chickens pecking each other

[roosterbooster]

Hi there all, i'm new to this and need help (with my chickens) I have had 6 chickens from point of lay for about 6 months now, all was well until about six weeks ago when i noticed some blood on two of the eggs one day. on further examination i noticed 2 birds had been pecked by one of the others and drawn blood. i stopped and watched them until i found the culprit that was attacking them and isolated her in another shed for three days while the wounds on the others healed up. In the meantime i went to my local supplier and was advised on some spray that not only tastes awful but cleans up the wound, it's the stuff that's used on sheep for foot rot, anyway I took it home and sprayed each rear end with the stuff and it seemed to do the trick until a few days ago when again i noticed blood on the eggs, It seems now at least one is quite badly pecked and looks rather bad the others have had their soft white feathers pecked from their rear, i have sprayed with the stuff again but am noticing that they all seem to be pecking each other. Is this a sign of bordem or are they just cannibals?, they have plenty of room outside during the day and never short of food, Please any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Mo]

I wish I had an answer.
If you look down the list of chicken keeping questions you'll see
New hen being bullied
& Help needed
And dozens more further down.
You seem to be doing things right, hens are just nasty to each other sometimes.
Welcome to the forum, hope it gets sorted out.

[Richard]

The good news is that they will get over it and settle down in their own time - but it is distressing to watch I quite agree.

Seems you are doing OK. If you do separate, let it be so they see eachother and can get reeally close.
Then, as previous posts, try putting them together during the night only and see how it goes.

Hope all's well.

Richard

[PK]

Sometimes boredom can casue hens to start pecking and a frequently quoted suggestion is hanging up a cabbage for the hens to peck. When I had a hen going through a hen-pecking phase I regularly put out some carrots for them to peck. I found it seemed to help.

[roosterbooster]

thanks all for the support,
i already do the cabbage hanging thing and it does seem to keep them amused for a while.
Richard... you say they will get over it, but how long do you leave them to their own devices before you take drastic measures?
is it better to isolate the worst peckers or the worst wounded, it seems at the moment that i've taken out the ring leader and now it's a free for all.
Like all on here i don't like to see any animal suffer, but daft as it sounds none of my birds seem to be to concerned that they have gaping wounds in their rear ends.

[morph]

It's a hard thing to watch, and one of my hens had her back badly pecked by one of the others. It's like zombie flesh eaters, and as you say the wounded don't seem to mind.

I put antibacterial powder on mine and separated her during the day, but so the others could see her, and then put them together again at night when they're docile - it's just one of those things, and mine then stopped and have never pecked again!!?

Hope things improve - I would say use your judgement re: drastic action - when they're our pets and not just food, then it's a different ball game isn't it!

[wendy]

I would say if there is blood, then most certainly seperate in the day until they heal and feathers start to grow. As Morph says put them together of a night, they won't peck then, just settle down to sleep. But they are getting used to her/them being around.
Good luck, it is very distressing I know but they do get out of it.
Wendy

[Dave]

any blood
get the bird out
blood is like a magnet
the birds will peck anything that stand out
if you cut your leg go in with the chickens
and they will peck your leg
wait until the scab has come off before you put her back
buy then feathers may have started to come back(could be a couple of weeks!
if you have more than one bird with blood
do not put them together they will each go for the blood
good luck
(i have had 3 birds separated from the rest and each other before now)