by There are two main reasons why chickens attack and peck each other. This happens either because of aggression or because the birds lack certain nutrients in their diet. When there is a lack of nutrients: Lack of protein.
Let’s consider other reasons.
Signs of pecking
Chickens peck each other at any age. This most often happens when the chickens change their feathers from down to feathers. They lack useful microelements, and they find them in feathers that accidentally fall to the ground.
Later, this is not enough for them, and they peck out feathers from their neighbors, which often leads to cannibalism.
A farmer must constantly monitor the behavior of birds on his farm. If chickens collect feathers in the nursery, this is the first signal that action must be taken.
The beginning of cannibalism in a chicken farm manifests itself as follows:
- The hens have fewer feathers on their backs and wings. They gradually become bald and stop laying eggs.
- Fresh wounds with blood appear on open areas of the body. They do not heal, but rather grow larger.
- Some hens have blood in their beaks. These individuals are energetic and dominant over the others.
- Corpses with their entrails eaten out are found in the barn.
If the owner notices a wounded bird, it must be immediately isolated from the others.
Chickens can kill her quickly. It can take several minutes from the moment of pecking to death if all the birds attack at once, and the victim will have nowhere to hide.
Types of pecking in chicks and adults
Pecking types correspond to a specific period of bird growth:
- At an early age Chickens peck at their neighbors’ fingers. This is how they fight for a place at the feeder and scare away weaker brethren.
- When the hens and young cockerels they start to measure strength and establish a hierarchy in the chicken coop, you can observe pecking in the area of the comb and earrings, head.
- When do young hens start laying eggs?, their cloaca sometimes falls out. This happens when the egg is too large or has two yolks. This attracts the attention of other hens, and they begin to peck at the protruding cloaca. This also happens when the feed is too hard and the birds have constipation or diarrhea.
Wounds in other parts of the body can be caused by feather pecking, lice, or mechanical damage to the skin. This type of pecking occurs at any age of the bird.
Causes
There are many reasons for pecking in chickens, which are related to:
- feeding;
- content;
- disruption of the relationship between chickens on the farm.
Food
How the chickens will behave depends largely on their diet. There are periods when it is necessary to increase it and enrich it with various additives.
Chickens need to be well fed when:
- the chickens’ plumage changes from down to feathers;
- laying hens begin to lay eggs;
- molting occurs.
During these periods, microelements and bioadditives are introduced into the feed. Everything you need should be purchased at veterinary pharmacies. They are produced for different periods in special packages and added to the combined feed.
The quality of the feed is also of great importance. Stale or mycotoxin-contaminated feed causes the weak to become ill, and then the strong will peck them to death. Drinking also plays a role – a lack of water leads to the birds searching for liquid and pecking.
Crowding
This is a common cause of chicken cannibalism. If the chickens or hens are outside, they are busy looking for food and do not pay attention to each other.
But when they live in a closed space, they notice any damage on the body of their neighbors. The sight of blood prompts them to peck. In high crowding, the strongest individuals and birds that are close to the victim become cannibals.
Social struggle becomes more aggressive, the weak have nowhere to hide from the strong.
At high stocking densities, there is a high probability of feed shortages, which is a reason for hostility in the chicken population and a cause of a lack of essential elements in the chickens’ bodies.
Room illumination
In a fully lit room, the chickens see all the changes on the body of their neighbors. They quickly notice the blood and start pecking. The victim has nowhere to hide.
To prevent this from happening, the chicken coop should have dark corners and the light should be dim.
Dry air
When the coop is too dry, a lot of dust appears. This is harmful for poultry and leads to the proliferation of parasites on the skin. Chickens become restless and begin to pluck their feathers.
Socialization in a herd
Chickens are in a constant struggle for food and social status in society. Even if there is plenty of food, the strong birds choose the best, driving away the weak.
This is especially true when there are several roosters on the farm. Only one should dominate – the strongest one. Sometimes the fight continues until the weak one dies or is separated into another henhouse. Among the hens, there are also individuals-leaders.
Incompatibility of breeds
Observations have shown that layers are more likely to become cannibals than meat breed chickens. These birds cannot be kept together, they may start to fight.
It is no less dangerous to add other people’s chickens to your own chicken coop. Roosters will happily accept someone else’s chicken, but hens may peck her to death.
Abrupt changes in the environment
When the weather gets cold, poultry needs more feathers. They need more food and microelements. And if you don’t feed the birds during the cold, they’ll start to eat each other.
A chicken gets nervous when transferred to another flock. As a result, she starts pecking her feathers and injuring herself.
Ticks, parasites, lice
They force the hens to peck them out, which causes wounds to appear. Other birds notice this and start pecking the individual in the wounds and bare skin.
Newbie chickens
(One or more) in a herd. New residents must be introduced wisely, first separating them from all the others.
Other reasons
Changes in the behavior of poultry may occur due to the appearance of extraneous noise, the absence of a rooster in the flock, or as a result of fear.
Because of these factors, chickens become nervous and hysterical. Cannibalism also occurs if the bodies of dead chickens are not removed in time.
What to do?
To avoid problems in the chicken coop, you need to follow the rules of feeding and keeping birds. This will save them from pecking, improve the quantity and quality of eggs.
What to do:
- Eliminating crowdingNo more than 1-3 meat-type birds or 4-4 hens are placed per 5 square meter of the poultry house.
- Providing the required number of feeders and drinkers, and for hens a sufficient number of nests is necessary. In the warm season, let the hens out for a walk more often, hang green brooms (from nettles, clover), give raw vegetables for additional vitamins.
- Getting rid of parasites in birds This is facilitated by installing a container with ash or sulfur in the poultry house, as well as disinfecting the room with special means with the temporary removal of the chickens from it.
