Pinless Peepers won't stay on! She kicks it off & shakes it off.

[Carolyn252]

Chicken Little terrorizes Rosetta.
She's a real bully to the sweet gentle hen Rosetta who is subordinate to her.

I tried separating the bully out for a week in the garage, but when
I put her back in the coop, she immediately began pecking and
bullying Rosetta again.

Soaked the peeper in hot water for ten minutes to soften it a bit so it
would spread open more easily for me when I went to apply it to
Chicken Little's nostrils.

Wrapped her in a towel and DH held her. She was quite calm and held still.
I cooled the peeper for a minute in the cool breeze and then put it on her.
It went on instantly, no fumbling.

She shook her head real hard twice and off it came.

We put it back on and put her on the ground and she lifted one foot and
kicked it off.

Tried once more and this time I push a little on the two halves to kind of
seat the protrusions in deeper and boy or boy she shook her head hard and
off it came.

Now what?

Am I supposed to push the two halves of the peeper toward each other so that
the protrusions dig deeper into her nostrils? I don't want to hurt her. (I know it must
hurt somewhat even if I don't push the protrusions in, but how much is too much?)

I don't want to have to separate the hens every time I give out treats. (Watermelon,
kitty food, black oil sunflower seeds, wheatgerm, supper leftovers, etc.) But if I don't
then Chicken Little pecks and chases Rosetta from the food.

Rosetta never fights back. Just runs away. I'm pretty sure that she's blind in one eye, and
I suspect it's from a Chicken Little attack.
-Carolyn252

 

[N. Virginia]

I don't know what the pepper is supposed to do. If I had a mean hen she would be stew...too many nice hens around to put up w that behavior. Or segregate her permanently in her own little pen. Just my view.
good luck,
n va

 

[Nonny]

It sounds like you need to make the prongs closer together before cooling, and then use the pliers to spread them apart just enough to put on, rather than try to push them closer while the hen is wearing it.

 

[Animalian]

do you have a roo? Does he tell chicken little off?

One of my hens was particularly mean to one of my new pullets, when ever I saw her being aggressive I would "peck" her on the back with my finger, I'd also hide outside thier coop and tap her back with the end of a stick so she eventually would think Me attack = me get pecked! I don't like being pecked so I won't attack! She'd give me stink eye when she could see me! Doesn't do it anymore, just stands tall/dominant but won't attack the younger girl, because she knows the peck will come!!

Roo talk, for I'm in charge! Stop it! You are my women and you shall get along!

 

[boogiedog]

Have you tried a different pair of peepers? I have put on dozens of them (on standards and bantams), and the only time they have come off was with one particular hen who had funky nostrils that just wouldn't hold them.

Warming them in hot water to soften should not make them "stretch" or not fit properly. Try another pair, if that fails take a good look at her beak shape and see if something else is going on there -

 

[boogiedog]

oh, this may sound stupid, but are you putting them on with the correct side up? I had a friend that tried to install several times but had them upside down. The curved "bridge" goes on the down side, over their beak, with the "lense" part of the peeper up and in front of their eyes.

 

[Carolyn252]

Quote:
Doesn't sound stupid at all. I actually went and looked at several postings of images showing chickens wearing the peepers so that I could find out for sure which side went up. Also, I wanted to make sure that the little slits that I figured were the nostrils, really were the nostrils.

At first I thought that the widest part should be at the top, because I figured that more of the hen's visual field would be blocked that way, but apparently, not so.

After looking at several images, I proceeded to to it properly. The part that you're calling the "bridge" is the part that I've been calling the "tongue," because it looks to me like it's sticking its tongue out at me. Anyway, I have it positioned so that the bridge/tongue is at closer to her feet than to her comb. The widest part of the entire item is likewise closer to her feet than to her comb.

I think I'll try again tomorrow.

Here's one of the images that I found on the web that not only shows the pinless peeper's orientation, it clearly shows me where the nostrils are (This is not my chicken; and not my pinless peeper. My peeper is yellow):

 

[Carolyn252]

Quote:
Thanks; I'm going to try again with a different peeper tomorrow. You've given me more confidence and I'll try harder.

See my other response just above this one.
-Carolyn252

 

[tishabear]

I know this is an old thread, but there aren't any more follow-up solutions to the the problem stated that I haven't tried already, and I'm having the same issue with my BR right now. I bought my pinless peepers and tool off of Ebay. The tool seems to work fine, but the pinless peeper isn't staying on. I've tried 3 times now, and I've gotten them to stay on when she shakes her head, but the minute I let her go, she scratches them right off. I'm wondering if it's because I got some cheapo version of the peepers...

Anyone have advice or experience to offer me, pretty please?

 

[Maria Zavey]

We have had the same problem. The foot comes up and the peeper come off!

HELP