There’s a Killer in this Chicken Coop 

when my family raised chickens years ago we had the same problem. We used a product that was an anti-picking gel. Came in a white bottle and was a thick red gel. It tasted disgusting to the chickens. I don't know if they even make it now but it really helped. It also helped to heal the wounds that were already there. Best of luck. And you were so right, when a chicken gets the taste of blood they will not stop.

I love how when you put the general in there, all the hens swarmed him like "ITS A MAN!" 😂

On thing you could try to do is mix in some oyster shells in with there feed if you don’t already the reason the chickens could be eating the other chickens feathers is because there not getting enough calcium from there diet and the oyster shells should fix that you should be able to get them at your feed store hope this helps.

Feather picking can be a sign of protein deficiency. Also lack of space. They have no where to go to get away from the aggressor. I noticed as soon as you put the rooster in the orange hen(can't remember what breed you said she was) went right over and started pecking him. One of the other ones did as well but she did it more. We had a hen that picked off the butt feathers of two of the other hens. When they started molting and we upped their protein intake she stopped.

I agree with putting a roster in with your hen flock. I had this problem once, and he sorted it out as stopped the hens trying to be a boss.

My father always threw meat into the chickens when he noticed pecking among the flock. He said it was because they needed more protein. They will peck at the weakest. I also would like to suggest some kind of "cover" they can hide under to get away from the aggressor. Even just a board on blocks. My chickens love treats like the cabbage. I give mine pumpkins in the winter but I bust it open.

Hello, we had 14 chickens. Only 2 of our chickens were picking on the others. And also eating the feathers. We add more protein to their diet. And it did stop them from picking on the other chickens. It might help. Also you might think of separating the one that is picking on the hens. For a few days to so the picking order is changed up a little. That has help with ours.

I've raised chickens over 40 years. I had the same problem, and when you're chickens are rosting at night, a RAT will crawl on their back, and feed. I used pine tar to treat the wounds on their back, and vent. Check for RATS. Good luck, and God Bless you and your family and friends.

Who's the imposter. The chickens playing among us in real life. But i fell u, i am crying.

I noticed as soon as you put the rooster in there the hens were pecking at him.

I had this very same thing happen 2 springs ago. I had to give my birds way more room to slow down and spread out this behavior. Unfortunately, I noticed even when I moved them from a 10'x40' to an acre with about 60 more chickens, the ones who picked feather/back meat, still did it but it was way more spread out amongst the other birds. They never killed anymore birds but still got their fill of feathers. Sorry you guys

Feather picking (which often turns to cannibalism and vent pecking) is often due to a need of increased protein. An occasional added handful of meal worms /soldier fly larva, a handful of dry catfood, a small can of wet catfood/tuna or higher protein feeds (22%), will often end the problem. Also placing "Peepers" on the two suspects will prevent direct line of sight pecking and they don't hurt the birds. Good luck with the bully (probably the Welsummer) - I've had good luck with these methods in the past. I can't belive Bamboo is already 4! Seems like just yesterday you were trying to hatch the emu eggs. Then I look at how the children (from 2, now 4) have grown since I've been watching and realize how fast time has flown - WOW!

Did the math: Happy 21st birthday 🎂 Bamboo 🍺 🍻

Happy Birthday Bamboo can't believe it's been 4 years! 💙

I love how the rooster starts taking charge right away lol

The General is one of my favorites I think. He really does walk like he's in the military lol

I have never seen a more compassionate chicken owner than this family here! I bet these are best eggs and meat in town. Treat your animals morally!❤️.

I’ve watched the images you shared with us, I think al your chickens are involved in the pecking, what I think happened is that one chicken somehow learned to peck on another chicken made her bleed and found blood yummy, the other chickens tasted it too and started to show that same behavior until they all peck at the same time on the only chicken that is currently bleeding what causes so much damage to that last one. Conclusion all the ladies there, are killers. And what really confirms that is the fact that they al showed this specific behavior of picking the back of the other hens.

I just love how gentle you have taught the children to be and also how they work so hard at seeing those great big names of the chickens because I know I didn’t learn any big names like that when I was a kid. Also, watching them not be afraid of that beautiful rooster was so precious. I actually took a snapshot of that rooster because I thought I would do a watercolor painting of it and I was thinking how beautiful he was and then your son said “he is soft and roosters have feathers to, and he is pretty.” then, watching your daughter pet, the same rooster and not be afraid it was cool, but then also, watching her walk around, saying “ chickie, chickie,”as she walks slowly around trying to find one to pet, and then it was “my chickie”, when they all rushed past her going the opposite direction. She has really been growing up fast. Suddenly it seems.😊 I had never heard of hanging a head of lettuce or even cabbage for the chickens to keep them entertained in the winter time, but I thought it was a great idea. I loved again how patient you were to let Eli? Help drill the hole and prepare to tie it up in the chicken coop . You guys are really good parents! I don’t like the side of blood, so it was really hard for me to watch the portion of the injured chickens but I like it that you did your investigation and again you did it with your son, and he knew as much as any adult would, and even explain this chicken had blood on its beak… quite the little detective. I think you guys have some of the most beautiful chickens I’ve ever seen.❣️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

Isaiah and Isabella are growing so fast 😭😭😭 It feels like they both just came home and now they both can walk and talk. Eli and Uriah are getting so tall. I can't believe it's been 4 years already

Cabbage ball and diy winter dust baths helped mine with boredom issues. Hope everyone gets better fast!! Our americauna's lay olive eggs and one auricana lays olive and one lays blue/green!!

