Injured hens

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Hi- two of my hens have been injured and I don't know what has caused it. One is lame, she has trouble standing but no skin has been broken. The other has been attacked at the back of the neck, her skin is broken and she is very jumpy around the other hens and the cockeral.
Does anyone have any idea what could have caused this? A fox would surely have killed outright? The run has been fenced off and there's no sign of a fox getting in. Could it have been another animal or has anyone come across cockerals causing physical damage like this? Thank you
 
Hi Marishal.

It sounds unlikely to be a cockerel to me. Yes, they will slowly remove feathers from a bird through mating but this takes time. Is there any chance of posting some pics? What time of day did the attack take place?

Yes, a fox will kill as many as he can if he gets in - but you should find an entry point. Is the run covered? Chickens fly everywhere if a fox gets into the run during the day and will usually have damage to faces where they have flown into the wire. In my opinion it's unlikely to be a fox.

Are you in the UK? There are some predators abroad that I know little about...

Sorry, I don't have any ideas...yet ;)

Tim
 
could a domestic cat have chewed the one chook around the neck,trying to kill it and because of flapping and other birds panicking not have carried on to killing her.The one who is lame could have injured herself in getting away.
only thing I can think off.......sounds like something has grabbed the one but either wasn't able to carry on the kill or was disturbed.
 
Hi and thank you for your comments I thought it could have been something trying to attack but the other hens were all very calm - wouldn't they all have been upset if something had come in and attacked (I have seen cat in the garden but not over by the hens). Since then I kept them separate, the wound healed and new quills have begun to show. I let them mix again, all was well then a different hen was wounded. A couple of days later the previously wounded one's neck was raw again too? (both wounded ones are separate again, the lame hen is much better). I was over at the shed all afternoon at the weekend, all the hens were out and the cockeral was very aggressive towards the wounded ones? I have, at a friends suggestion, put some menthol vapour rub on the backs of all the hens necks!? I have tried to attach a photo of the wound but file size is too big and it won't accept a pdf?
 
Sounds like a very active cockerel, hens can get bald patches on the backs of their heads, also their "shoulder blades" can get feather bare.
I use aloe vera spray which soothes the bald patches.

Sue
 
I had two cocks that would team up on the hens and hurt there neck. I couldn't keep them because of that.
 
Hi - final update! It was the cockeral after all, both hens recovered, they escaped back into the main shed with the others and within a couple of days one looked very harrassed and the other was total raw at the back of the neck again. But they have both since made a full recovery!!
Thank you for your advice and comments.
 
Thanks for the update,for those of us that haven't experienced cockerel's being too 'vigorous' we now know it can happen Rak and Marishal.
 
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