Baby Chickens - Bleeding from Bottoms

[ladya]

I have baby chickens (around 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 weeks old). Have 12 Rhode Island Reds and 5 Ameraucanas. They're all in one of those ring kits that has the PVC piping for the light over top of it and the plastic walls. They've been doing really well since we got them and when we came out today, my husband comments that they're really pecking each others bottoms. I pick one up and see that it's bottom is ALL bloodied. I pick up another one... same thing. The majority of the Rhode Island Reds have blood on their bottoms (with the exception of a couple.) The Ameraucanas really don't have blood at all on them. I sprayed all their butts with a quick shot of Blue Kote and put them back in. I gave them a couple of sticks to perch on and maybe give them something to do to prevent boredom. Any other advice? We just cleared out a whole batch of Rhode Island Reds from the last place we were at because it had barely any ground for them to scratch on and they started pecking each other until they were bloody. Sprayed all of them with Blue Kote and gave them to a farmer/friend who has plenty of room for them to grow and have room to free range and scratch. We figured we'd start over with a new batch where we've bought our first house and are planning on giving them a huge fenced area to scratch and have space to roam. Now I'm worried because... "HERE WE GO AGAIN"... bloodied chickens.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

What are you feeding (thinking protein here)?

I like the Rooster Booster pick no more lotion (it tastes bad to them, looks like molasses and stains).

 

[ladya]

Thanks for the tip on the lotion. We are feeding them Buckeye Starter Feed.

 

[amnich]

Possibly pasty butt? Sometimes when they get pasty butt they pick at their butt area and can really end up hurting themselves. If this is the case, just try to keep their bottoms clean so there is nothing for them to pick at. One of mine gave itself a prolapse from picking so much.

 

[ladya]

I just looked up what a prolapsed vent is and now I see that MANY of them have prolapsed vents... What does this mean? They were all normal a couple days ago.

 

[ladya]

Also, I sprayed the prolapse with Blue Kote... I hope that didn't harm them! Ugh now I really feel bad.

 

[Michael Apple]

The worst thing you could have put on their vents is Blue Kote. That dehydrates the skin on such a sensitive area. Rhode Island reds are not a beginners breed since they are more prone to cannibalism. Once a pecked area gets bloody, they all go after it. That isn't just with RIR either. Also, the more brooder space available, the less these incidents happen. If they are 1.5 to 2 weeks old, you won't want them outside anyway unless they're being raised by a hen.

 

[amnich]

First thing you need to do: Separate the injured ones, especially if you feel they are being picked at.

Second: Clean their butts. Make sure blue-kote is off, blood is off, poop is off.

Third: Try to fix the prolapse. When this happened to me, I VERY lightly pushed it back in. Luckily it stayed, and my chick that was a few days old when this happened is an adult and completely fine. I know this does not work for everyone. I have heard of people using baby lotion (ONLY lotion for very sensitive skin/areas, you really don't want to irritate it) or ALL NATURAL honey. You may want to research other means of healing a prolapse if these methods do not work for you.

Fourth: Because you may need to put foreign substances on their butt, the chances are high that they will get pasty butt. Basically what this is, is they poop gets crusted onto their butt. This is probably what caused this problem, so check them frequently to clean them off. Paper towel, warm water.

Last: Give them yogurt, chopped up hard boiled egg, anything that will give them more protein to be able to recover from this. Make sure they are healed before you put them back with their flock mates who were picking on them.

 

[ladya]

Should I be trying to fix the prolapse even though it has Blue Kote all over it? How long do I have to fix the prolapse or will they definitely die if I don't fix it soon? They all appear to be fine. Walking around... eating and drinking.

 

[amnich]

I would definitely try to get the blue-kote off, and sooner is better when fixing the prolapse. They know when something is wrong and they will pick at it and make it worse.