If you’re raising chickens they need to be kept safe and healthy, safe and healthy birds live long, stress-free lives. Unfortunately, the very thing that may be harming your bird may be other birds.
If you find that your chicken has been pecked to death you may wonder why this happened and what to do. This article looks into it
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Chicken pecked to death:
Chickens pecking at each other may be a pretty horrific thing for humans to think about but it’s actually very normal for chickens. That being said, although pecking is normal, over pecking can kill a bird.
There are a variety of reasons why chickens may peck each other to death, and some of these reasons are in your control.
Why do chickens peck at each other?
Pecking order: Birds peck at each other as a way of enforcing the hierarchy among birds. Bigger birds peck weaker and smaller birds into submission. New birds can be pecked to death if pecked too much
Boredom: Chickens get bored very easily, if chickens are bored the birds may start to peck at each other
Small living quarters: Chickens aren’t very fond of living in tight spaces, they can start to peck at each other if their living spaces are too small.
Stress: If a bird is stressed out it will peck at itself, peck other birds in the flock, or even pull out its own feathers. Stress can be caused by a change in routine, a change in feed, or new members in the flock among other reasons.
Lack of nutrients: If a bird is lacking in nutrients it will peck at the birds around it. Birds know that other birds carry nutrients, malnourished birds will peck other birds to get said nutrients.
Illness: You may not notice that a bird is ill, but other birds will, the healthier birds may start to peck at the sick bird if they notice any signs of illness.
What causes death:
Pecking is normal and doesn’t usually lead to death but it can in some cases.
When a chicken gets pecked the pecked area will become very red and bloody as the skin becomes inflamed and opens up.
This open wound attracts other birds, chickens are attracted to the color red, and the birds that are attracted will start to peck at the wound.
All this pecking at the open wound can eventually cause the death of the bird if something is not done about the pecking. This is why it’s important to nip this behavior in the bud early on.
Chickens know when a member of their flock is dead, if a flock intentionally tries to peck a single bird to death then the flock will definitely peck the bird to death. The flock will only stop when the bird is motionless and dead
What to do:
If your chicken has been pecked to death you’d need to dispose of it properly.
Remove the bird from the coop as soon as you realize that it is dead. Make sure that you wear rubber gloves when handling the bird, also, make sure that you wash your hands well after touching the bird.
Burying the bird may or may not be legal where you are, you’d have to check your local laws on burying animals. If it is legal, make sure that you bury the bird at least two feet deep into the ground and several hundred feet from the coop.
Animals like dogs and raccoons will dig the chicken up and eat it if the bird isn’t buried deep enough.
You can also get rid of the bird’s body by contacting your municipal solid waste agency to get advice on how to get rid of the bird, or, you can also take the bird to your local vet to have the bird cremated or disposed of by the vet.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other chicken related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Chickens Eyes Stuck Closed, Chicken Irregular Pupil, Chicken Blind In One Eye, Lethargic Rooster With Closed Eyes