Adult Sex-Links

These chicks grew and I was amazed at the quantity of eggs they produced. I didn’t get the amount of double yolk eggs I had gotten from my first flock but production was up over 80% continuously. I was very pleased. I gathered the eggs often and had no problems for a few months. I did notice as they were growing that they seemed to peck at each other more than the reds and showed much more aggressive behavior toward each other.

It wasn’t long and one day when I went to the hen house I noticed that one of the chickens had half his tail feathers missing. I somewhat knew it was much too soon for them to be molting but didn’t pay much attention to it. The next day however, this chicken was bleeding around its tail and most of the skin was gone over a small area near it’s tail.

This was my first experience with cannibalism. I consulted my book and read that “Pine Tar” was one of the recommended remedies for the problem. Pine tar is a black, gooey substance with a strong odor, as I had to go and get a can to treat this bird and another by the time I got it a day or two later.

I knew by now that catching a chicken is difficult because they stay approximately a foot from as far as you can reach when you go after them. I also had learned to go in at night and just pick them up off the roost. It is quiet and it doesn’t put the whole flock in “panic mode”. I coated the effected birds with the pine tar making sure to cover the whole wound with this substance and returned to the house.

I did notice that the next day, when the other birds pecked at this substance they would put their foot near their beak and try to scrape it off.

I guess it tasted badly enough because it did stop my problem and the birds healed up. This would be my last sex-link hens. They ended up at an auction and I almost gave them away.

I had kept them through one laying season so they really were considered pretty much worthless at the time anyway. Fortunately over the years this was my one experience with cannibalism.

I should mention that they had way more than the recommended floor space in the building. I have never had this problem with Rhode Island Reds or Plymouth Barred Rocks. I think this is one reason to this day I prefer a pure blooded hen.

I do know any breed can be cannibalistic but I also know that the more aggressive the breed the better the chances of this happening. I think this is one of the major reasons I just stick with the old familiar breeds I have had in the past.