What causes other chickens to peck at the butt of another and cause it to bleed and lose feathers?

Answer 1

I would imagine that this is the pecking order. This is the rating of each hen that says how important they are in the group. If there is a cockerel he will instantly assume top position. Then come the bigger stronger hens. This is where the pecking comes in. The chickens peck one another to determine which of them should get second place ad third place etc. etc. Once the pecking order is set, the hen in first position has priority over food,space etc. Every now and again the high rated hens will peck at the lesser important ones to keep them in their place if they try to eat before their turn.

Have you recently added or removed a hen to or from your flock of hens. This then sets of the whole cycle again.n This is probably why your hens are getting pecked.

I hope this is useful

Thanks