Man, farming and animal husbandry are really hard (as I've learned from watching your channel)! I give you guys a lot of credit for committing to it, there's a huge unexpected nature to it all that I don't know if I could handle. Also, it's so fun to see your youngest two growing, especially Bella starting to talk!

Great to see your girl walking and talking. The youngest boy is growing like a weed. Gee your children are all becoming more developed. Childhood is so short. It's so nice to see the children healthy and active. 4 years? I have been following so much longer than that so I remember your decision to get emu eggs. Wow, 4 years ago and Isabella wasn't even thought about. I was happy for your third boy. Now look at at him. He plays with Bamboo easily (yes with supervision). So much happened in that 4 years. Each of the older two boys appear to be helpful. The animals respond well with them. All your children are getting valuable lessons. TY for bringing us along on this journey too. My hope is your solutions work for your chickens.

With quail, if they are fighting you add bits of paper and cardboard, or even better plants and bushes. It acts as a shield so they can hide if they need to do so. Maybe add similar things if this happens again.

Bella and her big brother are getting SO big!!!! Her little voice is so precious ❤❤❤❤

Your baby girl is just adorable and your son is very sweet and helpful. Great job dad.

I can't believe how big Isabella is- it seems like just yesterday you guys were bringing her home from the hospital. How time flys! You guys honestly inspire me and make my day every time you guys post.

Oh my gosh! Where has time gone!! Your children are growing so fast!! Absolutely beautiful family. I love watching your videos. Thank you

When you were showing off the hens you were showing the cream legbar first and if you look at her wings it almost looks like a rat was biting on her wing

I love this channel because it is family friendly, no bad words, finds how to solve problems, and is very patient. I wish I could send mail but I can’t really

My goodness she's getting big it seems like just yesterday you had her all the boys are growing up so fast I've been with you from the beginning and my goodness it's great to see you progress

Hope everyone is doing well in this cold snap it was -8f at 6am with a -18 wind chill today. The general seems to be a good fit for your young girls and very calm.

It’s interesting, I had a feather eater. She was one of my older hens and she stopped on her own but we had to spray the other chickens with anti-pecking stuff.

@White House on the Hill, have you considered adding a run to each of your coop houses? Give them a back door so you can open it on nice days and they have an open area to run in during the day. Close the back door at night.

One thing that works for my flock in the winter is adding a big seed block they can peck on, $15 at Supply of Tractors.

I guess I've always believed some wise tale about once cannibalism starts in the flock they pretty much self destruct and there's not a whole lot you can do about it (I seen some comments about something you can apply that's real bitter tasting and they won't do it), it becomes like a poison and transferring one chicken to a new flock may bring that trait over there and you're gonna start at square one with another problem like a seed.

Good evening, everyone on the fabulous White House On The Hill!! Everyone of those children of yalls are absolutely precious and sooo sweet.... The General 🐓is a strong name, and I think it fits him perfectly, and his walk is amazing😂😅..I'm so sorry for the loss of the chickens. Prayers that The General and the cabbage works.... Happy 4th Birthday Bamboo and many more!!

Glancing over the comments I see a lot of good suggestions- add protein, blue spray, peepers etc. I'd like to add one other possibility- rats will chew feathers off chickens in winter and spring as well for nests. Not very likely due to the way your hen looks, but thought it was worth mentioning.

I had one hen doing that as well, they had plenty of space, nutrition and whatever, but she was 1. really dominant and 2. had a heart problem, which I only found out after her death. She likely was in pain or didn't feel too well, so she had to make sure the others wouldn't question her leader position in the flock...

lt is so much watching your Kids growing up for this old man......Thanks y'all 🌬🌠✝ 👍

Awe look at baby girl walking and talking ❤

We had a very similar problem we solved it by giving them more food and expanding the space they had and putting the food around the place so it was scattered instead of all In one spot.

That was an eye opener. Who would have thought! Great investigating.

Omg! The children have grown so fast I have missed watching you folks. Just been so busy with life lately. God bless and I hope the General helps🌺

It’s not easy keeping mixed breeds with Salmon Favorelle or Cochin’s because they’re so docile and sweet.

