4 week old chick... BluKote? Pecking?

[Astrid]

Hi there,
I've got six almost-4 week old chicks that we have raised indoors (ordered from Meyer's) and just last night we put them outside, in a "kindergarten coop" which is a separate area INSIDE the main coop, separated by a dog x-pen with chicken mesh covering it. This has worked for us for years; they can get to know the big girls (3 barred rocks) without any real interaction and have their own food and water and stay safe.

So this morning all was well, and I checked again at 1 pm and one of the Buff chicks had a bloody patch on the top side of her tail. As I watched, the other chicks surrounded her and pecked at it. I am assuming that she was too close to the fencing and one of the big hens nailed her. Not much damage; just kind of bloodied the base of a new feather. I brought her in, cleaned her up, and gave her a spritz of BluKote, which I've never had to use before (THANKFULLY!) but I know is widely recommended here on the BYC board.

I gave her some alone time in the brooder (which thankfully was still on the dining room table, all set up with food and water) and she's fine.
DH and I tried to put her back with the baby flock just now, and as soon as we put her in the "kindergarten coop" the other babies went right back to pecking at the purple spot. We took her back out, but I am worried about re-intergrating her back into the flock.

Did I do the wrong thing by using BluKote? What do I do now? It's gentian violet, right? It won't wash off..... so now what do I do?

I think I'll cross post on the injuries board..

Thanks in advance!
astrid

 

[nanawendy]

No it won't wash off. Can you keep her by herself for a while? She should be fine in a few days and blu-kote is a good choice... I would of done the same thing. Good luck

 

[Astrid]

She's by herself now, but I'm worried about keeping her away too long. Will it be hard to re-introduce? And if they're picking at the BluKote now, that stuff will take FOREVER to wear off, correct? Won't they just peck again once I do put her back?

The injury doesn't worry me at all; it's minor. It's the pecking! I HATE pecking!

astrid

 

[nanawendy]

Maybe a friend could bunk w/ her. This should be a runt or at least a smaller one. Watch them close to insure no pecking. Then when she is ready to go back she'll have a bud to help protect her. Maybe even a preschool inside the kindergarten pen ... Those littles just saw something different and thought they would help her preen

. Give them something else to peck @.

 

[Astrid]

Can I give them a big red apple to peck? I"m going to keep her separated until Saturday when I can put her back and watch her carefully. She's a sweet girl. I'd like to get this resolved asap for her sake.

I did a little searching on here and found many folks use pine tar to discourage pecking. What do you think about that? Good idea? Bad idea?

astrid