3 - 4 week old Salmon Favorelles is pecking at her back tale feathers and drawing a little blood.

[Sussmarolle]

I just got my chicks last Sunday, 2 of them are my Salmon Favorelles and they are between 3-4 weeks in age and the rest of my chicks are a week to 2 weeks younger (different breeds). They were all doing really good together however, the last two days one of my Salmons is pecking/picking herself at the very top of her tale feathers. She has started to draw a little blood and I can’t get her to stop! When she does this all of the others run up to her and peck at the spot as well. I have now separated her and have cleaned the area with Veterycyn plus but she continues to peck at the area. What could be causing her to do this? Ingrown feathers trying to come through that are causing irritation? Please help, any advice is welcomed. Thank you

 

[DobieLover]

I just got my chicks last Sunday, 2 of them are my Salmon Favorelles and they are between 3-4 weeks in age and the rest of my chicks are a week to 2 weeks younger (different breeds). They were all doing really good together however, the last two days one of my Salmons is pecking/picking herself at the very top of her tale feathers. She has started to draw a little blood and I can’t get her to stop! When she does this all of the others run up to her and peck at the spot as well. I have now separated her and have cleaned the area with Veterycyn plus but she continues to peck at the area. What could be causing her to do this? Ingrown feathers trying to come through that are causing irritation? Please help, any advice is welcomed. Thank you

Please post pictures of her and the injury she has created.

 

[Sussmarolle]

I have cleaned the blood off with veterycyn plus then tried the blue-kote yesterday which I will not do again because it drew even more attention to the other chicks. I have now separated her because I don’t want the situation to get even worse

 

[DobieLover]

I have cleaned the blood off with vererycyn plus then tried the blue-kote yesterday which I will not do again because it drew even more attention to the other chicks. I have now separated her because I don’t want the situation to get even worse

Can you post a picture of the entire brooder? It looks a bit small.
It may be irritation from the feathers coming in and if they pick at a pin feather they can get it bleeding.
You may need to increase the size of the brooder and add things for them to do in it.
How many chicks total?
Are the coop and run finished?
Ideally, they should be brooded outdoors with a brooder plate in their ultimate home. It gives them much more fresh air and stimulation and access to the soil and sun.

 

[Sussmarolle]

Can you post a picture of the entire brooder? It looks a bit small.
It may be irritation from the feathers coming in and if the pick at a pin feather they can get it bleeding.
You may need to increase the size of the brooder and add things for them to do in it.
How many chicks total?
Are the coop and run finished?
Ideally, they should be brooded outdoors with a brooder plate in their ultimate home. It gives them much more fresh air and stimulation and access to the soil and sun.

That is the separate one I put her in by herself for now. I have 8 chicks total in a 3ft x 4ft brooder and they all seem happy except her. They only run and pick at her when she does it to herself. I am in Wisconsin and it is still very cold outside but our coop and run are finished.

 

[DobieLover]

That is the separate one I put her in by herself for now. I have 8 chicks total in a 3ft x 4ft brooder and they all seem happy except her. They only run and pick at her when she does it to herself. I am in Wisconsin and it is still very cold outside but our coop and run are finished.
View attachment 3039524

I've brooded chicks outside in temps as low as 23F when they were just over 2 weeks old. They did great. Yours are feathering out nicely.

If they were mine, I'd move them out to the coop so they have more space. Is it a ground coop or is it elevated?

I'd set up the plate in the corner like you have it and toss an old towel over it to make it cave like, with the front leg higher than the rear legs and a piece of cardboard over the top to catch the poop from them perching on top of the plate. You can change the cardboard as needed as it get's soiled. If it's going to be below 20 for the next night or two, just wait until that passes but you can start getting it set up now if you choose.

If you can dig up a chunk of sod from their run space, give that to them to scratch through, soil, grass, rocks, critters and all. When you first put it in their brooder they will act like you plunked an alien being in with them. But curiosity will get the better of them and they will soon be scratching away. That would be a good time to reintroduce the SF with the issue.
I replace the clump with a fresh one as they rip the first to bits.
You can also add more things to perch on out in the coop. If it has a sunny spot, expect to find them sun bathing in it when they can reach it.

 

[Sussmarolle]

I've brooded chicks outside in temps as low as 23F when they were just over 2 weeks old. They did great. Yours are feathering out nicely.

If they were mine, I'd move them out to the coop so they have more space. Is it a ground coop or is it elevated?

I'd set up the plate in the corner like you have it and toss an old towel over it to make it cave like, with the front leg higher than the rear legs and a piece of cardboard over the top to catch the poop from them perching on top of the plate. You can change the cardboard as needed as it get's soiled. If it's going to be below 20 for the next night or two, just wait until that passes but you can start getting it set up now if you choose.

If you can dig up a chunk of sod from their run space, give that to them to scratch through, soil, grass, rocks, critters and all. When you first put it in their brooder they will act like you plunked an alien being in with them. But curiosity will get the better of them and they will soon be scratching away. That would be a good time to reintroduce the SF with the issue.
I replace the clump with a fresh one as they rip the first to bits.
You can also add more things to perch on out in the coop. If it has a sunny spot, expect to find them sun bathing in it when they can reach it.

Thank you for the advice! Right now it is just not a possibility to put them outside. It is 14 degrees with a low of 0 tonight. This week has flood advisory’s with all of the rain coming. I am really just looking for what I can do right now to help her stop picking at herself. I have been putting her back in with them several times throughout the day as well as throughout the night so I don’t think the reintroduction is an issue at this time at least since they all happily run around and play cordially until she picks at herself which is when it causes the others to get curious and run up to her to peck at the same spot she is pecking at. At night they all snuggle up to her as she and the other salmon are the biggest ones in there. My copper Marans are still a little less than two weeks old.

 

[DobieLover]

Thank you for the advice! Right now it is just not a possibility to put them outside. It is 14 degrees with a low of 0 tonight. This week has flood advisory’s with all of the rain coming. I am really just looking for what I can do right now to help her stop picking at herself. I have been putting her back in with them several times throughout the day as well as throughout the night so I don’t think the reintroduction is an issue at this time at least since they all happily run around and play cordially until she picks at herself which is when it causes the others to get curious and run up to her to peck at the same spot she is pecking at. At night they all snuggle up to her as she and the other salmon are the biggest ones in there. My copper Marans are still a little less than two weeks old.

Put some red dots on the walls of the brooder with a red Sharpie marker. Put them high enough the chicks have to jump a little to peck them.
I'm sure your soil is too frozen to dig up a clump but maybe right up next to your foundation you might be able to get a chunk loose to give them. Do anything you can to draw attention away from the bad behavior.

 

[Sussmarolle]

Okay thank you tons, I will try that! My husband added some higher perches in there for me last night as well and she and a few of the others are loving them and it seems to have made a big difference. They are all loving them so far.