Why????

[ilovechickensrock]

why do my chickens peck at eachothers heads?
how do i stop this?
i makes me mad that they do that to each other i want to just

them

 

[bobbi-j]

Are they all new to each other? If so, they may be establishing pecking order. Do they have plenty of space? Sometimes chickens just do things that don't make sense to us humans. They're chickens, not little feathered people.

 

[ChicKat]

wow, did you go through the list of -- stress, crowding, hungry, etc? I have also heard that boredom can cause them to go after each other. Are they new to each other and still sorting out the pecking order? Has something changed lately, and they are adjusting -- Like new coop, added chickens or the like? Is it all of them or just one particularly aggressive chicken?

If you have an agressive chicken, maybe isolate her and see if the others settle down.

There are things that can be attached to beaks to prevent pecking each other.. I think they have goofy names like 'peckless peepers" etc. I will check back to see if you have gotten an answer, and if not---maybe I can remember where I saw the stuff. (never have used so I'm not sure about how effective they would be)... If no obvious Aha answer appears, I will come back to post some links if I can find the things.

 

[sourland]

They are doing this because it is their normal behavior. Chickens are always jostling to improve their position in the pecking order. Remember that they are little feathered dinosaurs.

 

[ilovechickensrock]

i dont know is they are stressed they are not knew to each other a different chicken does it all the time i dont know if they are bored im not sure if i have enough space for my 8 chickens its mainly when they are eeating food that they do this i am think i should move my feeder it is in a corner in my run right now i dont have anywhere else to put it though so i was thinkingget another feeder but i dont have the money grrr

well i better stop writing

i was also thinking of making a bigger run its 8x10 is that big enough for chickens? so many questions sorry about all this writing just want them to stop pecking each other i will do anything

 

[silkiechicken]

Chickens pick at each others heads as part of their normal behavior.... especially around feed dishes. Top hens eat first, and they will always reinforce this even if the feeder is two feet wide.