We have a flock of 6 black and 6 red sexlinks we got last spring. It’s been a terribly cold winter -35 Celsius at times, we’ve manage to keep the coop no colder than -20 on the coldest nights.
This past week we introduced scratch feed to intice more activity from the girls and then the temperatures started rising fast until it was +8 and raining, then it flash froze yesterday and we immediately noticed one by one the red hens had bloody bruised vents from being pecked at. All the chickens already have shortened beeks from the hatchery.
The local vet suggested protein deficiency from the extra yummy scratch or cannabilism. We’ve moved the 5 pecked birds to our garage into dog crates, cleaned them up and applied Blu kote.
I’m not sure how long to keep these ladies apart. They are not happy in the crates - not near enough room. The temporary hospital was suitable for 2 chickens not 5.
Can the other chickens change their evil ways? How long before I can return the blue-butted ladies to the flock? Is there hope?
This past week we introduced scratch feed to intice more activity from the girls and then the temperatures started rising fast until it was +8 and raining, then it flash froze yesterday and we immediately noticed one by one the red hens had bloody bruised vents from being pecked at. All the chickens already have shortened beeks from the hatchery.
The local vet suggested protein deficiency from the extra yummy scratch or cannabilism. We’ve moved the 5 pecked birds to our garage into dog crates, cleaned them up and applied Blu kote.
I’m not sure how long to keep these ladies apart. They are not happy in the crates - not near enough room. The temporary hospital was suitable for 2 chickens not 5.
Can the other chickens change their evil ways? How long before I can return the blue-butted ladies to the flock? Is there hope?