Help

[Melissa Rutkowski]

In search of help!!! I got 4 chicks that are about 7-8 weeks old and have moved them to a pen outside, I have 4 adult RIR that are about 1 -1.5 years old that can free range around the yard. They can get right next to the pen and their heads can stick through the spaces of wire but they can not get inside of it. Yesterday I got home and noticed one of the chicks inside of the pen had a bald spot on her neck. Today I got home and one has a huge open wound on top of her head and is bleeding. Could it be my big hens pecking my babies through the pen? What can I do to fix this?? I'm fairly new to this and am freaking out!!!!!

 

[Pyxis]

It's either the hens or a predator. If the hens can get their heads in there, a raccoon could reach in, or a crow/raven, or a weasel could get in, etc. You need to make it predator proof to be safe. That will mean using hardware cloth instead of what you're using, which I suspect is chicken wire (which a dog or fox could chew right through, too).

For the wounds, you can apply neosporin without pain relief to help them heal and prevent infection

 

[PatrickRoo]

Yes. It's most likely your larger chickens pecking at your chicks. You can use bird netting to help with this. Bird netting has very tiny holes, so your large chickens can't touch your small chicks.

As for the wounded chick, please separate it from the other chicks. Keep her in an enclosed porch or in a garage. Give her some of her own medicated water and give her some feed. You can buy certain sprays that you can spray on her wound that will help it heal.

 

[Melissa Rutkowski]

Thank you so much for all the advice!!!!

 

[azygous]

This happened to a baby chick of mine at around age two weeks. I wasn't thinking ahead about the ability of tiny chicks to poke their heads through the poultry mesh. I found one with the top part of her head scalped, leaving a horrible open wound.

I knew instantly that an older chicken had pecked the skin off her little head. I treated her wound for the next six weeks until it grew new tissue and closed. She's now six years old. I wrote an article about how I treated her and what you can expect in the way of recovery. It's linked below.