Chicks pecking each other

[rsf31tmp]

well....my one white leghorn has been in a seperate box now for almost 48 hours...I guess she is doing ok...I am not crazy about putting her back in with the others yet.

Of my 12 Wyandottes (SLW) I think I must have at least 5 or 6 future roosters...could this be a problem? I am watching two or three raising their necks high and and coming after each other?

Some have different combs, others have shorter wing feathers, other have bigger legs.

If I do have that many roos, then what do I do? I have given them meal worms and tried to do more time outside. What else do I do?

Yesterday it was 65 and sunny, but after a few minutes...they can back to the coop....all 15 that were out. Do I force them out or just let them come on their own?

 

[Ttheresaa]

they make stuff for peeking feathers and you can call a feed store and ask them

 

[Greendecember]

I was in a near panic. I had 2 chicks with raw back sides last night I pulled them. By this morning I had more picked over and by mid day I had one dead one. I tired to single out a culprit. I turned their red light back on. I had turned it off because they were older and it was getting warm out. I didn't want to cook them. I think that is where I went wrong. I never had this problem with my last flock because it was cooler and I kept the red light on them.

After reading this thread I went to the feed store and they were out of the Blue stuff with an applicator. They give me the bottle with the sprayer.

Hubby and I go into the wash room that has been converted into a between brooder and coop stage room to paint our chicks blue. Had the window open and a good wind blowing. I thought the room was ventilated enough.

WRONG!!!

Not only is that spray a MESS. So much so that the room looks like a blue blooded creature was slain in a horrific fashion but I think I either suffocated or intoxicated them. Some looked on the verge of death. We loaded them up in tubs and took every one outside for maximum fresh air.

We had 2 tubs of Emergency, a box of ICU, and a box of death watch ICU.

We kept picking them up and not letting them sleep. The ICU and ICU2 boxes were the worst. They were puking and loosing their bowls all over us. They were like floppy little rag dolls!! I was horrified

We spent about 2 hours outside with 30+ chicks keeping them awake and moving to clear their lungs. Eventually I down graded the ones that seemed to be getting along ok and we slowly started taking them back in .

By the end of the two hours everyone was up and drinking and eating. Some were still a little sleepy but I bet they were tired and stressed. I know I am! I left those in a tub in the room with a lid on it so they didn't get trampled.

I'm going ot check on them about every 15-30 min. I hope they all pull through. I feel like such an idiot!

 

[Greendecember]

Update: Everyone made it through the night.

Lights out at dark and red light on at sun up. 2 banhams are still not all the way up to par but everyone else is alright. WHEW! I thought I had killed my whole new flock. That was frightening!

 

[nby25]

I use Pine Tar on the spots where they been pecked. It smells bad and tastes gross for chicks, they will taste it and stop pecking. Some times I have to use it multiple times on the same spots. It will not hurt chicks.

 

[Splashaucana]

Wow! So glad to see this thread! I've had some frustrating late nights lately dealing with problems with my 'first timer' flock... Makes me feel better seeing everyone else's similar issues, and some very good above well... BYC is such a great forum!!!

 

[Splashaucana]

Very good 'advice as well'

 

[claireschicks]

My chicks were doing that to eachother for ages. I couldn't really stop them from doing it but i used Gentian Violet spray which calmed the redness and really helped the swelling!
Hope everythings ok now.

 

[JRchickchick]

I have found that once you see blood (and the chicks/hens) see blood, they are very curious critters, and will simply peck to see what it is. Unfortunately, it then causes an issue with others doing the same, and the poor babies soon have no tail-feathers and go into a bit of shock. When they go into shock, they don't run as fast, and that's where things can get much uglier! That is a big reason to check on your chicks often!

I have found that as the chicks get bigger, they get bored, and aren't satisfied with the usual pecking for food, scratching, and sleeping. I start putting in chunks of stale bread (broken into pieces for all corners of the mini-coop (grower hutch), sprinkled cooked rice around, and then I've put in trainer roosts for them to hop up upon, and that keeps them occupied for a time, and helps provide a place for an injured to hop up and get away from the pecking, but ultimately, by 4 weeks they need to be able to get some access OUTSIDE in the fresh air, so, again, it keeps them from getting bored, and gives them space to run away from others.

This year, the very day the weather turned nice and I was setting up their outdoor mini-pen, I discovered a tail-less bloody rump on one of my chicks this year.

Poor thing. Now she's in confinement until the BlueKote arrives today (Amazon, 2 day shipping!) with the applicator dauber. I should have bought it BEFORE I needed it and put it in my hen First Aid kit!

I even bought a nifty chicken treat toy that lets the chickens kick it around to get at the treats. Hmmm, I wonder if anybody has tried growing their own mealworms? Boy are they expensive!

Good luck all, and thank you everybody for the tips and tricks.

I started out here 4 years ago with 17 chicks, and this year I have 37 chickens, with 29 chicks growing fast!