Need help doctoring my 3 week old pullets...please *Updated*

[SoccerMomof7]

Okay they were pecking each other and the local supply store told me to put pine tar on them. Now what do I do to help them heal and grow new feathers? The bald spot seems to be getting worse, here is a picture of one of them, 2 have it worse then 1.

another view...

What do I do now?

 

[chcknrs]

I think you need to separate them until they heal. I kept triple antibiotic on Goldie's wound daily until healed, kept her in separate brooder. They will keep pecking at bald spots/wounds until the chick dies, otherwise.

 

[Henpecked]

Okay - here's what you do:

1. Change your lightbulb to red heat instead of clear as the red helps deter the pecking behavior.

2. Make sure they ALWAYS have food available. I use a cookie sheet or other large flat recepticle so they can actually stand in it and scratch around to peck at the food. Yes, they will poop in it. But this is the way they WANT and NEED to eat. Just let them do it.

3. Buy a product called Blu-Kote at the feed store, or betadine will work too. Use this to paint the area. It will protect from infection, plus it doesn't taste very good to the one doing the pecking!

4. Buy some fabric swatches in corresponding colors. Cut about a 5" square, fold it over and cut a slit on both ends. Slip one leg through one side, bring it over her back and tuck other leg up and into other slit. This will be a "saddle" that will allow the new growth to come in. They will get used to it in no time. Adjust for sizing if necessary - also as they grow.

There - hope this helps. Chickens are canabalistic by nature so you have to make sure they have something to peck at all the time. One good pecking distraction is a square of turf grass. Make sure it is unfertilized though! Just throw it in the pen and stand back! LOL Good Luck!

 

[Farmer Kitty]

One thing to consider is are they crowded? Over crowding will cause them to peck each other too.

Blu-kote stains everything so becareful when using it. It is near/impossible to get off cloths, hands, etc.

 

[SoccerMomof7]

Okay I will try thanks!

 

[Henpecked]

OMG It Sure Does! I forgot to tell you that. Beware - may want to use the Betadine - LOL.

I have 4 bantam cochin hens and I call them Diana Ross and the Supremes because three are all black and one is a lighter grey color. They are sooooo grump (can I say that?) with each other! Constantly pecking eachothers' heads to where they are all walking around like miniature turkeys!

I had a dish of BluKote and a tiny sponge. I held them one at a time to dab their little heads but on one I had too much in the sponge and it ran down over her beak causing her to sneeze BluKote all over my shirt - it was a goner for sure! (The shirt - not the hen - LOL)

Good Luck!

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Quote:
I've only seen BluKote in a spray.

 

[SoccerMomof7]

Okay today they look like they are getting tiny feathers in, bo blood but now they are pecking themselfs. Right now I am putting betadine on them at night to disinfect and vasaline in the mornings to discourage pecking. I hope this works, I think that I am going to separate the 2 that have the spots for the one that doesn't but isn't that going to leave him lonely? What should I do?

 

[raindrop]

Could you staple up some chicken wire and divide your brooder so they can still see each other but can't peck? Is your brooder big enough to do this? Give them chopped grass, a little grit, and have food available all the time. They love/need to peck stuff. Once mine started pecking a couple years ago, I moved them to the coop with a lamp and they stopped. They may need more space.

 

[silkiechicken]

If they are picking out and eating their own feathers, see if you can't up their protein and find ways to entertain them, like a clod of dirt with all the grass and weeds in it.