Help!!! Chicks eating each other

[Krista Nicole]

I have some chicks that I pulled from their mother and are raising indoors. I've done so in the past and haven't ever had this problem. They have started pecking at each others backs until they have big bleeding sores with no feathers. They started with just one yesterday and I doctored him up and set him free on the yard. Well when i got up this morning to put them in their outside pen to scratch and feed on grass, as I do daily, i noticed another victim. I doctored him as well and turned them all out thinking they may have been a bit crowded. I had to leave and when i got back four more have been pecked on to the point of bleeding. I am lost as to what i should do. They have free range now and get freshly ground feed and water daily. What more can I do? I am afraid they will eventually peck each other to death. Please help!!!!!

 

[kazoo1111]

Give timeouts, clip beaks

 

[Krista Nicole]

Timeouts? What do ya mean? Haven't thought about clipping beaks. Thank you!!!

 

[Eggcessive]

First of all you need to watch who is doing the pecking and take them out of there and separate. Blu-Kote is a spray that will coat the reddened area so they don't keep pecking each other. They need at least 20%protein in the chick feed--some will peck if they are not getting enough. Than make sure they have plenty of room--they may be overcrowded. How old are these chicks?

 

[MountainMamaHST]

I agree, watch who pecks, check the feed. Another thing is that chickens will continue to peck if they see a bit of blood/tissue. They are kind of OCD. Separate the hurt chicks, find your pecker, separate them. How old are they?

 

[Krista Nicole]

They are 6 weeks. They have free roam of the yard now as i have turned them all out today. It hasn't helped so far. I don't have any blue kote but i do have red kote and applied it today and the taste seems to be cutting alot of it out. Was worried about it being red but after one or two pecks they leave the ones i put it on alone. Thank you for the info.

 

[Krista Nicole]

There was three of the six that seemed to be starting it. Once I put them out the others seemed to start by themselves without coaching. That is why i turned them all out. At least the ones that were already hurt aren't being terrorized anymore. They were even pecking on themselves.

 

[bj taylor]

i'm really asking that you don't clip the beaks. in my opinion that is reserved for industry chickens trapped in intolerable conditions.

blu kote works really well to camouflage wounds so they aren't further picked.

since they have the room they need, the nutrition they need, it may be a singular culprit. it might take just sitting among them for awhile & observing the dynamics of the flock. if you've got a singular chick w/this behavior then you may have to decide the fate of that one chick rather than have your whole group disrupted by one.

 

[Krista Nicole]

I'll wait on the beak clipping to see if turning them loose helps. Thank you all for the advice!!!!!