I came home and checked on the chickens and one of my cockerel's back end was bleeding badly! This is not the first time this has happened but it's definitely the worst. I took him inside, gave him a nice mashed egg and tried to clean him up a little. I'm sure its from my other cockerels picking on him and pulling his feathers out, he's always been at the bottom of the pecking order because of how docile and non aggressive he is. I have him separated for now but keeping him separate is not ideal because I don't have a good set up for this in the winter. My question is what should I put on his tail to clean it and keep from being pecked by the others? Where would I find said stuff? He's got a few broken feathers and blood on him still because I couldn't get it all off and some blood had clumped up and dried on his feathers already. Any suggestions are appreciated.
It's impossible to keep multiple cockerels together without having injuries when they are becoming mature. You can apply an antipicking cream, Nustock, or coal tar to discourage picking, but he is liable to get killed eventually. You need to make plans on which ones to keep, and separate and rehome the extras. I have 2 standard roosters and a banty rooster with 32 hens, and they get along well. It all depends on whether the head rooster will accept the younger ones, and whether the youngers will accept a subordinate role. But when I have had multiple cockerels raised in the flock from babies, eventually most have to go, or you will have injured hens and roosters.
