Help!!! Girls have runny butts... It's really gross...I haven't been able to get one to heal yet...Three died we're guessing because they were pecked...It seems everytime one dies they start picking on another one... I'm loosing all my girls We tried to put some kind of product on them that my husband got at the co-op and they started peckingat their necks... I took the injured out of the pen to let them heal and they were with the horse for a while...but they are driving her insane and kind of took over her stable ...there are only two of them left now but it's sad to watch her as they try to nest in her hay and she leaves it there because she just doesn't want to deal with them...when they find something else to do she goes back to her food I need a psychologist for my picking hens and one for my horse...Anyone know a good one? Seriously...How do I stop this...??? Is it possible?
How old are these chicks? If they are really young maybe they are chilled or stressed? How long have you had them? What about nutrition? Protein deficiency? Eating feathers?
They are all layers... 9 months and were alying great until the pecking party .... They (whichever is doing it) only pecked the rears and started at the neck of a couple of them when we put that red stuff on the butts... They are fed the same as always except when winter hit we upped the protein to 18%. I hadn't noticed feather pecking but now that you mention it one seemed to have funny looking feathers on one wing... Before all this we had a dozen eggs between 9 layers each day and during the winter...I was really looking forward to the summer laying....Now we're lucky if we have 5 a day
Do they have enough space in the coop? If they've had to spend all their time indoors (because of the winter) in a coop that's too small for them, they can start pecking because they're overcrowded and bored. A coop can be smaller if they have space outside, but this can happen in the winter/ early spring when they haven't had access to that extra space.
IT sounds like they are to many birds for the space you have them in. Based on your location I take it they don't go outside during the winter. You need to give them something to do. Some folks take have and roll it in chicken wire and hang it up so they will peck at the hay. Others provide suet cakes. Just anything to get their attention away from each other.
Shan, could be not enough protein in the diet. Once the birds started to lay they were using up all their protein producing eggs and need more. If you could feed dry cat feed and oil sunflower seeds that would help.( as a treat) If my flock falls below 18% protein in the diet I can expect problems. That's the truth here, hope it helps. bigzio
I'm pretty sure you are not supposed to put anything red on them because that makes them peck at it. Someone else know for sure?
Thank You! I saw something about hanging a head of cabbage ...I thnk I'll try that...it should keep the them busy for a while.. I have only one with the horse now... That way she's not drove crazy.. How do you know which are roosters? Our Dude is starting to try to crow but I noticed one which I thought was a girl trying to mount another....
when your other chicks died did they have pasty butt? my chick had runnypoo,and pastybutt so I gave them some boild egg and it helped