Reintroducing pecked chicks

[jaxsteph]

Hey there,

I'm working with my first flock and have been experiencing some issues. I have two silkies, a D'Uncle, two buffs, an Easter Egger, and two Ameraucanas. I had a third Ameraucana who pecked everyone half to death one morning in the brooder box, and managed to get all but two of the chicks bleeding. I treated the injured birds, and when they wouldn't quick pecking at their red backsides and wing areas, I used blu-kote to cover the red. This stopped the birds from pecking at each other and themselves, but the two uninjured birds began to peck them like crazy. So I separated the two healthy birds from the rest using the playpen method.

For two weeks now they have been able to see and hear each other, but not get to one another. The blu-kote NEVER comes off, so my other birds, who healed nicely, are still blue. Yesterday, as I was cleaning the brooder box, one of my original healthy birds jumped over the partition, and the other (previously sick) birds ganged up and attacked her, so I removed her again.

Last night I removed the partition, placed a hard-boiled egg in the box, and everyone got along famously. They ate the egg, ignored one another, and snuggled in to sleep together. I thought all was going well. Then, this morning, I found two re-injured birds. My healthy birds are pecking at the blu-kote on the injured birds, the injured birds are ganging up to attack the healthy birds, everyone is going crazy with each other.

We are close to exiting the brooder box and placing everyone in the coop and I would like for them to be one big happy family before we get there. How do I reintroduce them without them killing each other? I thought I might keep up the night routine--let them out together, with a distraction, in the evening and then to sleep. The problem is that they are up before me, and they hurt each other before I can get to them.

I appreciate any help you can give me.

 

[nchls school]

Hey there,

I'm working with my first flock and have been experiencing some issues. I have two silkies, a D'Uncle, two buffs, an Easter Egger, and two Ameraucanas. I had a third Ameraucana who pecked everyone half to death one morning in the brooder box, and managed to get all but two of the chicks bleeding. I treated the injured birds, and when they wouldn't quick pecking at their red backsides and wing areas, I used blu-kote to cover the red. This stopped the birds from pecking at each other and themselves, but the two uninjured birds began to peck them like crazy. So I separated the two healthy birds from the rest using the playpen method.

For two weeks now they have been able to see and hear each other, but not get to one another. The blu-kote NEVER comes off, so my other birds, who healed nicely, are still blue. Yesterday, as I was cleaning the brooder box, one of my original healthy birds jumped over the partition, and the other (previously sick) birds ganged up and attacked her, so I removed her again.

Last night I removed the partition, placed a hard-boiled egg in the box, and everyone got along famously. They ate the egg, ignored one another, and snuggled in to sleep together. I thought all was going well. Then, this morning, I found two re-injured birds. My healthy birds are pecking at the blu-kote on the injured birds, the injured birds are ganging up to attack the healthy birds, everyone is going crazy with each other.

We are close to exiting the brooder box and placing everyone in the coop and I would like for them to be one big happy family before we get there. How do I reintroduce them without them killing each other? I thought I might keep up the night routine--let them out together, with a distraction, in the evening and then to sleep. The problem is that they are up before me, and they hurt each other before I can get to them.

I appreciate any help you can give me.

Are they still under a heat lamp/light? If so, a red light might help in getting them to stop pecking at blood/red. The red light makes everything look red. I have had some success with this in the past. Good luck.

 

[jaxsteph]

We did try the red light, previously, and it didn't help anything. The healthy birds still pecked at the birds wearing the blu-kote. It made their backsides look purple. I did put some blu-kote on the healthy birds today, in the hopes that they will associate the sight/smell with the others and not think of them as being so different. I don't know if it will do any good, but it's worth a try.

 

[MizPriz]

We did try the red light, previously, and it didn't help anything.  The healthy birds still pecked at the birds wearing the blu-kote.  It made their backsides look purple.  I did put some blu-kote on the healthy birds today, in the hopes that they will associate the sight/smell with the others and not think of them as being so different.  I don't know if it will do any good, but it's worth a try.

Just wondering if this worked?

 

[jaxsteph]

Actually it did--although it didn't fully solve the problem.

I did a combination of blu-kote on ALL the birds, then only let them be together to sleep for a number of nights. Then, I started taking them outside in pairs--one healthy bird and one injured bird. Really I think that was the best thing of all. They didn't want to be outside, and since there was only one other bird out there they stayed close together. After a couple of days of that I reintroduced them while keeping a close eye on everyone. Any time one of them would start pecking I tossed some fresh herbs, mealworms, or boiled egg in to distract them. Then, after giving them some time together I replaced the partition. Every day I was able to go a little longer until we were finally able to remove the partition altogether. It was a long process--but I am happy to announce that at this point they are one happy family and we've never had anymore issues.

 

[MizPriz]

@jaxsteph Thanks for the advice. My chicks have started early with bullying They are only 3 weeks old, and out of six, I had three injured last night. I think I found the culprit and isolated her with a partition. but then the injured birds were pecking at each other's blue kote spots. Finally got them settled in for the night & they all huddled together while the bully was screaming bloody murder in the other part of the brooder.

I got "docile" breeds, 4 buff orpingtons and 2 black australorps. The three injured are buffs, and the bully is the other buff. So I'm not sure it has anything to do with them being different. I'm thinking the bully saw the emerging feathers as red & went crazy.

This is too much stress for a first time chicken mom!

 

[jaxsteph]

I know what you mean; this is my first flock too. We ended up having to put down the one who began it all. She eventually started to peck at the others who were the same breed as her. I asked the people we purchased them from, and they told me that sometimes you get a chicken who just goes a little crazy and there is nothing to be done but get rid of it. We tried for a couple of weeks to make it work, and that chick was insanely noisy every time we separated her as well. In the end, every time we allowed her back in with the others she would attack them. For the good of the rest we broke her neck.


Try keeping them apart except at night for awhile, and distracting them with finely chopped herbs and eggs. That's the best advice I can give you.

Good luck!!