Chicken Health | PECKING

Hen Pecking, Cannibalism and Bullying

This behaviour can be very distressing for a chicken keeper as chickens can turn very nasty when they notice any blood or red wounds. Sometimes it can lead to chickens pecking other chickens feathers out or in extreme cases cannibalism that causes death. There are a few reasons for this behaviour to develop in a flock.

Why Do They Do It?

The most common reason for pecking is usually that the chickens don’t have enough space. This can cause them to become stressed and so they will start pecking at each other or bully a chicken that is lower in the chicken pecking order. If you think this could be the reason, try giving them more space to see if that helps. It's also a good idea to keep them busy by offering them distractions and interesting things in their run, such as hanging treats or scratch feeds to keep them occupied. If one hen is the bully, try removing her from the flock for a couple of days or a week. This should work as when she is reintroduced, she will hopefully be at the bottom of the pecking order and shouldn’t return to her aggressive behaviour. Another reason for pecking is when one of your chickens becomes ill and possibly has a wound. When chickens see a red wound, they will continuously peck at it. If this is the case, you will need to remove the injured chicken and isolate her until she is healthy again and any wounds have healed. Nettex Wound Spray is perfect to use in such cases as it helps to the heal the wound and the violet colour helps disguise nay red (blood).

Be Careful When Introducing New Chickens

Pecking and bullying will always happen when you introduce new chickens to the flock. This is perfectly natural as they establish the ‘pecking’ order. This type of pecking shouldn’t last longer than a few days to a couple of weeks. Although the chickens are very brutal at times you shouldn’t need to intervene unless you think a chicken will be seriously injured. If one particular chicken is causing a problem when she is attacking intervene and stop her pecking. You may have to do this several times before she stops attacking the new hen so viciously. There are a whole range of products, some are treatments others are boredom busting toys that you can work with to make this transition easier.

Treatment

There is no easy solution to feather pecking within a flock especially if it has been going on for a while.
Feather pecking can become habitual and habits can be hard to break.
For futher recommendations please read our iformative blog on Understanding Feather Pecking and How To Avoid it.

Provide Distractions, Foraging Activities & Space For Your Hens

Continuously monitor your flock  and check on their pecking order. This can change at any time.
If a bird dies, gets sick or you add new pullets into the flock then dynamics within the flock gets affected. Make sure you keep your hens busy at all times.
A busy, happy hen is not going to turn to her flock mate for trouble!

Products That May Assist With Recovery