Separated an injured chick...HELP confirm I'm doing the right thing.

[ellyn]

I have 5--3 wk old chicks (2RIR, 2 Buff Ops, 1 PBard) Yesterday one of my Ops had a blood injury on her neck and some of the others were pecking at it.
I cleaned her up and put anti-biotic ointment on it and separated her right away, later added the PB who seems to ignore the injury and is kind to her...a buddy.

In the evening they were all together and no problems with pecking, however this morning her neck was red again + a spot near her tail.
I have read many BYC posts so I know I am on the right track. It seems that one of the RIR is the biggest pecking culprit.

???My question is, can the new feathers emerging have caused the original bloody spot on the neck and tail?
How long do these things take to heal? Should I try to allow supervised time all together and then separate when I'm not around?

Lov'in this chicken thing...want them to all do well and get along.

 

[Chickengal505]

Quote:
Your on the right track, new feathers will not cause an injury just so we can rule that out. This will only take a week tops to heal. Are you near a farm supply store? Blue Kote is the best thing for this. They are attacted to the color red, and blue kote... well it helps the wound heal and it dies the wound purple. Can you put a wire divider in the brooder? so they can see each other but cant touch? That would be the best thing to do untill you can get some blue kote.

-Holly

 

[Pele]

You are being such a good chicken Mommy. The only thing I would suggest that you do differently is actually seperating the pecking culprit from the rest. You can blue kote the injured one and put her back in with the rest. Without an instigator, the other chicks should leave her be. You can put in a feather duster with the seperated one so she doesn't get lonely. After a few days, put her back in with the rest, and see if that cures her pecking behavior. Usually ringleaders are taken down a peg when they lose their standing in the pecking order.

If she goes right back to it, I'd think really hard about having her in your flock. Chickens are great learners, and they'll pick up her behavior if she's a cronic pecker. Hopefully she's not, but if she is, don't let her needs overwhelm the rest of the flock's physical safety and comfort.

You're doing great! Good luck with them!

 

[ellyn]

Thanks for your encouragement. I will see if our feed store has blue cote, I am close.

 

[ellyn]

RIR pecker has been confined; she doesn't like being alone.
Others getting along great! Had some supervised time (all 5) together until the pecker started in again.
Is it my imagination or do they sometimes protect each other??
I think I have seen the PR get in between Penny and any other chick that might want to peck her;
stays by her side and doesn't peck.

happy chicken mommy--

 

[Aemelia]

One of my RIR's was a little mean early on. I found putting her in time out away from the other chicks for 20-30 minutes change her attitude I think I really only did that a couple times over the course of one day and it was sorted out.

 

[jtl977]

Another good treatment for a bleeding chicken is flour. It stops the bleeding really fast and is easier to put on than ointment. We had drama getting ointment on one our birds!