hen pecked

[pacanis]

A while back my hens were pecking at each others' butts and also pulling out their own feathers, so I was directed to get some Blu-Kote and that seemed to heal them up, but their feathers never grew back.
Is that normal? They will always have bare butts?

Now, on to today's problem;
One hen is getting beat up. She has peck marks around her chest/neck area and her feathers are quite ruffled and thin looking around her whole neck area, but no exposed skin yet except for the pecking wounds.
Do I want to spray her neck area with Blu-Kote?
How would one person attempt to do this with a hen not used to being handled?

And this probably belongs in Behaviors, but why all of a sudden would one hen get turned on. They are outside all day and have plenty of room. I can see if it was winter.

Thanks for any help!

Fred

 

[LynneP]

This girl needs a break from the others until you can check her over and let her heal. The others could end up killing her. Do you have a large dog cage or something else that is suitable. Spare coop/separation coop? Borrow a cage from a friend? She needs to be checked over and the others probably too- wondering if you might have a parasite problem and not have realized...have you dusted them with DE and/or a powder specifically for lice/ticks (i.e., Dri-Kill)? Any sign of egg masses near their vents?

An easy way to treat birds who aren't handled regularly is to fill a shallow box or basin with a mixture of play sand and DE or lice/tick powder and let them dust bathe in it, which they will gladly do. Or you could provide the mixture in a shallow hole if there is a dry spot in their run...our girls love to ake dust baths several times a day and we add DE to their sand.

 

[pacanis]

Thank you for your reply.

I tried filling a litterbox with sand and DE and they wouldn't go near it. I will try adding the DE directly to the ground they have dug out and dust bathe in.

I haven't seen any parasites on them. I last checked them a couple weeks ago. I went out when it was dark to toss my broody hen out of the nestbox and ruffled her feathers around to look.
When I clean their coop I dust everything with Sevin before putting in the pine shavings, then I put a layer of DE on top of everything. I also use No Mite strips.

I have a med size dog crate I could set up for her in my garden shed (I suppose). No perch if that makes a difference.... Maybe put in a 2x4 for her.
I will need to figure out some kind of waterer and feeding station that doesn't take up a lot of room. Maybe fasten them to the crate door.

Will the others go after her when she is reintroduced?
Oh, and should I spray her with the BK?