Unbalanced flock… …

[Muthah Chuckah]

Hi Y’all … I have chicken problems.. 2 roosters raised as babes together and 6 hens ,3 of which were raised with the 2 roosters, and 3 that are 3 weeks younger than the main 5 elders ..who are all just shy of 1 yr old coming up in July… Thier coop is a 8x8 fortress and they have a run with ample space.
Chicken problems..
1. bullies, feather plucking and eating of plucked feathers
2. over mating
3. 1 hen (Melissa) gets the worst of both problems making it problem #3
4. The hen (Nelly) that is 2nd place for worst situation has skin missing from apparent “cannibalism“ * I made aprons for the girls and apparently thought that would safeguard a situation like this… I was wrong.
soooo I put Melissa and Nelly together in a separate pen from the flock and WTHECK …. Nelly bruised and pulled feathers off of my poor girl Melissa’s head! so now Melissa resides in her own sweet and get all the extra special treats….

Things I’m doing to remedy this imbalance…
1. I bought more chicks (hens specifically) only 5 days old at this point..I have 6 but looking to get at least 5 more..
2. I made a large outdoor pen/ not the covered run space, for them to roam.. large hawks are a concern so they only go out in it when I’m in the yard working which is more with the weather pending…
3. I have boredom items like extra perches and swings and piles of hay/shaving with seeds to scratch for.

back In the beginning of the year my roosters were drawing blood on each other for a couple of weeks, but that has stopped completely… I love them both and rehoming or slaughtering one of them is not an option here...…
…and I have an elderly cat that walks all over me,.. it is what it is.
Any advise from experienced chicken parents out there would greatly be appreciated.
In all seriousness, yours truly What the Cluck ….

 

[DobieLover]

Welcome to BYC.

You write that you have ample space in the run. How many square feet and what is in the run? Can you post pictures?
You still have too many cockerels for the number of pullets and you need to rehome one.
What are you feeding the flock? What is the protein content?
They sound bored, stressed out and lacking in protein.

 

[SilverBirds]

Welcome to BYC! Best of luck with your birds.

 

[BlueBaby]

What breed are they? Can you separate the 2 roosters and maybe only let one of them be with the hen's?

 

[triciayoung]

Welcome. I agree completely with @DobieLover

 

[Tonyroo]

If you have to keep your flock as is, your only option is to build another coop and run then divide them based on personality and demeanor.

BTW, you should never allow cannibalism in the flock, knowing that chickens are adept at learning from there flock mates. When they all learn you'll end up with serious injuries that can't be healed or dead birds.

 

[swampfox440]

Welcome to BYC! have fun, and thanks for joining us.

 

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

Welcome to the coop! I use the Forums and Articles tabs at the top of the page to do research. You can get lost for hours. It's nice to know you are minutes away from getting help with questions and emergencies! I always check in the "What's New" section as well at the top of this page. This way I can read how I may have a similar question or help give some advice.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Welcome to BYC @Muthah Chuckah

Glad you could join us all here! Hope you get some harmony back soon in your flock!

 

[FunClucks]

So, you have 8 chickens in a 64 sq ft coop. Minimum recommended space per chicken in the coop (general guideline) is 4 sq ft per chicken. How much of your floor space in the coop is taken up by feeders, waterers, isolation cage/broody box, nesting boxes, etc. How much actual space do they have to walk around in (square footage) inside the coop?

What is your square footage of your covered run? How much walking around space do they actually have in their run, and is it well cluttered? Minimum recommendation is 10 sq ft per chicken, and this only works if they have unlimited access to the coop whenever they're in the run, and are out in the run whenever it's daylight.

If they're in the run without access to the coop, minimum of 15 square feet per chicken recommended. Some nervous and flighty breeds, or flocks with bullies may need more space than this.

I agree with other posters, they sound bored, stressed, possibly not enough protein, and not enough hens for the roosters.

I recently reduced my flock size by removing my rooster and moving two hens out, so now they have gone from ~12 square ft per chicken to 15 sq feet per chicken. They seem much calmer now and are laying larger eggs. The hens I moved to another coop are much happier also - they've gone from lowest on the pecking order to head hens, and their eggs have never been so big. Once I get another egg layer in a few months, I'll rehome my head bully hen and put pinless peepers on everyone else to see if I can finally retrian the feather eating/pecking issues (Head bully won't keep her peepers on). I meant to add a coop to their covered run, but never got around to it, and they started feather picking over the winter (stress, cold weather, boredom, etc). Space REALLY DOES matter, the more the better! Best to avoid the issues whenever possible.