BAD pecking injuries

[sdifiore]

We have 2 Rhode Island Red hens that are 1 year old. They free range during the day on 5 acres, and put themselves in the coop at night. We have 6 new pullets (mixed breeds) we are trying to introduce to them this week, and it isn't going well. There has been some minor blood drawn on all pullets' beaks from the hens pecking.

We got home tonight from being gone all day, and they have been in the coop while we were out. Just one of the pullets got beat up bad. A bloody spot the size of a quarter on the back of it's head, and the same thing on top of one of it's wings; it is in bad shape. We separated them immediately into the two hens, 4 of the pullets, and the injured bird with another pullet.

What can I do for the pullet tonight??? How do I clean her wounds? Planning on peroxide flush, followed by saline rinse, then neosporin. Tomorrow morning I plan to go pick up some pick-no-more, but in the meantime?

 

[dawg53]

Betadine would be better than hydrogen peroxide in this instance. Put it on gauze and gently dab it on her wounds. Then apply neosporin as needed until healed.
If I were you, it would be best to put peepers on your 2 RIR's or keep the pullets penned away from the RIR's.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I often just leave them to heal, or use bluekote if the wounds are too deep.

No pick won't help you in this situation. Integrating chicks can go easy or hard depending on how big your set up is. I definitely wouldn't leave chicks out unsupervised yet. I'm going to assume they are all confined to a run?

How big is your set up? @azygous uses an escape hatch when integrating so chicks can always escape. I personally do more supervising when integrating, and my birds aren't confined.

Hopefully your little one heals up quickly.

 

[Angeline1978]

I would separate and keep trying. Sounds like pullets are just not big enough to stand up for themselves.

 

[azygous]

Please tell us how old these "new" pullets are. Age makes a huge difference in what steps are best for a safe integration.

You are seeing these injuries because your pullets can't get away from the bully hens. How you provide a safe refuge for your pullets depends on age and size, so we can't really recommend unless we have that information.

Wound care is as follows: clean wound with soap and water. Keep moist with antibiotic ointment. Blu-kote can disguise the wound if the others are pecking at it. Larger wounds require daily cleaning.