Chick pecking own feet

[Honora]

I have a 5 week old Orpington cockerel who keeps pecking his own feet. He has always pecked at things a lot, even basically from the minute he hatched. After he hatched he immediately started pecking at another chick's eyes.

He has little cuts all over his feet from pecking at them. Any suggestions on how to stop this?

 

[azygous]

Your chick probably has a fixation and will probably keep pecking at things since his brain is wired that way. Just as with people with compulsive behavior, you'll be fighting an uphill battle since the problem is in his brain. If you succeed in stopping his pecking at his feet, he'll only go on to pecking something else.

You can try coating his feet with Rooster Booster Pick-no-mor. You can make a similar concoction using Vick's and grape Kool-aid, without the sugar, and add a dash of Pepto Bismol.

As he gets bigger and he still has the pecking problem, you might try pinless peepers.

 

[sunflour]

You can get some poultry shoes for him - they are intended for bumble foot but would prevent self injury.

And give him something else to peck : flock block, chicken suet?