Chick sick?

[Loghousemom]

When I checked on them a few hours ago, everyone was fine now I've got a baby chick who was being pecked in the rear by the others. Her vent area is all bloody.

Going to grab the books now, but does anyone have ideas as to what might make them do that?

Should I keep her separate? And then how do I help her heal?

 

[teach1rusl]

Definitely keep her separated until she heals. Wash her off and paint the area with BlueKote or something similar (TS sells it - probably other feed stores too). It helps heal, plus kind of hides bloody/red areas. If you can finaggle it, wire off a section of your brooder for her...that way she can kind of stay with the others and it makes integration easier.

Why it happened I can't say. One could have pecked at an odd feather/fuzz, or a speck of poop on the rear area. Once even the smallest amount of blood can be seen, it draws others, and that's when things can get bad if left unaddressed. Add little branches, rocks, etc. as distractions to keep them focused on something other than each other. Make sure there is plenty of space in the brooder too...

 

[Loghousemom]

Oh thank you! I Separated her this morning but she couldn't see the rest of the girls so I decided to redo it when I came home today with some screen material so she can see each other.

She did well and stayed apart from the others all day, and I let them all play together supervised earlier and the others didn't pick on her too much so it must be something like what you said. She is acting happy and eating well.

I am going to pick up the bluekote when I go into town tomorrow and see if that helps, but it is already looking much better. I asked at the feed store today, but the only thing they recommended was to switch her to a medicated food and use a gentle iodine.