Why do hens peck each other to blood?

Poultry farmers often can not observe the most pleasant picture, when laying hens begin to arrange terrible battles. Why do chickens peck each other? How to prevent this? Are there ways to solve the problem?

How does this happen?

The terrible battles in the hen house are very unpredictable. A rooster can pounce on a chicken, large individuals start pecking at small pets. As soon as the individual sees the blood, it seems to lose its mind and begins to attack even more the injured rival's place.

All these injuries can become dangerous. If you do not process them in time, then the bird will get an infection. Most often because of this layer has to be hammered.

Learn about the fact that in the absence of a poultry farm, fighting was possible by scattered feathers, blood stains and abrasions everywhere. To prevent unpleasant consequences, you need to find out the main reasons why chickens peck each other?

Excessively bright light

The long duration of daylight causes nervousness in the chickens. Especially they do not like it when a bright light burns throughout the day in the henhouse. They begin to "break" and attack each other.

To avoid this problem, after every four hours you should drive the layers to the coop. The room in which they are located should be properly arranged. It is not recommended to buy high power lamps. It is best to give preference to dull red or blue tones that will not affect the psyche of birds. We must also remember the duration of the day, which should not exceed 14 hours.

Variety of rocks

There is the most common reason why chicken pecking each other. It is related to the fact that in the same room are several breeds of birds at the same time. Each individual has certain character traits. For example, white chickens are the most aggressive. The darker the tone of color, the calmer the laying hen. It is worth considering this factor, before breeding birds of different breeds.

If there is no possibility to keep similar individuals, then it is worthwhile "breaking" all the pupils into classes, allocating a separate corral for each of them.

Not enough space

Each poultryman has repeatedly thought about why the hens are pecking at each other's feet? With such a gesture they try to drive out the "roommates", freeing up more space for themselves. If in the summer they can fully walk on the street, then in winter they have to huddle in the hen house.

Many owners make a global mistake - many birds are planted to obtain a large supply of products. So it is absolutely impossible to do. To layers was comfortable, it is worthwhile to plant them correctly, in the calculation: 10 individuals per 1 square meter. It is also advisable to take care that each of them has enough feeders and drinkers.

Insufficiently moist air

There is a main reason why chickens peck each other in the tail. It is directly related to the lack of humidity in the air. You can notice that most often it happens in the winter season, when birds spend most of the time in the hen house.

Due to the excessive dryness of the air, feathers become brittle. The hen, because of discomfort, tends to treat the tail with its own saliva, but it affects the subcutaneous cover, traumatizing itself. This provokes to sow his "roommates".

In order for this not to happen, you should create optimal conditions for keeping chicken. The room should be ventilated regularly, but in such a way that drafts do not appear. You can also buy special equipment that will moisten the air in the room.

Custom feature

Experienced breeders assure that sometimes individuals peck their "companions" because of individual characteristics. One pet from an early age begins to attack other chicks, after which it turns into a bad habit that will haunt him throughout his life. Most often this applies to exotic species.

In this case, there is no need to find out why the hens are pecking each other. It is necessary to isolate the pest from the common henhouse.

Creating a stressful situation

Sometimes poultry farmers themselves become the culprits of why chickens peck priests to each other. They, without knowing it, create for them a most dangerous stressful situation. Categorically, it is not allowed to change the situation for adults (to transport them from one chicken coop to another). It is also not advisable to change the feeders and drinkers. If you want to sell one individual, it is better to do it at a very early age. Any change causes stress for the laying hen, which causes it to become overly aggressive and attack its "roommates".

In the henhouse, there should always be only a quiet tonal environment. Do not allow the presence of bright objects.

Unfavorable environment

The main reason why chickens peck each other to death is due to their overly aggressive state. Only an unfavorable situation can cause such stress. Each poultry farm should pay attention to five important points:

• The room should always be cool, do not allow too high or low air temperature.
• If individuals live in cages, then they should not be too crowded.
• No need to organize a chicken coop next to noisy places.
• It is recommended to buy a sufficient number of drinkers and feeders, approximately one piece for three individuals.
• Dead birds should be immediately removed from the chicken coop.

