Majorly Picked Chicken!

[SunshineChick14]

Got the Blu-Kote! Seems to be working like a charm so far I will update on any progress. Hopefully this'll help the poor girl heal up faster, without the others constantly pecking her.

 

[SunshineChick14]

So, it has been a long time since I last updated...
During the first week or so, the Blu-Kote worked perfectly. It covered up the wound, and the other hens didn't peck at my injured Columbia Rock hen. But then they started picking on another CR hen, so now she has a wound in the exact same place as the original hen. I sprayed her with the Blu-Kote as well. It seemed to be working, disguising the wound and all that, but the two chickens were still being terrorized by the other hens. I have separated them for a couple weeks now, but whenever I try to introduce them back to the rest of the birds, they freak out and try to run away from them. Their squawking attracts some of the "higher-ranking" birds, I am assuming, and they peck at the Blu-Kote covered scabs... I have been forced to keep the two injured birds separated from the others, in the hope that they will soon heal up enough to be able to return to the flock. So far, this hasn't exactly been working. Since they haven't been healing very quickly, or laying any eggs, we have thought about culling them and just keeping our Red Rock Cross hens... Any thoughts on this?

 

[MrsBrooke]

Legend has it that you can remove the bullies for a week and let the other girls reintegrate. That way, when you add the bullies back in, they'll be on the bottom of the pecking order and should play nicer.

MrsB

 

[SunshineChick14]

Alright, I can try that. But there seem to be a lot of bullies picking on them... Not sure if I'll have a cage large enough, haha. I could try two or three at a time? Or would I need to separate all of the bullies...

 

[MrsBrooke]

Alright, I can try that. But there seem to be a lot of bullies picking on them... Not sure if I'll have a cage large enough, haha. I could try two or three at a time? Or would I need to separate all of the bullies...

I invite you to try anything! Whatever you feel works best for your situation. Definitely give it a shot to see if removing the worst offenders works to calm things down.

If the bullies bully the bullies (Heh.), you may need to separate further.

MrsB

 

[SunshineChick14]

Haha, alrighty.