new to chickens

Date sort Score sort
art4cheri

art4cheri

In the Brooder
5 Years
Oct 27, 2014
12
0
22
I have one pullet that the others tried to peck to death, at least it looks like that to me. I have her isolated and she seems to be recovering well. She needs a bath to remove the dried blood. Any ideas how I do this? And when can I try reintroducing her to the rest of the flock?
 
Just put her in a basin of warm water with a little soap. Dawn dish soap is used on animals all the time. After rinsing, be sure to keep her warm til she is dry. You can even blow her dry with a hair dryer on low heat. She neeeds to be healed before you try reintroducing.

Your problem with the attack may be who instigated it. You may have to put her back and watch to see who it is. You will want to remove that bird for several days, out of sight and earshot, so when you put her back she will be at the bottom of the pecking order (she will be considered a stranger.)

If the whole flock attacks, it's possible that the one who was attacked is sick or weak. Or she may be a perennial target for some other reason. This can happen if she is a bantam in a large fowl flock, or if she is a crested bird, for example. Sometimes rehoming is the best option.

You'll just have to watch and sort things out as best you can.

Here is a god article on adding new birds. The first part is about quarantine, which doesn't apply here. But there is a good discussion of ways to help them integrate, later on.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock
 
Hi :welcome
Glad you joined the flock. Sorry to hear about your pullet. Great advice there from Judy. Hope she recovers soon, good luck with her in the future :frow
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
frow.gif


So sorry about your bird. Judy is right here. Get her cleaned up and completely dry. Give her an exam to make sure she is not sick. Flock members know when one of the flock is sick and this is their way of protecting themselves, they drive off the sickly bird. Give all of them exams to make sure you don't see anything going on within the flock. Sick birds themselves can be aggressive as well. Look for pale combs, respiratory ailments, check poop consistency and color, check for mites or lice, leg scale mites and worm everybody if you haven't done so in a while.

Then as Judy suggested, get her among the flock. Usually it is one bird that starts it and the others fall in behind to fight as well. So which ever bird is starting this, separate them out for a while in a cage. Keep them out of the flock completely for several weeks. If this doesn't do it, try pinless peepers on the bully. Any bird that is bullying her needs to be separated. But generally it is started by one bird, so by removing her, the others may get along with this bird.

And you may need to cage her for awhile within the flock just as if she were a new bird.

Definitely read the article that Judy has linked for you on mixing in new birds. Experiment with your flock until you can get them to live peacefully. Rehoming somebody is always an option.
 
welcome-byc.gif
Personally I would tempt fate. I would try to rehome her OR make a house chicken out of her. Even if she isn't sick I'm sure they will one day attack her again and you won't be there to rescue her.
 
Thanks for the great information. She will get a bath today so I can check her wounds and go from there. I also found this lotion called pick-no-more by rooster booster. I have also treated her with vertricyn and colloidal silver. She appears to be healthy. Eating well, etc. So far, so good. Once again, thanks for everything. This is also my first forum so I am still trying to figure it out.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom