[kensington chicks]

Hello everyone,

I have had my 6 girls for six weeks, and the pecking order is fairly well sorted out with Lily ( White Sussex) at the top, and Mable (Black Columbian) at the bottom.

Mable has been feather pecked and has a bald patch on her back.  The skin looks red and sore to me but not broken.  We have sprayed her with the anti-pecking spray several times.  We also isolated Lily for three days, and whilst things did improve, she is still being pecked. 

When we try to spray her now, she is very difficult to get hold of.  I think she is more afraid of us than Lily? 

They are in their pen in the morning which is 10ft x 10ft with bark, perch, cd's etc.  They then free range in the afternoons.

Should I isolate Lily again? or am I the problem?  I have to say this is the most distressing part of keeping chickens.

We are going away for a weekend in a couple of weeks and the girls will be in their pen all day.  I am worried that Mable will be picked on even more .............

what shall I do ??  KC

[Kate and her Ducks]

The only time I have ever had to deal with pecking was in quail and I had to apply the peck spray on a daily basis for weeks before the habit was broken.

[OpiumEater]

I had 3 in a run 8 feet by 12 feet and the one at the bottom of the pecking order had a bare back due to pecking.

The fox took the main culprit, but the problem persisted. I made a jacket for her to allow her feathers to grow back, which they have, and she's started laying again.

As soon as the jacket came off, the pecking started again, so it's back on and I'm now ordering a bit for the perpetrator.

I found the spray just made her sticky and nervous about coming anywhere near me and had no effect on the pecking.

I've had mixed reviews about the bits, but if it works, it's worth it.

[kensington chicks]

Thanks Opiumeater,

How long did you leave the jacket on? and did she not mind not being able to preen?

I was thinking of maybe covering her for a while.   KC

[Dominic]

10sqms for 6 chickens is pretty cramped.
How many feeders and drinkers do they have?

Have you tried "pecking" the bully?

[kensington chicks]

Hi Dominic,

We are in the process of doubling the pen space, although they do free range all afternoon.  They have two waters and one feeder.

Mable is feeding and drinking OK and will even fight her way in to get treats in the afternoon.  She is also the first to lay every day.

How do I 'peck' the bully?  KC

[orchardlady]

Just give the offender a sharp tap with a hooked forefinger. Even if you do not make contact with your target the message is clear. Don't worry about being quite firm with your 'peck' you won't really hurt her just look how rough they are with each other!

Orchardlady.

[Chrysalis]

I am sorry about Mabel.  She'll recover, I'm sure. 
Our blackrock is the main pecker in our little flock of six.  We use a water spray on her when she goes for the little 'uns.  Works a treat we find.  We had the two older ones (blackrock, Nesta,  and Bluebelle the bluebelle) separate for about a month or so until we did supervised playtime with the new girls.  After about a week and a few sprays of water we've had few problems and not had to use the antpecker stuff at all.
Best of luck and try not to fret!

[kensington chicks]

Chrysalis,

When you seperate them do you put them back in the same coop at night, or seperate them completely?

KC

[Chrysalis]

We have a run within the run, if you get me.. The older two were kept apart from the newbies at night, for about a week after we'd started supervised playtime and then we tried them all together.  Now we find they all get on fine.  There's a bit of argy bargy around food, but we have a number of feeders and waterers.
Weirdly, one of the older hens goes to bed in the henhouse and all the others roost on top of it.  One night last week I went to say Nightynight, and found one of the sussex's inside and the rest outside.   :blink:
Just seems to be who gets inside first.  Sometimes they're all out all night.  if wet, they all go in.  Mr Fox can't get in, so we don't worry about leaving them out.  In the interests of world peace we decided to let them work it out for themselves.  The water spray isn't much used anymore....

I'm sure it'll all come right with a bit of patience and occasional discipline! Good luck, C

[OpiumEater]

Thanks Opiumeater,

How long did you leave the jacket on? and did she not mind not being able to preen?

