Help!! 2 of my chicks have been pecked bloody!!

[ernndbrtt]

I just went to check on my 3 week old chicks and 2 of them are extremely bloody right where their tailfeathers once where. All of their tailfeathers are completely gone and they are bleeding really bad. The one can barely move. I removed them from the rest of the chicks but now I don't know what to do. Is there any hope in saving them???

 

[Judy]

They may. Give them a chance. Chickens heal surprisingly well.

 

[ernndbrtt]

Once I was able to get a closer look at both of the wounds, they look really bad. It looks like both of their vents have been damaged, all of their tailfeathers are completely gone and chunks of flesh are missing from both of their rear ends. I cleaned both of the wounds with an H2O and iodine solution. Is there anything else that I should do to at least give them a fighting chance? Or is it just a wait and see sitution?

 

[farm-a-zootical]

I'm not very experienced, but some poly vi sol, without iron, from the baby's vitamin section at Walmart, will give them some strength, along with yogurt. You can spray the injured area with blu-kote from TSC or other local farm suppliers. Darken the room & let them rest. Hopefully someone will respond with a more in depth healing idea, antibiotics, etc.

 

[ernndbrtt]

Thanks so much for the advice Zoo. I went to TSC and talked to one of the employee's who was very helpful. She gave me antibiotics and a purple antiseptic to put on the wounds. I stayed up almost all night feeding them watered down yogurt with a medicine dropper the because they were both so weak, gave them poly-vi-sol and gave them water mixed with the antibiotic every hour. I also gave them sugar water which seemed to help with their energy level. It was a long night but I just couldn't sleep knowing how bad they were. By the next day, they got alot of their energy and strength back. I made them scrambled eggs and they devoured them. The wounds are still pretty ugly but they are eating and drinking. They are running around and chirping, so I figure that's a good sign. I have them seperated from the rest of the chicks, I figured until they are healed, it's probably best to just let them have their own space so they can re-coup. So far, so good!!!

 

[StevieNay]

Glad to hear they're doing better! I had one bully chick that pecked another's tail feathers completely out, too. They were about 4 weeks old when it happened. We had to separate her until she healed enough that there wasn't any red showing (that makes all the others peck at it). I did the same thing you did and just washed her wound well and babied her a bit. We also identified our bully and separated it for three nights. When we put him back in he was completely cured of his pecking!

Our chick that had the feathers pecked out is now 26 weeks old and lays beautiful eggs. However, her tail feathers never did grow back, so now she is our tail-less chicken.

 

[ernndbrtt]

Thanks Stevie!!! The purple antiseptic, it stains everything and my two chicks behinds are stained purple but I was told it was to cover up the redness and blood so they don't get pecked at anymore.

I was wondering if their tailfeathers were going to grow back, sounds like maybe not.

I'm happy to hear that your girl healed up well and she can lay!! I have hope for my two then!!! They'll probably just be tail-less.