bully in the brooder

[saronna]

Hello everyone,

Long story to explain here and hopefully we'll get some advice, we're very new to this, here goes;

We have six icelandic chicks in a brooder (about 12 days old) one of the chicks is much smaller than the rest, we call her 'tiny'. From the start we have had to wipe her vent a few times, but she seems fine, has not actually developed pasty but. Just a bit messier around her vent than the others. Last night we tidied her up and put a dab of polysporin on, as I read that can help keep the vent clean. Well this morning the biggest of the chicks, 'bunny' was pecking at tiny's bottom and there was some blood. My husband has isolated bunny in a separate brooder and cleaned up tiny, who seems fine. None of the other chicks are bothering tiny. What do we do?

The brooder is large, made of an old metal dog crate it's about 32"x 60" , but are they bored?

I read sometimes chickens can go canabal, is there any coming back for bunny?

How/can we reintroduce her?

I was thinking of giving them a treat, like yogurt to distract her from the taste of blood?

Any ideas would be much appreciated
Thanks
Saronna

 

[azygous]

What you're experiencing with your chicks is normal. I wrote an article on the topic for BYC because it's such a common problem people have when they get new chicks. It's linked below this post and has a lot of tips on how to deal with a problem chick.

Basically, you can discipline the chick when it behaves aggressively and it's surprisingly effective. Most people report almost immediate results. You just poke the naughty chick on the back when it goes for another chick. This will entail returning the chick to the brooder with the other chicks.

There are other things you can do to make a brooder more interesting so this behavior is less likely to occur. I cover them in the article.

 

[saronna]

Thank you
I just read your article on aggressive chicks, great tips. I've added some interest to the brooder, I'll put 'bunny' back and see how it goes.

 

[saronna]

Hi Azygous,

I would like to ask you for a little more advice regarding Tiny. It seems she has a prolapsed vent, it's not as severe as some of the pictures I've seen, but I am not sure what her prospects are. Because it sticks out and is pink, we've had her in isolation. The blu-kote that you recommend for injured chicks, can it be applied to the vent, or does it create a seal? I was thinking it would be nice for her to go back with the other chicks, if she didn't have such a target on her rear. I think you mentioned it helps disguise wounds.
We've been applying prep-H and she is eating and eliminating fine.
Any further tips greatly appreciated

Thank you

 

[azygous]

Oh dear little Tiny. Poor thing. I use coconut oil on irritated vents and it reduces the inflammation pretty quickly. Prep H is okay but coconut oil has more healing properties.

Make sure Tiny isn't constipated, one of the more common causes of vent swelling. Feeding moistened feed will help. Fermenting the feed is even better.

 

[saronna]

Thank you so much,
I have coconut oil on hand, I'll try it right away. I just want to get her back with her flock, but I know they'll peck at her. She's becoming quite the pet chicken with all the extra attention we've had to give her. Have you seen chicks recover from this?
Should I try the blu-kote?

 

[azygous]

Yes, chicks recover from inflamed vent very fast. It should be nearly normal in a couple days.

Hold off on the Blu-kote and use it only if the other chicks bother the chick's swollen vent. Paint the Blu-kote on, let it dry and then put the coconut oil on, in that order. Or just keep the chick away from the others for a couple more days.

 

[saronna]

Thank you so much,
your tips have been so helpful. The coconut oil also helped clean her gently, as the prep-H was so sticky! I am really hopeful she'll be able to go back with the other girls soon.