HELP!!!! Chicks eating other chicks tail feathers

[KINGTRAE66]

I have 10 baby chicks in my brooder box. There is ample food and water in the box. When I came in to work this morning one of my chicks has half of it tail feathers gone and his hind end is bleeding some. Now as the day is progressing it seems there is a lot of interest in this one chicks hind end and everyone is taking pot shots at the same spot. I need some help guys. Any Ideas?

 

[EmeraldSkye]

Put some Blue-kote on the bleeding part to take away the red. Use gloves or it will stain your skin.

I also then sprayed a product called "Bitter Yuck" (find at a pet store) to make the chick taste nasty to the others. Just on the tail end where it's being targeted. I find it works better than Bitter Apple on my dogs. I think it tastes more bitter, maybe. It's sold where dog supplies are in a pet store.

Then I increased the protein in their diet. Are they eating the feathers? Could be a methionine deficiency. That's an amino acid needed to grow feathers. It's found in black oil sunflower seeds but those may be too big for your chicks still. Also it's in egg whites so you can try scrambling or hard boiling some eggs to feed as a treat. I also gave mine Featherglow Eggfood: http://www.everythingbirdie.com/feeg.html

It's called that because it's made of dried egg white plus other stuff. I put it in a hopper and let them eat it when they wanted it. They loved it. It helps to grow feathers too. I found it in a local pet feed store and also asked another one close by me to stock it. Looks like they market it to people with house birds so it would be with the bird supply stuff.

I did all of this and solved my problem.

 

[KINGTRAE66]

Put some Blue-kote on the bleeding part to take away the red. Use gloves or it will stain your skin.

I also then sprayed a product called "Bitter Yuck" (find at a pet store) to make the chick taste nasty to the others. Just on the tail end where it's being targeted. I find it works better than Bitter Apple on my dogs. I think it tastes more bitter, maybe. It's sold where dog supplies are in a pet store.

Then I increased the protein in their diet. Are they eating the feathers? Could be a methionine deficiency. That's an amino acid needed to grow feathers. It's found in black oil sunflower seeds but those may be too big for your chicks still. Also it's in egg whites so you can try scrambling or hard boiling some eggs to feed as a treat. I also gave mine Featherglow Eggfood: http://www.everythingbirdie.com/feeg.html

It's called that because it's made of dried egg white plus other stuff. I put it in a hopper and let them eat it when they wanted it. They loved it. It helps to grow feathers too. I found it in a local pet feed store and also asked another one close by me to stock it. Looks like they market it to people with house birds so it would be with the bird supply stuff.

I did all of this and solved my problem.

Bless you.... thanks....I will get right on it

 

[EmeraldSkye]

Also, what kind of light are you using in your brooder? if you are using a white incandescent light consider switching to a red infrared light. I've read that chickens see incandescent light like a disco ball - it flashes, and stimulates them. Plus the infrared light (being a red glow) will make contrasts harder to see. So they are calmer and not looking for things to peck at. The only one I could find was 250 watt which I thought was too much for my setup (too hot) so it put it on a lamp dimmer. This way I could control the intensity and the heat with a slide of the switch. No more raising and lowering the lamp. Regarding the sunflower seeds if your chicks are still in the brooder I'm sure they aren't ready for anything that size. Mine were already outside when I had my tail feather picking problem.

 

[EmeraldSkye]

Any updates? How's it going?

 

[KINGTRAE66]

Bitter yuck and a red heat light did the trick. Now I have what I think is going to be a roo in the bunch just picking on everyone. It is bigger and taller than all the others.

 

[CrazyChickGirl]

Make sure try have enough room to explore, also... 10 chicks will need room, especially as they grow.