Pecking in birds is a common occurrence. Both adults and young animals, and even chickens, are susceptible to it. There are reasons for this unpleasant behavior of birds. Let's look at why chickens start pecking each other until they bleed and what to do in this situation. How to prevent a similar problem in the future, to prevent pecking among domestic chicken flocks.
Causes of cannibalism
There is no single reason for the occurrence of pecking. Chickens may peck at each other due to lack of nutrients, crowded housing, or improper lighting.
Lack of calcium
In order for hens and chicks to grow normally, their bodies must constantly receive nutrients. All of them are in the food that the bird eats every day. The supply of mineral elements is also important. Pecking in chickens occurs due to a long-term lack of calcium. Calcium deficiency makes birds aggressive, they attack each other, pluck feathers and peck until blood appears. Thus, they try to get food from what is nearby. In addition to calcium, pecking is caused by a lack of protein, vitamins, and salt.
Crowding
Pecking is often observed among those birds that are kept in close quarters, when there are more individuals per unit area of the poultry house than is acceptable according to the norm. Living in cramped conditions, chickens cannot approach the feeder or drinker during feeding or rest properly. All this leads to nervousness, the chickens behave aggressively, fight, and peck each other.
Incorrect lighting
Bright lighting provokes aggressiveness, which results in pecking. Keeping birds in dim light significantly reduces the likelihood of this behavior. The color of the light also matters. For example, red and blue calm the bird and normalize the behavior of chickens.
Main symptoms
Weak individuals are attacked, and stronger ones begin to peck at them. They pull out feathers from the neck, back, and tail. When blood appears, it not only does not stop the chickens, but, on the contrary, forces them to continue pecking. The others join the aggressive individual. If the victim is not removed, it can be pecked to death.
If the chicken that pecks at others is alone in the flock, then the reason is most likely in its character.It needs to be separated from the others and if the pecking stops, then the problem is solved.
How to deal with the problem
Review your diet and analyze how balanced it is. Are all the nutrients and in what quantity are they found in the foods that birds eat? Add foods high in protein and greens to the food. Add salt, vitamin preparations and chalk as a source of calcium to the mash. After some time, the pecking should stop. If the chickens are cramped, place some of the chickens in another room. The livestock must move freely, find a place to rest, and not interfere with each other during feeding.
Victims of pecking will require treatment. They are separated from the rest in a small cage. Wounds are treated with hydrogen peroxide (a good blood clotting agent) or a pink solution of potassium permanganate. Then sprinkle with streptomycin powder or another antibacterial agent. You need to monitor the wounds for at least a week and a half. If pus appears, treat first with chlorhexidine, and then with levomekol or tetracycline ointment.
Preventive actions
The problem of pecking can be prevented by dividing the chickens into 2 groups, one of which will contain aggressive and more active birds, and the other - calmer ones. You cannot place young animals of a different age with chickens; in this case, fights are inevitable. It is also better not to keep a large number of bettas together. Males always fight among themselves and the older they get, the more aggressive they become.
To prevent pecking due to overcrowding, you need to calculate how many birds can be housed per unit area. This number cannot be exceeded. For 1 chicken up to 3 weeks you need 120 sq. cm, up to 10 weeks – 200 sq. cm, up to 17 weeks – 330 sq. see. You also need to let the chickens out for a walk in the aviary. Walking has a good effect on the mental state of birds, which become calmer and more balanced.
Chickens need to be fed properly. Often it is errors in preparing the diet that lead to pecking. The feed that chickens should receive every day, in addition to carbohydrates from grain, should contain vitamins (greens, meat and bone meal) and mineral elements (salt, chalk, shell).
In general, the more varied the diet, the less likely the birds will be deficient in any of the nutrients.
The cardinal method of preventing pecking is considered to be the method of trimming the tip of a chicken's beak, which becomes blunt and the chicken can no longer grab a neighbor's feather with it. But this procedure is quite difficult to perform and requires accuracy, so it is not used in the household. But it is used for industrial breeding of chickens; their beaks are cut off in the incubator or on the first day of life. Recovery takes a long time, but does not prevent the chickens from eating normally.
Any poultry farmer may experience pecking in chickens. The reason for this behavior often lies in the actions of the owner. If the issue is not the presence of naturally evil individuals, then you need to consider whether everything is properly organized in feeding and maintenance. You should not hope that the problem will be solved on its own. After identifying the cause, you need to start eliminating the problem, otherwise the chickens may cause each other to die.
