10 day olds picking each others feathers out

[notinoz2007]

i have no idea what to do:
i have 23 - 10 day old chicks that i discovered today are interested in tail feathers. when i got home from work there were 4 with bloody back ends that i removed to chick ICU, a few hours later and that number is now at 7, and i think there may be 1 or 2 more in the brooder that have been pecked i just cant be sure. i thought i discovered the main pecker ( it was pecking at everyone while i watched) but he blended back into the crowd. as i type i can hear my ICU chicks pecking at each other. i want to separate them each but dont have the space or heat lamps for everyone. what do i do??!!
at the moment the brooder has about 8 sq ft sectioned off in the main pen, i dont want to give them much more room than that because it wont stay warm. this is my first hatch so i have literally NOTHING to put on these chickens with bloody stumps where their tail feathers were just starting to grow in. i am so frustrated i could just throw up. (sorry)
please any help is welcome.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Pin feathers in the tail are a rich source of blood, pure protein. They do this when they are hungry, bored or crowded. Try upping your protein levels. Gamebird feed is good to add to chick starter. If you have any iodine , I would clean up the rear ends of the injured birds with that, keep them in a box or storage bin with a light over it until they recover. Boil some eggs and chop them up for the rest of the birds, that will satisfy their craving. They need food available at all times, growing chicks are always hungry. Blucote is something you need to have on hand for wounds, so pick some up next time you go in town. Good luck. Deb

 

[notinoz2007]

thank, i've been going crazy over this for almost 4 hours now. i gave them more space today in hopes that they wouldnt be bored but thats when the picking started. they have food and water at all times now instead of just 3 times a day. and strangely its the biggest ones that are being picked most brutally, and they continue to pick each other when put in confinement. do you think it would be ok to keep them together? i have 4 in one side and 4 in the other side of chick ICU (went out not 10 minutes ago to get another out of the brooder) i am terrified that when i wake up there will be no tail feathers anywhere to be found, and lots of bloody stumps. i'll get blukote on my way home from work tomorrow. this young with they survive each other for another day?

 

[Cowgirl75446]

I have been raising chickens for many years. I've had them do that sometimes, get a red light and put on them, that has worked 100% of the time for me. I just use the red light for my brooder bulb, that keeps them from pecking up each other. You can purchase a red heat lamp bulb or you can use a regular red light, I usually find them at home improvement stores like Home Depot. Hope this helps.

 

[notinoz2007]

running to petsmart now. i hope to find the lights and maybe game starter there.

 

[CapricornFarm]

For now you could try painting their butts with blue or green food color, use a Qtip also apply antibiotic ointment. Go, boil some eggs and chop them up fine. They will stop once they are good and full if no blood is visible.

 

[NovaAman]

yup. Hope you see behavior improvement. You can also use large Rubbermaid totes as brooders...

 

[notinoz2007]

Quote:
i found the red heat lights, thanks for that idea.

Quote:
went to walgreens for iodine and they had many different kinds, i left not knowing what to get. one even said toxic, so i didnt want that. i will be painting butts green tonight

and hopefully with the new lights they wont notice the blood. i tossed my neosporin a few days ago since it was expired but i found first aid cream so will use that. i have no eggs, and forgot to get some at W, can i give them yogurt? i also picked up high protein salmon/sweet potato cat food, they'll only get a little bit for treats. and i picked up millet and suet, since it was a pet store not a feed store. can chickens have those things?

Quote:
thanks, i hope so too. i have another trip to make tomorrow to get the rest of the chick raising necessities but hopefully this helps for now. i cleaned out a rubbermaid earlier to make it my new ICU, seems i'm running out of space in the little box

thanks everyone. i was really panicking earlier, i was just sick and frozen not having any idea what to do.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Yogurt is good. Let us know how they do

 

[notinoz2007]

the surgery room, i just now noticed it was the obits...

tired green butts after being manhandled. they immediately stopped pecking at each other too, thanks so much for this idea!

not sure work will appreciate this! we have to have extremely clean hands...

so far so good. i set up the big brooder with the red light and they are sleeping. now for the ICU to get their red light and be put outside.
thanks again