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I have had 3 POL chickens for 2 weeks. Christine has always been the "bullied" one, but a couple of days ago the others started pecking her and she now has bloody wounds around her tail area. I was warned that this may happen and already had some violet septi spray but it is not preventing further attacks. I know that once they have started to do this they are drawn to the wound and can ultimately peck to death, so I am very concerned.

I think that she is younger than the others because she is not laying yet and has a small comb. Will she grow in confidence as she gets older?

They have a large run area so it is not a problem during the day but is happening overnight. I think that it is more likely to be from dawn onwards as they seem very dopey at bedtime. I am going to set my alarm for 5am for next few days to let them out early, but does anyone have any other suggestions? Would it be an idea to take her out overnight and put her in the shed in a box? I know another hen house would be a solution, but want to avoid high costs if at all possible.

Any advice would be most welcome

HappyHousewife

Something like this happened to me and help came to late for my lil one. If it is possible get a cheap smaller house to put in your run and keep them seperate at night, or possibly a old dog cage and keep it in a shed or garage. You could use special pecking spray to spray on the one being picked. You could also hang cds up to distract them. Also vinegar in drinking water is meant to help. I got two new chickens but one died due to being bullied so we speerated the other one from them and put her with the ducks. Now Dorene, our new chicken, will face the other chickens off if they come near her coup when they are in the garden. When she gets older she will get more confidence and get bigger which will hopefully stop the fighting.

Hope this help :)

Matt :P

Hi Happy Housewife,

This is a very common problem, as we all know that there is most definitely a “pecking order” amongst hens.

We recommend that if you can, to separate her from the others for the length of time it takes for her to heal properly. Then, gradually re introduce her to the flock during the day. You could do this by keeping her in a separate cage within the larger enclosure so they become used to her presence again eventually letting her stay with them during the day. Keep her separate at night for a week or two. Hopefully after that time she will have managed to heal and gain some confidence and she should be fine.

When you reintroduce her amongst the others, you may find it useful to use a product such as Anti Cannibalism spray.
http://www.chickenvet.co.uk/shop/view/index.aspx/product/anti-cannibalism-spray-250ml-73 Spray over the area that was heavily pecked. It will deter the other hens from pecking as it has such an offensive taste, plus it has anti microbial properties which helps to prevent infections by contamination.

Chicken Vet.

Thanks Matt & Chicken Vet - Got some spray yesterday (stinks!) and get her separate last night. Will keep a close eye today, but I'm sure it's only happening at night as she keeps a wide berth during the day when they are out in the run.

Happy

If the spray gets to expensive use a diluted vingaer and spray it over them :)

Matt :P