Reform a cannibal??

[topochico225]

Well folks, I really appreciated all the tips I got here and I considered and tried. But sadly most of what we've tried hasn't worked for the hen that's been pecking at feet.

Poor thing has been in a box for a few weeks (of course I let her out but she's isolated).

She still goes after feet. We tried the spray, peepers, isolation and trying to make their run more interesting. Then we tried giving her to another place with tons of space but it didn't work. I guess most people won't take just one chicken.

Of course she is the favorite hen. Probably made the mistake of treating her like a pet.

I went through the check lists of what could be the root of the problemg from this thread and concluded that the root problem is probably lack of space.

We have a little over 100 sq feet.

Because of that it's hard also to make the space more interesting and still practical where you can move around inside it to work.

We are pretty much dissapointed it ended like this but I've learned that aggressive pecking and cannibalism are pretty common things.

All was fine for the last year until about 3 weeks ago.

I have also noticed a few other birds pecking at the feet of our Marans, which have feathers on their feet and causing them to bleed a little.

I think because of the problem of space we're now possibly looking for a family who has more space for them.

I enjoyed taking care of them but maybe we can't supply them with what they need.

Thanks again for all the help and sorry to those especially who I bugged too much with PM questions.

I'm so sorry. It sounds like you tried your hardest to help your flock.

 

[Maton1]

I'm so sorry. It sounds like you tried your hardest to help your flock.

Thank you. Yes, I'm very disappointed and especially concerned about the hen with the picking problem. She is everyone's favorite, great egg layer and she made us all laugh at her funny personality during a pretty difficult time.
Problem is she has to be isolated. She's gotten better but she can do damage and break skin just with a few pecks. She's strong. I think she's sharp and just needs a lot of things to keep her busy but I can't trust her for 5 minutes with the other chickens for fear I have to patch up another bloody spot.
Nature is hard and I guess many would have her end up in the soup....
We really like her though and wish that somehow she ends up somewhere better or could somehow gets over the feet pecking phase.
We just have no idea how to help her.

 

[Maton1]

Hi everyone. Just a little update.

The peepers have been working great.

Our hen has not pecked since on anyone's feet and all her victims had time the heal up fine.

BUT, I noticed today that the red skin around the inserted Peepers appears to be changing color slightly, from red to a light pinkish.

Also appears to be slightly swollen around where the peepers touch the skin and beak.

Could it be cutting the circulation off to the skin?

Should I be concerned or is it over reacting?

Peepers have been inserted now for about 2 weeks.

 

[dawg53]

Hi everyone. Just a little update.

The peepers have been working great.

Our hen has not pecked since on anyone's feet and all her victims had time the heal up fine.

BUT, I noticed today that the red skin around the inserted Peepers appears to be changing color slightly, from red to a light pinkish.

Also appears to be slightly swollen around where the peepers touch the skin and beak.

Could it be cutting the circulation off to the skin?

Should I be concerned or is it over reacting?

Peepers have been inserted now for about 2 weeks.

I checked my rooster this morning and noticed some off white in color substance on his upper beak above the peeper. I was thinking possibly some type of fungus because it's always wet and moist here where we live.

I removed the peeper and a couple of drops of blood drained from both his nostrils. The right nostril was pink with a tiny bit of swelling. The left nostril was okay.
The substance on his upper beak was feed dust, no problem.
I cleaned his beak and nostrils. The bleeding had stopped and I applied an antibiotic ointment (Neosporin) to each nostril.

I returned him to his pen and released him without putting on another peeper. His nostrils will heal in about 7-10 days and if he's acting the fool like before with his hens, I'll put a peeper on him again.

Keep in mind that he was wearing the peeper for about one month. If I have to put a peeper on him again, I'll probably remove it once every two weeks for a few days. Then if necessary put another peeper on him a few days later again.

It might be best for you to remove the peeper off your hen and watch her behavior for a few days while the nostrils heal up. You can apply an antibiotic ointment if you wish. If her behavior is satisfactory after several days, you may not need to apply a peeper again. You'll have to keep an eye on her though.

 

[Maton1]

Correction. Our hen has only had the peepers in 1 1/2 weeks so a few more days to go.

Here is a pic of her. We were concerned about that dark area in between the peepers at the top of the beak.
It could be dirt (hopefully) but my wife was concerned that it's hopefully not dying tissue.
We conticed that the inside of nostrils were dark as well.
It could easily just be dirt since she can't clean there now.

We will still probably take them off after 2 weeks although I would have a hard time
trusting her with the others for more than 10 minutes.

She's strong, confident and has a beak like a hawk and knows how to use it.

She's our favorite hen but she was doing quick damage a week ago and we just don't have
the capacity to separate chickens, injured and bullies.
She was pecking on all the others.
But we're just trying everything we can to keep her around knowing that most won't take a single chicken, let alone one with behavioural problems on top of that.
Or they'll just take her to cull her for meat. We've had many drooling offers but she's a great young hen, and super egg layer.

 

[dawg53]

Why dont you go ahead and take the peepers off and take a good look at her upper beak and nostrils. It it's not dirt or debris, dried blood is a possibility.

 

[Maton1]

Why dont you go ahead and take the peepers off and take a good look at her upper beak and nostrils. It it's not dirt or debris, dried blood is a possibility.

Ok. We'll take them off soon but I'm pretty sure it's not dried blood.



I've watched her daily and quite frequently and so far there's never been any blood either from the front of her beak or coming from the notriles.
I'm checking her all throughout the day.

I noticed it starting to get dark in that area maybe about 3 days ago.

They do have three garden beds in their run to dig in that have very dark dirt and compost in them.

I'm hoping that it's just dirt buildup from that.

I was kinda hoping to at least keep the peepers in 2 weeks just because the process of taking them out and inserting them seems pretty uncomfortable but we might have to.

 

[Maton1]

Tried to clean dark area around the beak with q-tip. It's not dirt.
Darkening coming from within beak. She's never bled from the outside anywhere.
So, maybe some kind of hemorrhaging in the beak and nostril cavity??
And only after one week of having peepers?

Kinda weird. It looks like we're back to the drawing board.

 

[dawg53]

Did you notice if there was any blood inside her mouth? If not, I wouldnt worry about it, everything will heal and just as long as she's eating and drinking normally.
Watch her behavior for a few days. You never know, maybe her pecking behavior has changed.

 

[Maton1]

Did you notice if there was any blood inside her mouth? If not, I wouldnt worry about it, everything will heal and just as long as she's eating and drinking normally.
Watch her behavior for a few days. You never know, maybe her pecking behavior has changed.

No, we carefully monitored here daily and never saw any blood.
It's possible maybe something happened during the night in her coop but I would've noticed first thing in the morning.

It's more like bruising, dark lines inside the beak.

But yea, otherwise she seems fine, eats great, always very alert and wanting to be with us.
I'll keep them for at least till 2 weeks, ie till Sunday.
Till then maybe we can prepare a plan b,c,d, or whatever in case her behaviour doesn't change.
Appreciate like always your help!