I was thinking of maybe covering her for a while.   KC

She had it on for a couple of weeks, I would check her every couple of days to make sure all was fine, and she didn't seem too bothered. She still dust bathed with it on, and preened around and underneath. It's only a light weight one so she was able to get under it if she wanted, but it stopped Alice picking a feather as Bernadette walked past.

Alice is never nasty or vicious with her, they are as thick as thieves and follow each other everywhere. But Alice will pull feathers out of Bernadette in passing or as they are dust bathing together. I think she's just got the taste for them. Once the back is thin on feathers, she then eats the new feathers growing so they don't get a chance to grow and sometimes draws blood.

The jacket was good in that it allowed the feathers to grow, but I need to get a bit for Alice as she's just into bad habits now, and even though I've got a water pistol on hand when I see her, I don't obviously she her all the time and poor Bernadette is not at her feathery best. 

[kensington chicks]

Thanks OpiumEater,

This sounds like my two.  Mable does cower a bit now and then but for the most part they are OK.  It is worse when Mable has a dust bath because she is then prime target.

I also have a waterpistol which is great fun, but am not there all the time either.

I am hoping that Lily is not entrenched with this bad habit, but will consider the bit also.

What did you make the jacket out of?  I am trying to picture it......

Thanks KC x

[OpiumEater]

I made it from the kitchen blind material I used so she matches the kitchen lovely 

I used a web link I have previously put up for someone else, I'll try to find the link and put a picture up today. It was so easy, you can buy them but as I had fabric and elastic in and a sewing machine, it took me a couple of hours and cost nothing.

Be in touch soon, and when the bits arrive I'll let you know how I get on with them
x

[DJMattingley]

Hi,

I am new keeper also, after pondering for years on whether or not to keep chooks I have finally taken the leap and am happy that I have done so.  I also have a problem with pecking.  When I bought my coop I had 2 Hens delivered with the coop (which was 10 days ago), the bossy hen Jemima was pecking Beatrice quite bad, but this seemed to stop.  Having only had the hens for 10 days and fallen in love with them, we decided to introduce the two new hens which are around 17 weeks old ( I assumed as the two original hens Jemima and Beatrice are new to the coop introducing two more would be ok(?)), a pecking order seems to be established Jemima at top and White lady at the bottom, Jemima seemed to be the main culprit for bullying the two new hens and just seems to be on a war path.   I have tried anti pecking spray which seems to deter Jemima and Beatrice for a few minutes until she forgets and then goes again, dislikes the taste, forgets and goes again and so on, the pecking is not as bad as it was but still awful to witness.  I have also tried as you suggest to manual peck Jemima and Beatrice when she joins in also, this again seems to stop them from pecking for a while.  I have a coop with an integrated run which is w3ftx l 6xft x h5ft and then an extension on that thats  6ftx10ft with plenty of feeding and watering points to try and give the hens as many options as possible, also have plenty of CD's and other hanging distractions, but Jemima can still get on a war path and run round pecking the other hens until she gets bored.

Has any one had any success with the Anti Pecking sprays? Will the pecking order get established and the pecking reduce to an expected level and also what are these 'bits' that are being mentioned?

[kensington chicks]

Hi DJ

Welcome.  We also debated for ages before getting our girls and finally decided to go for it.  This pecking has been the worse part.

If you look through some earlier posts there is lots of advice on pecking.  I am seperating my 'bully' Lily for a couple of days to calm her down.  I have seen advice on this forum to seperate the original girls and the new girls, but leave them so they can see each other.  They are then supposed to get used to each other.

I am using anti pecking spray, but not so much success.  Do use it though because it has an antiseptic in to make sure the pecked chicken does not get any infection.

The bits are plastic rings that somehow go on the chickens nose and make it difficult to peck?  Not seen or used one though, but may look into it.

Persevere, I am and hopefully all will be well.  KC