Culling a bird?

[pacanis]

Hi all.

My small flock of five hens was doing well until yesterday afternoon. I noticed one of my buff orps walking behind sl wyandotte pecking at her. I was horrified to see what she had done to the other hen, right about the tail feathers. It was a bloody, lumpy looking mess. And the weird thing is, the wyandotte didn't even act like it bothered her!
Now, earlier in the week I saw a larger buff orp mounting another buff orp. I'm not sure what that's all about unless hens are like dogs in showing dominance, but this was not the same hen. This was my middle buff orp doing the pecking and she just woouldn't give it up. I did not see any blood on the other birds' beaks.
So I ran for the blue-kote and gave the slw a good spray on the affected area. It's just getting light and I would like some opinions to go with as the day develops.

All things being perfect, the buff orp will leave the slw alone.
All things not being perfect, if I were to cull a bird to restore order, would it be the henpecked bird or the troublemaker? Do you get rid of the bird being eaten, or the bird doing the eating? They were all doing so well after their molt, too. The weather had eased up and they were all getting outside. Everybody was laying again.... I just don't understand it.
And I plan on throwing some burger in with them today to try and occupy the one. I'm hoping for the best, but planning for the worse. And separating one out is not an option, but I suppose that would be the ideal situation, to get the pecked hen out of there....

Hoping for some input on my situation.

Thanks!

 

[pacanis]

Just to add, the meat above the tail is much better looking today, but two buff orps are still trying to peck at it. We'll see.... I threw in a can of cat food just to preoccupy them for a while. Maybe things will work out for the better, but I'm still curious if it's better to remove the main instigator or the one getting beaten up.

 

[Lollipop]

No need to cull either. Blue Cote should stop the pecking. If not, try smearing some Noxema on the affected area. It tastes bad and should work. Either one may require another application.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

Unfortunately, once they taste blood you usually can't cure them of the pecking. Seperate the pecked hen away from the others until she completely heals. Watch the one doing the pecking and see if it goes after any of the others. If not, then after the pecked hen fully heals, reintroduce her to the flock and watch closely to see if the pecking starts again. If it does, you will have to cull out the one doing the pecking.

 

[pacanis]

Thanks for the replies. Hopefully the blue-kote does the trick then. It was all I could do to get a good spray on her, but it's a good spray alright. I don't handle my birds and that presents its own problems when something like this crops up.
And I will keep my eye on the instigator.

Thank you.