Cuts and pecking

[Chriskits]

I know there is probably hundreds of post similar to this but I’m still going to ask. Basically my smallest hen has a couple cuts on her back from what I believe to be other chickens pecking at her. How should I treat the cuts and how do I stop this from happening again?

 

[Callender Girl]

If they're just minor wounds, I always keep a spray bottle of Vetricyn on hand; it's an antimicrobial and, because it's a spray, I don't have to touch the sore spots. If you don't have that, clean the wounds the best you can. I've been known to use hydrogen peroxide if it's all I had.

If your little girl is the lowest in the pecking order, it's likely she will continue to get hurt. Make sure there's some place she can get into to avoid her attackers. I have six hens in my avatar coop, and from the day I took them out of the brooder (where everyone had gotten along fine), Lottie, a Welsummer, was everybody's target. She wore a lot of Vetricyn.

She had no feathers for about two inches in front of her tail. The vet, who took a look when he was out caring for some livestock, announced that she would always have a red, featherless rump, that the feathers would never grow back.

Thankfully, he was wrong and during her recent molt, two-year-old Lottie began regrowing her feathers. She is still the low girl in the pecking order but has learned to keep her distance when they are outside and stay away from the bullies as much as possible indoors.

Good luck with your girl!

 

[Chriskits]

If they're just minor wounds, I always keep a spray bottle of Vetricyn on hand; it's an antimicrobial and, because it's a spray, I don't have to touch the sore spots. If you don't have that, clean the wounds the best you can. I've been known to use hydrogen peroxide if it's all I had.

If your little girl is the lowest in the pecking order, it's likely she will continue to get hurt. Make sure there's some place she can get into to avoid her attackers. I have six hens in my avatar coop, and from the day I took them out of the brooder (where everyone had gotten along fine), Lottie, a Welsummer, was everybody's target. She wore a lot of Vetricyn.

She had no feathers for about two inches in front of her tail. The vet, who took a look when he was out caring for some livestock, announced that she would always have a red, featherless rump, that the feathers would never grow back.

Thankfully, he was wrong and during her recent molt, two-year-old Lottie began regrowing her feathers. She is still the low girl in the pecking order but has learned to keep her distance when they are outside and stay away from the bullies as much as possible indoors.

Good luck with your girl!

Thank you so much, I’ll see if i can get some Vetriycn in the near future!!!