New Chicken Beat Up

[Eggstra New]

Hello,
I am very new to chickens! So far not looking so good for me. Might be better if I stick to mammals! LOL. I have four hens and one rooster. Two of the hens are new from yesterday. Today my rooster beat one of the new chickens up pretty badly. Her comb is bloody, she has a bloody wound by her eye effecting the eye and the tip of her beak is broken off. Is this the end of it, or will he continue to go after her? Can she eat with the tip of her beak broken off? Anything chickens can have on their skin to help heal her wounds faster? Thanks.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

You have to intro new birds slowly! Take them out and get that one well. THEN slowly introduce them to the existing flock. Sorry you are having so much trouble. Get some neosporin for the injuries. It depends on how bad the beak is as to whether or not she can eat.

 

[msdoolittle]

Unfortunately, you can't just put chickens together and expect them to all get along (ever heard of the 'pecking order'? ;0) ) Plus, when you add new birds to an existing flock, you really need to keep them separate (quarantined) for at least a month or so.

Yes, the existing chickens you have will not cotton to the idea of new birds moving into their flock suddenly. There is a period of adjustment for the flock, and as you have seen, sometimes injuries/deaths do occur. Keep the injured bird separated, warm, and treat wounds with a very tiny bit of Neosporin cream. Too much will coat the feathers, and get all over your chicken, which results in the loss of the feather's ability to insulate. Just use enough to lightly coat the wounds. She shouldn't be re-introduced to the flock until all wounds have healed.

When I intro new birds, I let all the chickens out in my free range area (neutral territory) and keep a very close eye on everyone. If the intro goes badly, I remove the new birds, and try again in a few days. With the neutral territory introductions, I have not had any serious injuries as of yet. Good luck!

 

[bargain]

I hang fat back and cabbages in their area......I introduce new ones in the dark at night and then show up at day light to make sure they're hitting their food toys and not each other..........Oh yes, One more trick and it's gross, get the manure from the pen and lightly put on new hens feet, feathers so she smells like them....Seems to help..............

 

[Kiwibird]

It can also be a numbers game. Have at least as many new birds as old ones, so that they have strength in numbers on their side. This can require a bit of fiddling about. For example if you have two new birds in one pen and four old birds in another, you might put two old birds in with the new birds for a few days, then put all those four back with the other two old ones. I also like to have contact through the fence for several days before putting birds in the same pen.

 

[Eggstra New]

Hello Again,
Thanks all for the helpful advise! I separated the two new chickens back out. The injured chicken ate and drank today! She's not really interested in the crumbles right now so I tore up pancakes and fed it to her. Not the most nutritious I know, but was happy she was able to get something in with that broken beak. I think that she has enough beak left that she will be able to continue to eat ok. Now I'm just hoping that eye doesn't get infected and cause her a problem. She's holding it completely closed now. We shall see I suppose. Thanks again for all the advise.

 

[Kiwibird]

Glad she is doing well