- In light frosts in winter, chickens need to be let out for a walk, at least for a little while.
- Young stock should be kept separate from mature chickens.The same rule must be observed with birds of different breeds.
- Adjust the humidity in the room. If the air is dry, you need to put containers with water, but dampness should not be allowed either. It is important that the room has good ventilation, but there are no drafts, which chickens tolerate worse than cold.
- Establish a daily light regime duration of 12-14 hours. Artificial lighting is installed at the rate of 60 watts per 10 square meters of the poultry house, the lamps should not be located close to the chicken heads. It is also desirable to paint them blue or red. Artificial light should not burn longer than 10-11 hours a day.
Change of feeding
The diet of poultry should be varied. You cannot abruptly switch the bird from one feed to another, as this worsens the health of the chickens: digestion suffers, they get sick, the metabolism in the body changes.
All this affects the general condition. It is better to transfer the hens to another feed gradually. If the birds begin to go bald and the eggs become fragile, the hens do not have enough calcium. Therefore, they need to be given sand or shell rock.
It is useful to give birds fish and bone meal, table salt, vitamins. All this is sold in a veterinary pharmacy.
It is necessary to strictly adhere to the dosage, otherwise new problems will arise: the birds will have stool disorders or toxicosis.
Changes in content
If cannibalism occurs in a chicken farm, it is necessary to find the cause of the phenomenon and correct the errors in the maintenance:
- The chicken coop should be clean and the air humidity should be maintained at an optimal level.
- In hot weather, you can bathe chickens, which will help them get rid of parasites. For the same purpose, it is useful to sprinkle ashes on chickens.
- Grown-up chickens that become cramped in the room should be distributed to other cages.
Aggressive birds that are caught engaging in cannibalism must be slaughtered, because it is no longer possible to wean them off this behavior.
Using glasses for chickens
In order to stop chickens from pecking each other, poultry farmers sometimes resort to such an invention as chicken glasses. Manufacturers claim that with the help of the device, cannibalism is eliminated in 99% of cases.
The beak pads do not interfere with the bird’s normal view and are easy to put on and take off.
Removal of skin parasites
When external parasites are detected, the chickens and the poultry house are treated with preparations with insectoacaricidal action. Ivermek, Delcid, Amatis, etc. are used to combat chicken mites, feather eaters and fleas.
Treatment of sick individuals
A pecked laying hen does not necessarily go straight to slaughter. Young birds that lay eggs are treated taking into account a number of recommendations.
First aid
First of all, the chicken must be separated from the flock. It must be placed in a single cage or released into the wild until the wounds heal and become covered with feathers.
Treatment of wounds
Wounds must be treated with an antiseptic. Hydrogen peroxide, brilliant green or vodka are suitable for this.
Further care consists of regular wound treatment and monitoring of the general condition. If the chicken has stopped eating and has become lethargic, this indicates an infection.
Further treatment may be ineffective.
Preventive measures
To avoid pecking among hens and chicks, you need to act before the first cases occur.
Debecking
This is one of the methods for preventing pecking in young animals. It is carried out on large poultry farms using a special device. Young chickens have their beaks cut off and cauterized.
This is done by experienced specialists who know how long to shorten the beaks and when to carry out the procedure.
Some poultry farmers try to trim the beak of chickens at home. This is not worth doing – if you trim it short, it will quickly grow back, and if you trim it too much, you can hurt the bone or cause bleeding. This is dangerous because of the risk of infection.
Genetic selection
Some breeds of chickens are difficult to raise because the young have a low survival rate. They are aggressive from an early age and without beak trimming they can kill each other.
Breeders are working to develop calm breeds so that the trimming procedure does not cause unnecessary trauma to the bird.
Proper nutrition
Chicken feed should be varied. Combined feed with additives is introduced, fresh and dry grass is useful. These products contain substances necessary for growth.
You need to give raw vegetables – zucchini, pumpkin, beetroot, carrots. Birds eat them willingly, which improves the quality of eggs and meat.
Light mode
Adult hens should be kept out of direct sunlight, as this will not do any good. They need shaded areas. Sunlight is beneficial for chicks in the first days of life. There should be shaded areas so that the babies do not overheat.
It is useful for laying hens to extend the daylight hours. To do this, turn on the light in the barn for several hours in the evening. Increasing the daylight hours leads to an increase in the number of eggs. But the light should not be too bright, it is enough to turn on a magpie bulb.
Using beak abrasives
These are special devices sprinkled with quartz sand. They are used to grind down the birds’ beaks and claws, like sandpaper.
They also add abrasive materials to the feed. By eating it, the chickens themselves wear down their beaks and become safe for their relatives.
Free range poultry
Chickens grow and develop quickly when free-ranging. They find their own food in the form of grass, insects, worms and seeds. They have no shortage of minerals and vitamins.
Over a vast territory, they have little contact with each other, so there are practically no cases of pecking.
To prevent pecking in chickens and hens, it is necessary to comply with stocking density standards:
- up to 3 weeks – 1,2 sq. m. per head;
- 4-10 weeks – 2 m per individual;
- 11-17 weeks – 3,3 m per head;
- Adult bird – 4,5 m per individual.
The conclusions are worthy of attention
In conclusion, we would like to draw your attention once again to the set of operational actions that must be carried out within one or two days and that can stop pecking in chickens (cannibalism) within 2-3 days.
- Identify and eliminate (separate from the general herd) the instigators of pecking.
- Send the wounded for treatment and ensure that they can protect themselves from each other.
- Add quail feed, meat and bone meal, fish meal and nettles (greens) to the feed.
- If possible, significantly reduce the light flux for laying hens.
You will see the results already on the second day of the “preventive” measures – the pecking should stop. But to be on the safe side, it would be a good idea to wait a couple more days.
