5 week old chick, bloody backside after spending first night in coop

[orpington2021]

Hi,

woke up this morning and found my two orpington chicks with bloody backsides, one was unable to move and eventually died. It was their first night outside in the coop. The other was moving around normally, ate and drank a bit but now he’s stood still with his eyes closed. Occasionally moves and follows me around. I’m not sure what to do and I don’t want to lose him either. My suspicion is that they got attacked by the hens in the morning. We keep chickens as pets and haven’t experienced anything like this as we got our first chickens lastvyear.

Please help.

photo attached - WARNING GRAPHIC

 

[WhySayWhat]

How's your rat/mouse problem? Could very well be the established hens...can you partition the new birds off with wire so they can "look but not touch" the new/old birds, but get used to them being there?

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Did you do any look but don't touch before you put them in there?

 

[orpington2021]

How's your rat/mouse problem? Could very well be the established hens...can you partition the new birds off with wire so they can "look but not touch" the new/old birds, but get used to them being there?

There’s a couple of mice I’ve spotted but cats regularly come for them, the coop has a secure door as well so not sure if it’s rats or mice. We’ve done the look not touch thing for 3 weeks now, so not sure why they attacked them so badly

 

[orpington2021]

Did you do any look but don't touch before you put them in there?

Yes we did, introduced them slowly for 3 weeks and made sure there was wiring between them. Really worried as we have 2 blue orpington chicks that we wanted to introduce too but holding off now

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Yes we did, introduced them slowly for 3 weeks and made sure there was wiring between them. Really worried as we have 2 blue orpington chicks that we wanted to introduce too but holding off now

How big is your coop? How did your ladies act?

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Maybe @rosemarythyme can help you out. She's given me a lot of good advice as I am integrating chicks as well

 

[rosemarythyme]

Can you post current photos of your coop (inside and out) and run?

Were they having any issues during the 3 weeks of integration period before? Did they actually get interact with each other (if so, for how many days/weeks), or was there a fence up the whole time?

Rats could be an issue but for now I'll assume it was the hens, unless you're seeing signs of rat damage in the coop or on your hens (i.e. foot injuries).

 

[Wishing4Wings]

How many chickens do you have in what sized space?