New hens getting beat up till bloody... requesting first aid help

mychickensrock

Songster
11 Years
Oct 2, 2008
322
12
131
Raleigh, NC
Ok, so I got impatient waiting for my 23 week old hens to lay and decided to buy 2 more hens that were already laying. The new girls were favorites back home and had bare backs (Bandit more so than Smokey). I expected some fussing and fighting to get the pecking order straight again. My problem is that the original chickens keep scratching and biting at the same spots till they are bleeding. I've cleaned them off with hydrogen peroxide and put neosporin on the cuts. Right now, Smokey and Bandit are recouping in my bathroom. They both really need baths, dirt in the wounds still. How else can I help heal the wounds and protect them from getting cut again? I'm going to try to get some pics of the injuries to post. Is it a good idea to try to bathe them?
 
Last edited:
When my chicks pecked each other, I used neosporin on the wounds. The wounds were pretty gaping (the skin had split and been pulled apart on one of them), but they healed quickly... I only applied the neosporin for a couple of days, using a Q-tip, until a nice scab had formed. If it's a horrible horrible wound, you might consider antibiotics mixed in with the water, I dunno how bad it is though.
Mine weren't dirty, but if they had been, I would have used salt water to flush out the wound... maybe a little squirt bottle to try to force the dirt out. (I heard that from another BYCer on another thread.)
Oh... and... SEPARATE THEM! I put mine in little separate "hospital rooms" where they could see each other for company but not get at each other to peck. They didn't like it much, but it was for their own good. Because if they're together and one sees the other's red spot, she will peck, peck, peck, even if she has a red spot of her own that she doesn't want pecked. (I learned this the hard way. Even my gentlest birds couldn't help themselves.)
I've also heard that, when introducing chickens for the first time, it can help to let them see each other without interacting. Do you have a place where the two newbies could be seen but not touched by the originals, for when you reintroduce them?
 
We have a little tractor thing that we built. It would do during the day, but it's quite chilly at night this week. They have been in the coop with the others at night before, and been fine. I just want their little wounds to heal. We will definitely put them in the tractor tomorrow. It's 4x8, so the two of them will have plenty of room. I guess we'll keep them inside tonight. I'll get my DH to help me irrigate their wounds before the next application of neosporin.
 
I just got them Wednesday, AND they lay already. Besides, they have really great temperments. Right now they are just hanging out in my bathroom. My daughter is peeking in on them like every 5 minutes. We'll be keeping them!
 
Try some blucote its supposed to stop peaking. We had two different batches of chicks they were 8 weeks apart. When we put them in the coop it was divided into three. WHwn they were finally big enough to be divided by breed, it was not problem as they ahd seen each other through the fencing for weeks. Maybe you should try that. Can you put up a divider in the coop for nighttime.
 
There is only one little door to get up into the actual coop. I don't think we could. Once night falls and everybody coops up, they are all super docile and don't give a flip about each other. The problem comes when Smokey and Bandit try to come out of the coop. Where do I get the blucote?
 
I had the same problem. My biggest and best hen got stabbed my a rooster. After that every hen pecked her even though she was bigger. She I made her her own chicken condo inside the coop where she could see the other chickens but they couldn't get her. (chicken wire) When it healed I let her out. But, they started pecking the place with no feathers. So I made her a chicken saddle. End of problem. No more pecking and her feathers are growing back. I am going out of town until Friday. If I was here I would send you a saddle. Good Luck!!!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom