Bloody tail feathers and missing feathers—no Blu Kote until tomorrow

[YogiMamaSkye]

Hi there!

Brand new chicken owner here: We have four ten-week-old pullets that we just got this past weekend, and already one of them (Red Sexlink) is missing some tail feathers and there is fresh blood there. In the immediate time, what can I put on her to make her comfortable and discourage both her and other other hens from picking at the wound? I ordered some Blu Kote since I can't find anywhere near me that sells it (Portland, Maine), but it won't be here until tomorrow. What else can I use?

Also, should I separate her from the flock tonight?

I have noticed all four birds have bald spots on their butts, but they don't look bloody or scaly, so I just assumed at this age that they would be growing new feathers. They all seem to preen and pick at themselves around their butts and under their wings. Is this normal? Should I check for mites?

Should I automatically assume she is being pecked, or could she be doing it herself?

Woah, lot of questions. Thank you for your help!

Skye

 

[Suckafish272]

We're new too. Just went through this last week. Here is what we did.

-Separated bleeder and aggressive chicken (you'll need to watch them for a bit and see who's the most aggressive butt pecker.)

-Kept bleeder and mean chicken in small, separate pens in the garage. Slathered neosporin on wounds, we couldn't get blu-kote for 24 hours either.

-The next day we sprayed blu kote on the chicken's wounds, bleeding had stopped but there were definitely dark spots that the other chickens could focus on. Left the chicken in the garage for the blu kote to dry, a while later our chicken had a purple beak but it's butt was a solid, dark color. Nothing for the other chickens to target.

-That night after the rest of the chickens went to bed we placed the wounded chicken back in the coop. The next day there was no more pecking and none of the chickens had bloody beaks when we got home from work. I did see some chickens looking real close at her rear, they seemed to remember something of interest used to be in there.

-We kept the aggressive chicken in the garage for 5 days. She hated it, but she also earned it. On re-intro day I put her in a cat carrier and put her in the run for 15 minutes or so. I then opened the cat carrier and placed a corn on the cob in the run at the same time. The aggressive chicken walked out of her carrier and went to foraging like she was never gone and the others went at the corn and barely noticed the "new" chicken in the run.

-After several days of watching peace seems to have been restored. The aggressive chicken has definiely lost her status on top of the pecking order and is being put in her place by the new head chickens.

-We also "finished" our run by adding more stimulation, roosting branches, food tether, etc. We also took up the recommendation of throwing some scratch around every morning and feeding alfalfa which is high in protein. I've read that boredom and nutritional deficiencies, like protein, can cause bullying like what we've seen. Good luck! These birds aren't too bright but they can be manipulated.

 

[Shanty]

If you don't have Blu Kote at hand then one of my favorite weapons is Vick's Vaporub/antibiotic ointment smeared liberally on the bloody site, if already pecked, or Vaporub on the bare spots if there was a potential for pecking. Ointment went on first, followed by the Vaporub when used in concert. Watch the birds attempt to take another peck when Vaporub is on the wound. They react quickly and stop. This works for young chicks or adults. A jar of Vaporub is always on the 2 x 4 above the door in my brooder pen.

 

[Percheron chick]

She could be doing it to herself or she could be having some help. This is an age where they are needing lots of protein for feather development. Feathers are naturally high in protein. Start giving them treats of meal worms or cat food until they stop. You could also switch them to a meat bird feed (typically 22-26% protein).

 

[YogiMamaSkye]

Thank you so much, everyone. I think you are spot on about the protein bit—I actually saw her eat some of her own feathers that had dropped to the ground today. I will up the meal worm intake for a while and see if that helps. We have some dried ones we use as treats. We also put neosporin on the wound with some menthol until the Blu Kote arrives. Thanks for that tip. I think it is her doing it to herself. None of the hens seems to be picking on one another, and no one in particular seems to be the bully. They are very much still establishing pecking order. I will keep an eye out, though. Thanks again!