Pictures**Is this part of normal molting?

[Im Barred up]

I adopted three girls yesterday who are part way through a molt. One of them has a bump on her wing, and the lady I got them from said that it sometimes happen when they molt. I just want to make sure becuase my exsisting girls haven't molted yet (9 months old) and as the new pecking order is being established between the old and new flock members they have started picking at it and it's a little bloody this morning. Should I put anything on it? Thanks

 

[ramirezframing]

I have one that has bigger spots on both her elbows, try blukote it should stop the pecking

 

[real_redhead]

I haven't had a chicken bleed when they molt, and I have had some sorry looking chickens when they molt. I would definitely put some blue Kote on it so no one picks at it. And keep an eye on them. Good luck

 

[gritsar]

That does not look like a normal part of molting to me. It looks like a pecking wound. Somebody in the flock saw a bare spot, maybe due to the molting, and started pecking. Could also be rooster damage, if there was a rooster in their former home.

This girl should be seperated for her own safety, if at all possible. Chickens will go all cannibalistic on each other at the first sight of blood. If it's not possible to segregate her, then I would camoflauge the wound asap. Many people recommend blu-kote and/or peck lotions, which I have found to be useless. I use pine tar; a product marketed to treat horses hooves. It's messy and stinky, but very effective. It basically tastes so bad the other birds don't try to peck at it more than once. You can find it in the equine section of most feedstores, usually in little cans that resemble paint cans. I've tried several different things to apply it with, but gave up and started using my fingers. You want to use just enough to completely cover the wound.

Pine tar will make her feathers messy for awhile, but it eventually wears off. It also has anti-microbial properties to speed healing.

P.S. It may say something on the can of pine tar about "not for internal consumption". Don't let that worry you. They don't ingest enough to hurt them.

 

[NovaAman]

That is something I will have to keep in mind should I ever have that problem. I have never had a chicken with bumps out of the ordinary, chicken skin/goose bump looking when the feathers are coming back in, though from molting. SO, wondering what that is about.

 

[Im Barred up]

This was just a bump on the skin when I brought her home yesterday, but I'd say my BR's got picking at her this morning and found a weak spot. The bump before it got bloody just looked like a big boil.

 

[gritsar]

This was just a bump on the skin when I brought her home yesterday, but I'd say my BR's got picking at her this morning and found a weak spot. The bump before it got bloody just looked like a big boil.

Can you seperate her?
Chickens can and will peck another chicken to death - they peck a small bloody wound, it gets bigger and bloodier, makes them want to peck more. It's a horrible way for a chicken to die.

 

[Im Barred up]

They don't seem to be bothering her this morning, but they're all outside now. I'm going to go get some blu-kote or as someone else recommended pine-tar at TSC this morning and get it on her before bedtime tonight.