Hen pecking at night

Hi,

One of our hens has got into the habit of pecking other hens at night. She is always a trouble maker in one way or another.. frequenty broody, and this winter she turned bully to try and increase her pecking status. I managed to stop that by putting her in 'jail' for a few weeks, and on release, increased the amount of activities and close monitoring/water spraying when I spotted bad behaviour. There is now no aggression during the day at all or pecking - the whole flock are pretty chilled.

But, this particular hen is still pecking others at night. I thought there was just the one victim at first (who now has a nice bald patch on her back), but I've started to notice a few patches on a couple of others - on their necks and back. Any ideas how to break this habit? I've read I can put various types of ointment on the bald patches to prevent pecking there, but I doubt that will solve the problem if she is now pecking the fresh supply of feathers on her other sisters as well. Is it just a case of seperating her every night into her own coop to break the habit?

Other background info - we have a mixed flock, all purchased at the same time so we have never had any introduction issues. There is plenty of room for them to perch in the coop, but they seem to choose to huddle at one end. I've tried boosting their protein intake just incase the feather eating is a result of a deficiency, and during the day they have plenty of room and things to do - I don't get the impression that they are bored.

Thanks,

Philippa

Do a search on 'Pin Less Peepers' - they should help break this bad habit.

Yeh I am aware of the peepers, but I'm treating them as an absolute last resort as I don't really like the idea of them. It's also a major bug bear for me that you only seem to be able to purchase them in large multipacks, which seems a great waste given that I only need one..

That said, given that the pecking only happens at night when they are plunged into darkness, would the peepers actually have any effect? It seems a bit mean to make her wear them during the day when I have witnessed no pecking at all..

Jumping in this thread because I have one hen that is getting hen pecked, and I just noticed more damage done to her. I think it's happening at night also.

PBeksa said:

That said, given that the pecking only happens at night when they are plunged into darkness,

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How can see you see them pecking if it only happens in the dark?<scratcheshead>

Roosting time is the most contentious time of day.
I call it the RoostTimeRumble.

What does your coop look like inside?
Pics would help here.
How many birds to total?

Hi,

Sorry for the massive delay in replaying - I didn't get the usual email alert.

So we have 6 hens, all mixed. Our coop is roughly 730 sq feet, and we make use of vertical space as well.
- Coop is an egloo, designed for 6 hens - there is plenty of room in there at night
-The bottom of all the wall panels are boarded which is to stop them getting spooked by our dog (they get on fine btw, it just stops them from being on high alert all the time).
- There is a 'shelf' which runs along the front of the entire run, over the top of their house and down the other side. This lets the hens see what we are doing when we are in the garden, and provides nooks and crannies/shade underneath as well. Its a bit clutterd in there at the moment, but we've just had a heat wave so the extra pallets etc were for additional shade.
-The main area of the run has a deep rich layer of digging material, which we frequently bury treats, add leaves, weeds from the garden, grass etc. for digging. There are two dust baths so never see any fighting over these. Also mirrors, and we periodically hand things from the ceiling to peck at.
- The entrance is paved, and we have a 'never ending' supply of grass on the shelf here too which they love.

During the summer we can't let them free range often as they just destroy the garden, so we try to bring the fun to them. In the winter they also have free run of the greenhouse which you can see next to the run, which gives them a bit of extra warmth/protection in horrible weather.

Hope that helps.

Bald patch is getting steadily worse. I think the offender has just got a taste for feathers in general now. The other day I was watching one having a nice dust bath, and a feather floated up. Madam wasn't interested in the hen having the dust bath, but as soon as she saw the feather she grabbed it from the air and gobbled it up. I have read that giving extra protein should solve that, but I'm already doing it...

PBeksa said:

Our coop is roughly 730 sq feet

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Think you mean the 'run'?
Might need to check your math and/or measurements.
Clutter can be good, and it looks like it here, makes for diversions.

PBeksa said:

Coop is an egloo, designed for 6 hens

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Eh, they say 6 chickens, but again measurements.
Looks tight with no light and not much ventilation.

Extra protein does not automatically cure feather eating.
Animal protein might help.
What is their regular feed and is it always available?

Ah sorry, I do tend to use the terms interchangably. To clarify: The run/the entire area is 730 sq feet. This is correct having measured it before posting. The coop/house area is 4 by 3 ft.

The house we have is very similar to this:
https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/eglu_cube/.
This version here is smaller than ours (3 by 3 ft.) and it says on the site that it is designed for 6-8 medium hens. Given that our house has an extra foot in length, I'm happy that they have enough room. When they are all roosted, they tend to cluster to one end, there is probably the equivalent of a foot of empty space left. In the nest box also there is room for two hens to lay at a time (although they choose not to).

Ventilation wise it is fine. There are panels cut in three sides for air flow which you can probably see better on the website, but as is constructed in large panels there are also small gaps between joints as well. How can you tell if the hens are getting enough air in there?

I've been giving them mealworm - would that constitute as enough animal protein or does it need to be more hard core - big slabs of bacon maybe

I can't remember the brand of their feed... it is pretty standard hen pellets and yes, always available.

PBeksa said:

To clarify: The run/the entire area is 730 sq feet. This is correct having measured it before posting.

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Not seeing it. My run is 8' x 50' and only 400 sqft.

PBeksa said:

it says on the site that it is designed for 6-8 medium hens.

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Well, they use factory farming type space requirements.
9sqft with 6 birds is only 1.5sqft per bird, most folks here like to go with a minimum of 4sqft per bird..your birds are showing/telling you they feel cramped by pecking each other.

PBeksa said:

I've been giving them mealworm - would that constitute as enough animal protein or does it need to be more hard core - big slabs of bacon maybe

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Yes, mealworms are a decent animal protein, but also high in fat....
....so, no, bacon slabs wouldn't be good either