I had this very same thing happen with our chickens. Usually it is because of the space where they live. Like too much chickens in a coop then the space is small. They usually do this because they drink the blood bec. They are “thirsty”.. also the one whose doing it is the 1st hen did mature/layed an egg that’s why she feels she is the top of in their coop.

I had this issue. What helped was throwing scratch grains out that they could scratch and forage for. Chickens need that scratching and pecking activity. Or start letting them out for a few hours a day to scratch around outdoors.

I just love how you get all your children involved and your daughter I see that she's starting to talk you guys are good conservationist and I love how you talk to people and talk to us and let us know what's going on with your flock good job I love your channel 🐓🐔🐔🐓🐔🐓🐓

I LOVE "The General". He's really unique and so cute with his military walk!!!

My sister and I had a pet rooster when we were 4&5. Rory liked my older sis, Rene, and loved sitting on the handle bars of her tricycle while she tooled around. Well he pecked her eyelid and Rory 'disappeared'... Rene, now 69 still proudly points out the scar Rory 'gifted' her with. (No damage to Renes eye)

In my experience it is always stress from preditors or mites or bugs. I've delt with this many times. Sometimes you don't even see a hawk watching them or raccoons at night. You can hobble the bullies so they can still do their thing but can't run. That way the victims can run away. That is definitely from other chicken not a preditor. Comes from them submitting and the bully pecking instead of moving on. It is always the lower back and neck areas. I would highly recommend hobbling the culprits. Large pipe cleaners work well for this. Please don't hesitate to kill a bully chicken. They stress the entire flock out and will always be a problem. Sometimes if you isolate the bully so she cannot even see the flock for 3 or 4 weeks and then reintroduce them, they will stop but usually not. They need to be absolutely alone though for any chance of it working. It is like a personality reset button. They have to be out and away long enough to forget their social status and bonds completely

Just a idea but I have watched quite a few homesteaders that seem to be having a similar issue some have found mites are the cause others just being board, hope you have fixed the issue good luck guys I love watching all of you Xx

It's the red one. Eat it.

I used to listen to you guys while sleeping,as it calmed me a lot. Beautiful family,incredible animals,the life I’d love to have. Great job guys!

I was raised on a massive ranch with a large amount of every animal including chickens.. We never really had that problem.. but we always had a permanent enclosure with a big tree just outside for shade.. heat lamps in winter.. places for everyone to roost ect ect.. When the grass was growing we just mowed and dumped huge amounts of grass into a pile in one corner for them about once a week. They still had fresh grass and bugs.. the coop and enclosure area were quite large. I’m just saying they weren’t bored and we never had that issue.. I was just a kid and I don’t know all there is to know about chickens.. But you could possibly try to do something more permanent for some and see how it goes.. you don’t have to move them.. just fill in some holes from time to time and put grass clippings in.

One thing you can try, are these vest aprons that go on their back and go around their wings it helped our chickens heal without getting picked on or being needed to be removed

Good job.🙏💕🥰🐓🦆👏💯💕💪💕👍💕😍☺️😊Children are growing up so quickly and wonderfully ❤😊❤😊

I have the same problem. I took the monster out, placed her in my greenhouse for a week, put her back with the others, apparently they lose their pecking order, it did indeed work, but now I’ve got another, so, gotta figure who she is, tag her and do the same. The problem I have with cams in the barn was having to go back on the entire day to find the culprit ugh that was tedious. Good luck to ya!

I had 24 hens, all from McMurry hatchery. They were about a month old when one started to get it's tail feathers pecked off. I had to separate it from the rest, and it healed up just fine to join the others later. There is an expression "Hen Pecked" but it's a thing. Hope you have good luck finding a solution! Aloha!

dude.. Can Hear the Heart felt Love for ur animals in ur Voice ❤ Appreciate ✌️🇺🇸

I just relized that ive been watching your chanel for 5 years now. Time flies.. I love you guys ❤️❤️ Happy birthday Bamboo!🎉

Hope you and the family are doing well, I can't wait for it to get warm out!

My chickens hate lettuce. They go nuts over cabbage.

I try not to keep different breeds in the same area! Doesn’t always help, but I’ve had pretty good luck with it!

I feel so bad for the chickens who go hurt/died…

Could Bella be any more precious?!?!?!

its a tricky one..... the rooster in the flock will help (provided its a hen that's doing it) and the lettuce thingy, it is however a tricky one, when chickens go cannibal sometimes you will have to replace quite a few in your flock... now here is a weird one for you... its winter food stocks low....... mice will do this when they roosting at night......

Scientists says the closest relatives to the Tyrannosaurus rex are the chickens. Surprise, surprise.

Happy Birthday to Bamboo. I can't believe I have been watching you guys for more than 4 years.

Bamboo turns 4 which means I've been watching you guys for like 6 years!!!

