Did they peck her or is this molting?

[Four Acre Bliss]

One of my 9-10 week old pullets came out of the coop with a big bleeding bald spot this morning. I put Scarlet Oil spray on it and some veterinary salve, but I don't have a separate cage to put her in. I could probably rig something up if necessary. She hides it well, kind of spreading her wings back to cover it up, but when the girls were free ranging this morning I noticed one girl in particular kind of pecking at it. I don't know if I should suspect that one of being the cause of the loss of feathers, or if she's just pecking because it looks different.

Anyway, I read that lack of protein can cause pecking and I had just switched them to grower/finisher on the advice of the TSC sales associate, so I put them back on starter/grower just in case that's the problem. Any thoughts? Anything more I should be doing?

Here is a picture of the damage:

 

[allmypeeps]

Do youhave any ideas how she got it? squeezing thru a fence or board with nails? Roo pulling at her?

Chickens love pecking at things like that- I would separate her if possible or maybe put a chicken saddle on her to hide it from the clan! lol...until it heals enough to scab over so if another bid does peck it, it wil be protected....afterwards it shouldstart regenerating feathers.

e

 

[Four Acre Bliss]

We don't have a roo (that I know of) and they've only been allowed outside for a couple of days, and both times I watched them the whole time and they stayed right by the coop. Whatever this injury is, it had to have happened inside the coop. A chicken saddle is a good idea ... can you buy them at local stores, though? Or make them using household stuff? I don't have time to wait for shipping from an online order ...

 

[Renee]

That's pecking. Some people put a product called BluKote on the raw spot, which seems to discourage the other chickens from pecking.

Can you figure out which one is doing the pecking and separate her? Sometimes if you separate a mean chicken for a day or two their status falls in the group and they stop acting aggressively.

 

[MikasGirl]

I use BluKote and it works perfectly! It helps stop cannibalism, but it also seems that it reduces inflammation. I would definetely recommend it!