hen pecked

[ElsieBeard]

we have 4 chickens and one of them is being badly hen pecked. what can i do?

they have plenty of room to roam, and i have been told that lack of space is the main reason for hen pecking so it cant be this?

help!

Are they all attacking her? I tend to have 1 hen who is more of a bully than the others so I remove her and allow the rest of the flock to settle before reintroducing her.

I think vaseline on the crop can help?

well its quite strange..we have 4 hens, 1 black 1 white and 2 brown.

at the top is one of the brown hens, then the other brown hen, then the white hen and then the black hen.

i have seen both the white and brown hen being pecked but the black hen who is most badly pecked i never see her being pecked. obvioulsy i dont stand there all day though!

There is always a natural pecking order, and hens at the top will sometimes deliver a sharp peck, just to reinforce it. That's normal and natural.

However, the point to become worried is when it's become excessive (e.g. prolonged attacks), is causing physical injury, or preventing the hen from accessing food & water. If blood has been drawn, then this needs to be cleaned immediately - hens are attracted to peck at red things, and are a bit bloodthirsty, so they can make things far worse.

In that instance, your best option is to remove the perpetrator from the flock, and keep her out of sight / sound for a week - 10 days. By that point, the others should have forgotten about her, and she will have to start again, at the bottom of the pecking order.

PS vaseline on the crop - how on earth is that meant to work?!

I have had exactly the same problem when I tried to introduce 2 ex-bats to an existing flock. You can buy aerosols of anti-cannibalisation spray (also suitable for pigs and cows). Spray it on the areas being attacked. It smells and tastes vile and reduces the severity of the attack significantly. trust me it worked!

littleh

Do you mean this stuff? www.chicken-house.co.uk/acatalog/ukadex_anti_peck_spray.html

If so, oh good god, I have to agree that the smell is horrific! The word 'repulsif' in french on th front tells you all you need to know! I wore old clothes and stood upwind of it when I was spraying it. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of forgetting to wear a pair of marigolds. My hands smelt like a stale ash tray for about a week afterwards!