I’ve only had this happen once and it was with a batch of chicks. The Polish had gotten pecked badly, I removed her and treated her, luckily she survived. I took that as a sign that they were bored and ready to move outside, didn’t have another issue! Thankfully!

Murder mystery but with chickens instead of actors never thought I’d see the day

Could they potentially have mites/lice and are pecking at themselves as well as each other. Bad enough cases can occasionally lead to cannibalism of themselves/one another. Stress can also cause this type of behavior or as well as boredom, changes within the flock, etc.

Bella's so precious ❤️

Omg...we just had to deal with the same issue. One of my original favorite hens starting dropping weight then I found sores on her back. Thinking it was the turkey's I separated the chickens & turkeys, but then one day I walked into our coop finding her fighting & defending herself from the one of the 2 roosters. The youngest one. I grabbed him instantly - taking him out of the coop & he is now dinner..Needless to say, with him gone, & only one rooster to 14 hens, she is healing up nicely & once again all the girls are laying tons of eggs. The one rooster we have left "King George" is great. Does his job but isn't violent & doesn't hurt the ladies...I was shocked at how violent the other rooster was...though he'll never get the chance to do that again. Good luck.

There's always something happening on the hill

The picking ones would go to the pan here 🤷🏻‍♀️ The only way to stop it before it spreads

Love your channel guys

This is the coolest youtube channel ever. I love your farm, and you all do a great job running it..

Crowded and understimulated hens can start to pick feathers from their friends! Also they are reacting to blood so they will try to eat that too. Eating feathers can be a sign of protein deficit. Coating a wound in bluespray can help with the picking on the wounds. Give them more space, more protein and spray bluespray on wounds to "hide" them.

Happy Birthday Bamboo🥳🥳🥳🥳

Dang that's 😥 sad... And really frustrating trying to figure out who's the culprit! Good luck~the cabbage makes sence! 👍🤗❤

Happy Birthday Eli and Bamboo! Have a great year.

Loved the ending! Thanks for sharing your beautiful family. 🥰

They need more room. I have a 10x10 coop for laying eggs and resting at night. I also have a 50x80 run that I built in the pine trees. I have 33 chickens and they are happy. I could easily have double that amount. The two roosters keeps the hens happy too. I hang lettuce, cauliflower, squash and broccoli from the branches. I hide scratch mix, fruit and veggies around the run too. I also give them Tuna, deer, beef, pork and salmon. I have a pallet compost pile that is covered that they scratch in too. Go to your local grocery store and get all the fruit and veggies scraps for free fodder.

Lovely farm ,bless d work of ur hands guys. Bless ur family

I never had so much anticipation for a murder mystery.

Have you tried BITS? Small clips that fit between the beak and into the nostrils. Doesn't hurt them just stops feather stripping as they can't close their beaks completely, they can eat and drink fine. Used to raise game birds and this is what we used. The bits come in different sizes and there is a specific tool to apply them. You MUST remove them when you release the birds. Use them on the whole group/flock, not individual birds, stops anyone having bad habits.

Love your videos, great effort.

I had problems with my hens picking each others neck and but feathers, after I had moved to a new house, and they had to be cooped for a few weeks while we moved in, and fenced a pasture for them, once they had a pasture again, the fighting reduced to nearly zero, and feathers started growing back in.

We are dealing with that now. Break out the No Pick and the BluKote and hang some cabbage in there. Hopefully that will help.

Nice farm & beautiful family you have sir!!👍🙏😊

We had a simular problem with our chickens last year. That problem came out to be a lack of animal protein. It was during summer, when they were laying eggs. One of the chickens pecked out other chickens' feathers and ate them. The other chickens' feather contain animal protein. Since then we started feeding them some more grain and dried mealworms, because those foods contain a lot of protein. It did help at the end. But in your case it is winter and the chickens hardly lay eggs. So they shouldn't be using so much proteins, to produce their eggs. I hope you find this usefull and the problem will stop soon. Thanks for the awesome videos everytime!

I used to put a christamas tree to give obstacles to break a chase, putting branches they get on them and this gives a tree dimension space, distancing them one from the other, even places to hide.

The Legbar looks like it is walking with flippers on his feet LOL :)

I would check for mites too. Sometimes if a bird has mites they will pick themselves a bit and then the others see that they are injured and have a field day. Chickens can be ruthless.

Aw, i’m sorry about loosing your cream legbar, they are such sweeties 😢

You care for your animal so much all your family do such a good job love to come see your farm one day great work keep it up rob from uk

Usually, it's several hens pecking upon one hen. It could be they need more food if they are fighting over food. Sometimes it is the pecking order being established. I had an 8 week chick that was pecked that badly. She bled badly. I separated the smaller birds from the larger hens and, this pecking stopped.

Suspected chickens: "Drumming Shaggy's songs, wasn't me."