Pecking Sores - Blue Kote Made it Worse

[ChicksnPacas]

I have twelve four-week old chicks. I found one BO that has a very red ring around her neck from being pecked. I separated her with one other chick until I could buy the Blue Kote others on the forum mentioned.

After applying, I tried to put her back in with the large group of chicks. She is a light color, and now with the purple collar on her neck, the others just dove at the area and they surrounded her and pecked. So out she came, and she's back in with the one chick.

This stuff is a dye, what do I do now? Any suggestions on how or when to get them back in with the others?

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[ravenfeathers]

yeah, gentian violet stains like crazy, huh?? i wonder if you could dust around her neck with DE or cornstarch or something that will mask that dark purple ring until i wears off? it generally wears off in a few days if you can keep her separate until then. i should say, it wears off skin and fur. i don't know if it stains feathers for longer or not! i've only used it for ringworm on cattle.

 

[ChicksnPacas]

That's worth trying - might soften the huge difference between the Blue Kote (purple kote on her) and her light feathers. Thanks!

 

[Half-a-dozen]

Quote:
The blue kote does stain the feathers in fact stays on so long they will be a purple chicken until those feathers grow out or fall out-

I sprayed my babies at about 4 weeks old....they are now 12 weeks old and...uuuhhhh... still blue!
I don't use it so much for the picking as I do for the prevention of infection. Some of the "wound kote" blue kote products have an antibacterial type of ingrediant or antiseptic...Can't remember at the top of my head right now. When they get pretty raw, I worry about infection. Never has ever become a problem for myself yet (infection from picking) but trying to stay proactive-

For the picking, what I found helps a lot is vaseline... (glom it on).
Also I started giving different protien choices of treats or leftovers and...I don't know if its recommended but I started feeding them some of the chick starter... I heard it was higher in protien so I allowed it and now they stopped picking...

so I will stick to that and the vaseline for a bit.

BTW... if they are picking I don't seperate them...unless someone is being completely canabalized. Only b/c it seem it is addictive and a nasty habit and at some point I feel they need to work it out and get over it! If there is one in particular doing all of the picking or one allowing too much picking and I can't break it after great effort....then they need to find another home.

 

[ChicksnPacas]

I didn't have vaseline so put a bag balm on top of the area and tried putting her in with the whole group again. Wouldn't it just figure that a few of them seem to think she is wearing a treat? The bag balm is not deterring them at all.

So I feel bad for her and wish I never tried the Blue Kote. I turned off their brooder light tonight since it is warm in our house, and I hope they'll all just peacefully go to sleep. At least they can't see her to peck at her right now.

Tomorrow I'll try to sprinkle something on the area to make it less noticeable. I'm open for any other ideas to try. Thanks!

 

[mmajw]

Mine love the taste of vaseline. That made matters worse when I tried it once.

 

[vickig]

I use Wonder Dust on open sores. Now I'm not sure if you can use it on poultry, but it might be an alternative to Blue Lotion.

There is also some wonderful stuff called Derma Gel Spray. This is the very best stuff for open wounds and it is colorless.

The healing time with this is amazing.

Just my 2 cents.

Good Luck!

 

[dlhunicorn]

Please...don't put her back till all is healed... there is no salve that will keep chickens from pecking an open or healing wound and you run the chance of finding a dead chicken.

 

[ChicksnPacas]

Thanks for all the help. It's great to have a variety of ideas to try. You guys are great!

 

[AK-Bird-brain]

If you have lights in the coop try changin the color of the bulb. Red bulbs help camouflage wounds cause every thing looks red. You dont have to get red heat lamps we have found 25 wt bulbs at the super market.