# Need help, two chickens killed others! How do I stop them? I want more than two.



## homesteader13 (Sep 23, 2013)

So I am new to chickens. I have a very lovely coop in a big 8ft sq run. They get good food, treat scraps/ grass and appropriate worming.

I raised four mixed bantam chicks this summer. Ended up two hens two roosters. A month ago, my rhode red mix roo was dead in the coop with injuries to the back of his neck. I figured my cat slipped under the roof or something. Now a week ago my silke mix hen (who was small weak and limpy her whole life and had a few extra toes) showed up dead no injuries to note and I figured she was just a genetically poor individual. 

Now I had one hen and one rooster both sebright faverolle crosses. They are healthy active friendly chickens about 4 months old - the roo is just starting to mutter crows hen hasn't started laying.

So I purchased two beautiful 2 month old bantam pullets, an easter egger and an old english. I carefully introduced them to my two and everyone seemed fine. The older two just ignored the smaller. After keeping a close eye on them for the afternoon and checking at night I assumed all was well.

The next night I go out there and the easter egger is dead on the feeder and I mean almost completely plucked and all the skin pulled of her head. The old english was cuddling the body in the cold, so I placed her in the coop with the heat lamp and both my older chicks start attacking the back of her neck! So I immediately removed her and she is set up all cozy in the house for now.

So it seems to me perhaps the sebright mix couple have killed all their roommates after all. 

What do I do???


I want 4 to 6 hens, I might want to sell my roo after this. Should I try to introduce adult bantams or standards? When and what can I do with the old english? Any advice would be amazing!!! I have never had such a high mortality rate with any pet and it is bothering me, I just want a happy flock of chickens.

Thanks!


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Isolate the two trouble makers. If that doesn't work, isolate the two trouble makers separately. If that doesn't work, its time to make a choice, they go or the new birds go.


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## kessy09 (Jun 16, 2013)

Can you describe how you introduced them? You say carefully but then it sounds like it was just over the course of one afternoon? Were they kept together but separate by a barricade for a period of time, any quarantine for the new ones before introduction?


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

Cull for temperament. You have chickens that cannot socialize properly and are extremely aggressive, so they need to be gone. You can't really introduce that young of birds into a pen with older birds in only one day as they will always get picked on but more so if they are unfamiliar with the flock. I've never had a bird intentionally draw blood on another in 37 years....all different breeds and ages, roosters and hens alike. Never heard of chickens killing chickens, unless they were cockfighting or something. 

Get a good breed of chicken like a nice moochy Black Australorp, White Plymouth Rock, or New Hampshire...they will lay more eggs, live longer, be healthier, will socialize well and won't cause the amount of problems that those fussy little weird breeds do. Plain Jane chickens are standards in a flock and popular breeds for a reason...they have stood the test of time and are always flock favorites.


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## homesteader13 (Sep 23, 2013)

Thanks for all of your advice!!! Well it sounds like I should just get a group of standard size heritage hens after all, huh? I will rehome my rooster - do you think the 5month old bantam sebright mix and the 2 month old bantam old english could successfully be kept with say a trio of standard sized hens? How would I properly introduce them all? Are bantams meaner than standards?

I didn't quarantine them as they were from a neighbor who has healthy well bred chickens and deworms. I did introduce them over one afternoon but was out there for several hours making sure there was no sign of aggression which their wasn't - not one peck. I figured since they are all still chicks it would be a friendlier encounter anyway but I am new to it all. 

Below is a picture of the bantam sebright mix pair. I know it sounds like culling for the three lives they took would make sense but they are so wonderfully trusting and friendly to humans!


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## Bee (Jun 20, 2013)

Well, it depends on your goals for having chickens. If you just want these two friendly to humans but killers of chickens, then I'd keep them and call it quits. But if you want real chickens that can lay you eggs for years to come without killing one another, you might have to face getting rid of these little two faced monsters. 

Friendly chickens come in all shapes, sizes and breeds...but chicken killers? I've never known any, so your chances of getting two more pit bulls of the chicken world is pretty slim. 

In the end, you will get just what you want to have out of a flock because only you have control over the situation. Three dead birds can attest to that.


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