4 week old chick badly pecked

[Dollyhen]

Hello
We have four 4 week old chicks we raised outside from eggs with a broody hen, and 2 buff orp chicks that are 3 weeks old (we added them as chicks.) We came home today and one of the 4 week old chicks was badly pecked--her entire neck and rear end bloody and featherless.
We removed her and put her in a crate. The crate is in the coop with the others.
Any advice for this situation?
Is 4 weeks young for this kind of behavior?
Also they have been outside since they hatched, but do I now need to worry about the temperature since the pecked chick is now alone in a crate? She won't have her mother and siblings to keep her warm. Overnight low should be 59. The chicks have seemed pretty hardy, out pecking around at 1-2 weeks of age when temp pretty low--50-60's.
Thanks!

 

[RonC]

They can be aggressive at about any age from what I've heard. Might need to bring her inside or give her a little additional heat since the feathers are missing. Keep her seperated till her woulds heal or the others will peck at them. May try some bluecoat ointment on them to prevent infection. I have heard it will help with pecking also, must taste really bad if a chicken doesn't like the taste.

 

[EeyoreD]

It's good that you have it in a crate where it can see/be near the others. I had a bad issue with pecking when I gave "treats" and suddenly a 4-5 week old chick was bloody. If you're giving them something other than chick starter then pull that out and just stick with the starter so there are no fights. If you're not then it's probably just an agressive peck followed by more.

BlueCote isn't because it tastes bad, chickens will peck at blood on others. BlueCote alone (but especially with red lamps) helps hide the injury so the other chickens won't feel compelled to peck at it.

I would do just what you did. Isolate the chick, but have it near the others so everyone knows it's part of the flock. If you can find one, perhaps also put a chick in with the isolated one that won't attack it (and note that I tried to select the docile ones and they still attacked the wounded one, I ultimately tried one of the more dominant/aggressive ones in with the isolated chick and it ignored it but when I reintroduced, the aggressive chick protected the injured one). After things have mostly healed, slap on a bit more bluecote for insurance and try to reintroduce. If the others still attack, isolate again, definitely with a friend this time (or an ambivalent chick) and then try again in a couple days. If you can reintroduce more than one chick, the curiosity will be spread out and increase your chances of not having it reinjured.

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

Eeyore had some good advice! I agree.

 

[Dollyhen]

Thanks so much. We have the injured chick isolated in a dog crate in the run/coop with the others. I did try her with the most docile chicks and they pecked her. Now I am quite concerned as her rump is looking infected--almost gangrenous--the tissue itself in a couple spots has a weird green discoloration that was hard to capture on film. We have been cleaning it with water, applying hydrogen peroxide, then topical antibiotic ointment daily. The chick seems fine--alert, eating, active--but her rump looks bad. I will attach a couple pictures in case anyone has any other suggestion.
I appreciate your help!

 

[BackyardFarmMom]

I would not use peroxide...
Triple antibiotic

Her poor lil tush.

Blue Kote is a quick-drying, protective wound dressing to treat ringworm, skin abrasions and surface wounds. It covers the wound with a deep, penetrating coating to promote clean, rapid healing. It works well for birds who have been pecked. Blue Kote has an unpleasant taste to help stop cannibalism. It comes in a 5oz. spray can.


Edited to add:
Are they eating the feathers or just pulling them out? Cause feather eating has to do with protien needs.

 

[RileyB]

When my chicks were four weeks old they mercilessly pecked one. She had some pretty bad wounds. I separated her and she healed up fine. But I did have her inside where it was warmer. However, I wasn't using a heat lamp with her at that age.

 

[Birdgirl99]

OK I've dealt with this before feathers my black star got a HUGE flap of head skin torn off seeing her skull bone she lived i saved her with peroxide iodine and duct tape [red neck way]

but first take her inside on a porch AWAY from other birds the crate your using is fine and clean the wounds good then put iodine on or petroleum jelly on the areas and should be alright do that once every couple of days and then put her back with the others in a couple weeks after giving wounds time to heal if they keep Peking her just make sure they aren't seriously hurting her they might just be doing the pecking order hope i helped

 

[Dollyhen]

Yikes. That sounds bad. Glad to hear your chicken made it. I checked on the chick today and it looks like the wound might be turning the corner. The neon green hue is gone and swelling is decreased so that must be a good sign. Thanks for the help. I plan to pick up some blue kote this weekend and will keep her isolated in the crate until she heals up. As far as what exactly happened--I'm not sure. I just came home to find her neck and rump featherless and bloody. Not sure who did it or if they ate the feathers.
Thanks again for the help and encouragement.
Raising chicks is harder than I thought!

 

[Birdgirl99]

It is hard but it is so worth it when the birds are 19 to 22 weeks old and start to ,lay there first egg it is a magical time for the pullet who will soon be a hen and the one who got her head hurt feathers is the bird in the middle on my avatar she has a big tuft of feathers on her head since it happened but she is still laying like a champ I'll get a picture of the Tuft of feathers tomorrow it is 11:03pm right now but I'm glad the bird is getting better remember to clean the wound ever so gentle and delicately and don't peel the scab off and put the bird back with the others when the wound heals all the way [if its not the others will be tempted to peck at it and peck they will the nice birds put them in with her so she's not lonesome