the muffs and beards of her EE sisters, then started on feathers in the same area on my other 2 girls. I had to cull her. In the new coop, with 16' of perch, I have 16 birds, and they are doing great.

 

[tcarter]

If their COOP is 4 x 6  (that being the enclosed space where they sleep at night) then, yes, that is only room enough for 4 - 5 birds.  And yes, you do have a very nice set up.  If you could turn one of those attached runs into more coop space, with more perches, it would accommodate a larger flock than the 4 - 5 birds.  I agree with 21 hens.  They need lots of elbow room on the roost, and I think you'll find that is where the feather picking starts, on the roost.  I had 5 girls in a 4 x 8 (with 7' of perch) loft coop last winter, and one of the EE became a notorious picker.  She picked off the muffs and beards of her EE sisters, then started on feathers in the same area on my other 2 girls.  I had to cull her.  In the new coop, with 16' of perch, I have 16 birds, and they are doing great.

Okay! I understand now. That makes sense. I do have two 6' long perches inside the hen house and the hens perch along those while facing each other. It's neat to see them in there. If there was only one perch there would definitely not be room at all! The two Buff Orpingtons really pull out feathers and eat them, so I'm going to re-home them. If they go to a free range only home they will do okay. I'm guessing that once they learned to peck feathers inside the hen house it became a habit outside, correct? It's miserable watching it happen, especially around the food where the Buff can snatch one, and I'm trying to keep them busy right now until they leave. I found a breeder in Texas that I will call tomorrow. If I have to cull anymore hens maybe the best option is to buy a few older pullets to try and introduce to the flock rather than raise a batch of newly hatched ones. I think I would be back to a crowded, unhappy group again if I did that. Thanks a lot for your help. Here is a picture of the hens roosting (I have solar lights) when I still had NINE hens!