Well, my chicks are 1 week old today. I have 27 of them in a 5ft x 5ft brooder, red heat lamp bulb, pine shavings for litter, plenty of feed & water spaces. Last night, everything appeared fine. This morning, I noticed several of the chicks trying to peck at the butt of the smallest chick, a little Ameraucana. I picked her up & her butt was all bloody! I put vaseline on it, & put her in a separate box & put the box in a corner of the brooder. I put food & water in her box, as well as a fuzzy toy Easter chick for company. She has been eating & drinking & later this evening was peeping for real chick company. I put another of the smaller babies in with her, a little Barred Rock that I just had to do a butt washing on for pasting up. I was afraid that if the other brooder chicks saw the shiney vaseline on her butt, they might start to vent peck her too. So far the 2 small ones have been doing ok together in the "hospital box". My questions are, What made my chicks start to gang up on the small Ameraucana? Was it boredom? Is it too hot for them? In their shed, it has gotten warm enough the past 2 days to turn the lamp off until bedtime. Its gotten to 90 in there. Miss Ameraucana has never had a pasty butt issue. In case it was boredom, I pulled some grass up be the roots, picked some dandelions, & tossed in the brooder. They had a blast for hours! 
What else can I do to prevent this from happening again? Also, I have a salve called Union Salve for external wounds. It has pine tar in it. Would that be safe to put on her butt instead of the vaseline? Would it make her sick if she tasted it?
What else can I do to prevent this from happening again? Also, I have a salve called Union Salve for external wounds. It has pine tar in it. Would that be safe to put on her butt instead of the vaseline? Would it make her sick if she tasted it?
