injured chickens

[cricket92283]

~~today noticed that one of my chickens was pecking the throat of another chicken. .I looked closer and saw that the one chicken had picked all the feathers from the neck of the other chicken and it was bleeding . it had also done the same but not as bad to another one .I saw her doing it . I took them out of the coop and put them in separate cages so the injured ones can heal and the other one don't harm anymore . but i don't know if the one is just mean or if they have mites that she was pecking at . all the chickens seem to be scratching and picking at themselves a lot . what should I do about all of this ?

 

[TwoCrows]

Give them all a good looking at. Blow or pull back the feathers gently and look at the skin, especially around the back of the neck and vent area. The skin should not be red, inflamed or irritated. You may even see bug eggs right around the vent. If you do suspect bugs, you can dust them with DE, Sevin or spray the birds with permethrin spray. Make sure to get it right onto the skin. If they do have bugs, you will need to clean out your nest boxes and either dust or spray with permethrin spray on and under the roost bar as that is where bugs like to hide and lay their eggs. Clean out all your bedding and dust the floors and everywhere. Repeat the coop clean in a month, respray the roost bar in a week. Retreat the birds every 3 to 5 days.

If this is just an aggressive thing, you will need to separate the one causing the trouble. You may even need to use pinless peepers on the aggressive bird. For now, spray the wounded one with Blu-kote. This will help prevent infection and will hide the wound so the others don't bother it either.

Make sure your birds have enough room as chickens turn cannibalistic on each other when cramped. Give them things to do if they can't free range, such as hanging cabbages or veggies, seed pecking blocks or a flake of hay.

Good luck with your birds and enjoy BYC!

 

[roostersandhens]

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC!

 

[drumstick diva]

2 Crows has you covered.

 

[gander007]

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

Good advice from Twocrows

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC!

 

[Marthab1953]

Welcome to BYC from Riverside California.

 

[chickie farmer]

I can't say any more than Two Crows had already stated.