2 Reds being pecked, has wound, feathers being eaten by other chicken

[j5house]

I have 2 Reds that have been "motling" all fall or so I thought. I am now seeing they are being pecked by my Leg Horn. One Red has an open wound. I have cleaned it and both reds are wearing chicken jackets to protect their backs. The past few days I have been able to spend more time with them and just saw my Black sex link pluck a feather of a red and in 3 gulps eat it. We hand raised these 4 this past spring. Also the Leg Horn who lays daily hasn't laid in 5 days, thinking the frigid cold has something to with with the laying. They seem healthy, normal activity level, no mites, poooh isn't runny......Any suggestions please.

 

[Ilovemyladies!]

Do you have anywhere to put the injured chickens(by themselves)? If so, take off their jackets & separate them from the others.
You should use some wound powder(like wonder dust) or Blu-Kote spray. You probably could pick these up at your local feed store.
Oh & is the Leg Horn a rooster?
Good luck!

 

[j5house]

I really couldn't separate them as I have a cat living in my garage. I did keep the jackets on them. After modifiying the jackets to fit even better and stayon, they are working great The red with the wound is healing nicely and their new ferathers are growing in. The pecking seems to have stopped. I also upped protein with puppy food. The puppy food excites them as it it something new, we are also hanging apples for them to peck at to alliviate some of the bordem as they were used to free ranging but can't now due to foxes that moved closer.

 

[farm-a-zootical]

We are working with pinless peepers now on our Tetras. All of them. Like many other members, I tried it all & they have plenty of room. I'm also feeding them high proteins to boost feather regrowth. We haven't had enough time really to see if it's doing well & I hope you're able to control your chickens. They can't get out of the run because of hawk attacks so simply resorted to plucking out one another's feathers as an avian past time. Maybe yours will respond to something besides peepers. Does anyone else have trouble with peepers hurting nostrils like the other poster had? I hope they aren't hurting my girls.

 

[chkn]

Yeah, I've got one right now I found bloodied up yesterday. She's real ill anyway with egg peritonitis and you know how they like to beat up on the weak ones. I've been nurturing her since last spring.

Anyway, before I put her out tomorrow (if I do) I'm going to put Blu-Kote all over her comb where they've been doing the picking. Then I'm going to gob on some of that tar based Rooster Booster product that tastes bad and discourages picking (you'll have to keep applying it everyday for a few days). Then I'm going to watch.

I may separate the aggressor for a few days because she's always been a bully anyway. Usually one will get it started and the rest will follow so it's better to nip it in the butt sooner rather than later.

I need to get all of them more protein because that'll help too. I'll hardboil some eggs and feed them shell and all, crumbled. Give your hens protein (a little cat food, hard boiled eggs) so they don't feel so inclined to feed on each other. You don't want to do it every day but I would at first to stop the picking.

You can get a big flock block down at the farm supply. Some people hang a cabbage. They need other things to pick at.

It seems to happen more in times of stress. It's winter and there's not alot of bugs. I've kept mine penned in more and it's taking it's toll but we had hawk problems and lost one a couple weeks ago.

They get along better when they can free range (although yesterday's attack on the sick hen was when they were free ranging). However it seems once they decide to kill one of their own, they're pretty determined. Sick ones are often set upon at times like these.

Since then, my poor girl seems to want to give it up. I'll have to help her along soon if things don't get better.

Good luck with your girls.

BTW, Blu-Kote makes a wound invisible to the others because their eyes don't recognize the blue very well. It also provides a protective coat on the wound and it has antiseptic properties for the wound. The Blu-Kote stays put for awhile. It reminds me of a liquid bandaid for humans. Anyway, it's a gotsta have for your medical kit.