Please Help! Introduced Chicks & 1 Month Later Pecked in the Head

[nmab05]

I introduced my 3 new 6 wk old chicks to my one year old flock of 3 and they had a bit of a rough time at first so I waited another 2 weeks and they seemed to be doing well. They are 10 weeks old now. They free range during the day and are in the same 8' X 4' coop with 4 nesting boxes at night. Yesterday I went out and one of the chicks had a gaping hole about 1/2 inch across the top of her head. No blood and she seemed to be acting normal but it looks really nasty. I'll be taking her to the bird vet but I'm wondering what I should do to treat it now since they are closed until tomorrow.

They went in the coop together last night and I just made sure I got up early to let them out. I also am not sure who did it. I keep food and water separately for both the big girls and the chicks. The big girls have a hanging feeder and waterer in the coop and the chicks have a small feeder and water dish I put outside daily for them. I also have a couple of other areas I keep fresh water for them all daily. I noticed the chick food and water had been knocked over and the huge big chick feeder was empty. It is NEVER empty and I always top it off with fresh food when it gets low. I can't even imagine why this was the case. Do chickens go through "growth spurts" like kids? They also dug through all my planters. I'm thinking I'll put some fresh veggies out today to keep them from boredom.

Please help!

 

[Eggcessive]

Clean the wound with peroxide or soap and water, then put on some neosporin ointment. If you have blue food coloring you could put some on it too to keep it from being red and attracting more pecking. Their is a product that chicken people buy called Blu-kote in a spray or dab-on, and works great and has antiseptic uses.

 

[nmab05]

Thanks. I'll definitely put some neosporin on it. It's not red at all though an no blood which I am super surprised about. Good to know though in case there are future incidences. Do you think it was just boredom?

 

[Eggcessive]

They have their pecking order, and that's just what they do if someone eats when or where they are aren't supposed to. Certain breeds are more aggressive even as pullets and chicks. Sometimes it's good just to pull up a lawnchair and observe them a bit each day, and you will learn so much about their flock dynamics. Sometimes a bully needs to be placed in "chicken jail" for a day or two. The more room they have to roam and the more things to get into and explore, the happier they are.

 

[nmab05]

That's what I'm thinking Ill have to do. I have a RIR, Deleware and Dark Brahma in the older flock and Amerucana, Blue Wynadotte and Speckled Sussex in the new flock. I've heard that RIR's can be pretty mean but I haven't seen much aggressive behavior from her.