Injured roo ripped out tail feathers

[chickens really]

The smallest sign of Blood send Chickens into a cannibal frenzy...What was one broken blood feather can be the death of a Bird ....

 

[apryl29]

Ok, so this wasn't necessarily an attack from another bird, but could be a result of them going after him after he started bleeding. Just wondering bc my bantam is kind of a jerk, but I'm hoping he wouldn't have done this.

 

[apryl29]

Thank you for all of your help! I got some saline spray and tried rinsing it it seems to hurt him, earlier I had just used bottled water and he didn't even flinch. I pulled two Nubs of feathers out but they didn't seem to bother him at all. I had more of a reaction from squirting the Saline than I did from pulling the two little Nubs. All of the other feathers appeared to be attached and not bleeding anymore. There was a clot of blood in the middle that I didn't want to mess with. So I dabbed the area with blukote. Earlier I had sprayed the area with blukote and it didn't seem to get all the way down to his skin. But after I had let him up from thw first time he shook his feathers and some fell out. So I guess it's possible some of the ones from the first photo had been partially attached and fell out when he ruffled his feathers. Regardless I separated him out and he went to bed. He wasn't happy about it but hopefully he'll be able to heal. I'll check in on him in the morning. He always seems to be the one getting hurt all the time. Somebody keeps nibbling on his comb and just when it heals it starts bleeding again. Thanks again, I appreciate it!

 

[apryl29]

Odin's doing great. His tail is all healed up, nice and pink, no blood, he's even got some new feathers that have come through. I put him back w/ the ladies this evening, but I noticed while they were ranging a couple of them kept pecking his tail area and one pulled out 2 purple feathers. He ruffled his feathers at her and turned around, but he didn't seem hurt. He's a hard fellow to catch and after his stint in Rooster Jail he didn't have any interest in letting me pick him up again. Is it possible that the other chickens are going after his tail area still b/c of the blukote? There wasn't any blood so I don't see why they're still interested in his back side. Will his white feathers stay stained until they fall out?

 

[chickens really]

Is he the only White Bird you have?...Do you also have Red Birds?

 

[apryl29]

Is he the only White Bird you have?...Do you also have Red Birds?

No, I have 2 all white eggers, 2 white amber browns (one has a little bit of dark red on a couple feathers, and a Delaware.
I have 2 tetra browns that I guess I'd consider reddish.
They also like to bite at his comb which I don't quite understand either.

 

[abraga]

I think ur little bantam rooster is the culprit..how many hens do u have? How big is your coop to chicken ratio? Sometimes chickens will feather pluck others and eat the feathers. Is can be stress/dietary related. If your coop to hen/rooster ratio is not good, it can cause various types of stress in the flock. Over mating if hens, feather picking, and fights. The roos constantly bicker..especially if environmental stressors are out of balance.

 

[apryl29]

I have 14 birds, 2 cockerels and 12 pullets. my coop is 8x8 and the run is at least 20x8, plus another section that's 14x8. The little guy doesn't really mate w/ many of the others, I have a bantam pullet that's all his, then there's a partridge rock that he mates w/, but that's it. The other girls belong to Odin. I've seen them eat feathers they find on the ground. It seems strange that they go after his tail still, even though he's not bleeding. He does have a little bald spot, but nothing that is bleeding that I would think would attract them to peck.

 

[chickens really]

Up the protein in your feed...Your Coop and Run is a bit crowded for 14 Birds...Some breeds do not handle confinement as well as some other Breeds...

 

[apryl29]

Thanks. I was planning on giving them some peas tonight. The feed store I go to didn't have anything over 16%, but I'll check out others in the area to see if they might have higher protein content. I've been thinking about getting rid of the leghorn. He's rather aggressive and when I went to check on him today he kept coming at me. I've tried rehomeing, but no one wanted him (not really surprised) so I think he's going to get a one way trip to the freezer. Kids are upset, but there's nothing else I can do at this point. He's not getting any nicer... My fault, really, b/c I did just about every single thing you're not supposed to do w/ a roo... Next time we'll do better.