One week old chicks pecking each others vents

[tqlassetter]

What seemed to work for us was the red light. We got one at Walmart. And I eliminated any other light. We drew spots on the sides of the bath tub they were in. And allowed it to get a little cooler in the room they were in. I don't know what helped, but something did, because they stopped.

 

[Sparkling]

Thanks for the reply. We got the red light. And have been putting the peck-no-more on her. And added the vinegar to the water. She is still having some pastybutt though so I went and bought the medicated feed yesterday. It seems to be helping, I don't think they are pecking her any more. We still have to clean her up 2-3 times a day though. Still waiting for her wounds to heal. She's a fighter though and wants to live, so we're trying to help her live. Have spent a whole lot of money on these little birds in their first week. Don't think there's a point I'll make my money back on selling eggs, but hope they will eat their weight in bugs! That will be worth it.

God bless you,-
Sparkling

 

[ten chicks]

We just got our baby chicks yesterday. We got 3 Wellsumers, 3 black australorps, 3 buff orpingtons, and my daughter got 1 aracauna. The black australorps are picking on one of the wellsummers. They had to spend the night last night in a carboard box because I couldn't get the bigger cage finished (I ran into an unexpected problem) until the hardware store opened again. It's fixed now and they're in the larger box now, but they're still picking on her. I put a web cam on the side so I could watch them (you can see the livestream here http://livestream.com/wellsfamily if you want) without disturbing them from their natural behavior, that's how I know which ones (maybe just one?) is cauing the trouble. I've got the injured one against my chest now trying to let her sleep and be calm and warm against my body. But I can't keep her here all the time, she needs food and water. I'm going to have to put her back with the others. It's 8pm now and there are no farm stores or hardware stores open now. (And I'm running out of money! I've had to buy several things I wasn't planning on buying this weekend.) What can I do to help at this point in time? I've tried cleaning her vent, but she seemed to be having trouble eliminating. Now what do I do? Our babies look to be within a week old though the black australorps seem a bit older perhaps? We're at the end of the season now of course and Wilco didn't have many varieties to choose from, and I needed calm, quiet varieties because I live in town. Anyway, this is what we have. Where do we go from here? What do we do now? How do I help them?

Suggestions I've read on this thread are:

1) get a red light instead of white
-I am not sure I can find a red light at this point in time. I could try.

2) add apple cider vinegar to the water
-I can get vinegar at the store, but I'm really unclear why this works. Can someone explain WHY it works please?

3) add more toys
-we've already added grass clumps, I can try the dots on the side of their cage thing too

4) get the peeps classes.
-I have no idea where to get these and probably can't afford them right now. I'm really almost out of money. Is there something else?

5) I saw in another thread to try pine tar. Do they mean pine sap? Like from my pine tree?
-I have a pine tree. I can get pine sap. Do I put it on the perpetrators beak to make her stop? What do I do with it?

Thanks in advance for any help!

God bless you,
-Sparkling

All i use for my chicks is, a brooder large enough to accommodate however many chicks i have,i use paper towels for the first week(so chicks know what their feed looks like). Then i switch to sand or pine shavings (your preference) a red heat lamp,water and feed dishes(appropriate for chicks)Medicated feed. If they have pasty butt,i wash and dry bottoms(blow dryer on LOW setting) and apply vaseline(prevents poop from sticking to them). That is all i use. I do take chicks out of brooder everyday to run around and bond with me. Never had any problems. If and when you give chicks anything other than chick feed,they need grit. But young chicks should not have anything but their chick feed.