If you comply with all the above conditions, the layers will always feel calm, they will have no reason to attack their brethren.

Insufficient amount of nutrients

Veterinarians and poultry farmers managed to find out why the hens peck each other to the blood in the head. This phenomenon is directly related to the lack of useful substances in the body, especially sulfur. In order for the individual to feel well, at least once a week should be added to her diet the following useful substances:

1. Protein of animal origin: fresh fishmeal, any sour-milk product or live worms. The insects of the chicken themselves are able to extract in the summer. For winter it is better to store and store them in a cold space. For example, you can put animals into a small container and dig into the ground.
2. Vegetation: sunflower, peas or soy.
3. It is necessary to supplement the food with sulfur, approximately 1 gram per day for each individual.

Do not allow and the opposite situation, that is, an overabundance of vitamins. For example, if the bird contains a large amount of protein, then it may involuntarily begin to perform blood, and this will provoke its brethren to fight. It is also worth taking care to ensure that there is always fresh water in the troughs. Specialists in chicken breeding do not recommend using zinc utensils for feeding, this can provoke poisoning.

How to avoid battles?

As it turned out, there are many reasons why chickens peck each other to blood. Such battles can lead to the most unpleasant consequences. There are several folk methods that will help to avoid them:

• It is necessary to connect wreaths from natural products and hang them in the henhouse. For example, you can use grass tops, cabbage or nettles. It is recommended to change this accessory once a week, it will become an excellent sedative for birds.
• Regularly it is necessary to cut a beak, approximately on one third part from all its length.
• In every school there is always an activist. He first begins to attack the weakest individual, and all the other "cohabitants" take an example from him. It is necessary to calculate this pest and isolate it.
• Once a week for laying, you need to arrange useful baths. For this it is required to mix river sand with ash, pour this mixture into a spacious container and put it in the center of the house for several hours.
• The brain of a bird should always be enriched with oxygen, therefore it is recommended to regularly arrange for it a walk and airing.

Of course, all of the above methods do not guarantee that the hens will stop attacking each other, but they will behave much more calmly.

Classification by type

Veterinarians work at large poultry farms. They, like no one else, know the nature of individuals and can determine why the hens are pecking each other to blood. To each newcomer in this activity the first thing they recommend doing is to break all the birds into several separate classes.

First you need to distribute them according to the color scheme. Yellow layers are the quietest, you can keep up to 10 pieces on one square meter. Holders of individuals of white color should cut this number exactly 2 times. The rarest species is black. They can also live in large flocks.

Approximately it is necessary to classify chickens by age, since strong birds will always attempt on weak pets. It is also always worthwhile to separate sick individuals from healthy ones.

First Aid

If in time it was not possible to find out why the laying hens are pecking each other, and the large-scale battle still took place, then it is necessary to render the first medical aid to the injured bird in the near future.

In the first aid kit of each poultry farm antiseptic must always be present. These include iodine, penicillin or ichthyol ointment. This drug should be treated with the edges of the wound, so that through it does not penetrate the infection into the body. This procedure is recommended to be carried out approximately three times a day for one week, this is how much the process of recovery after illness usually lasts.

For a while, sick animals should be isolated from the pack in order to not be attacked by their brethren. It is necessary to organize a quiet regime and rational nutrition for it. Veterinarians recommend to solder the sick bird with herbal infusions. Daily it is necessary to observe the health of the individual, if there are no improvements, then it becomes necessary to consult a specialist. Often he comes to the conclusion that you need to kill a chicken.

Birds are a living organism that has certain conditions of life. That's why they often do things that people can not understand. The poultryman should carefully study all the main reasons why chickens peck at each other, know the preventive actions and the peculiarities of their residence. In time, the measures taken will help to avoid an unfavorable outcome.