WHAT HAPPENED TO MY POOR BABY?!? **GRAPHIC**

[The Camo Bulldog]

I checked on my chicks today and found one of them wasn't running around like she usually does and when I picked her up I saw that her whole butt was missing all of it's feathers and it was bloody

I don't know what happened! I had to put her out of her misery and it was so sad. I have two groups of chicks in one brooder and they're two different ages, but they've always gotten along and there hasn't been many issues with pecking.

Did one of the older chicks just manage to draw blood and keep pecking or did something else happen that I should be concerned about with the other chicks? I feel so terrible.

 

[Kiki]

I'm afraid no one can give you a definitive answer.

But yes, it could have been pecked and pecked.
Looks like you have them in a plastic tote that is too small.

 

[Nyla]

From what the picture shows, that plastic tote is way to small for all of them chicks. Chicks get stressed out from lack of space and turn to attacking/ pecking others in attempts to get some space. This lead to small wounds that bleed. Chickens are known for attacking/ pecking at the color red or the sight of blood. Thats why in factory's they cut the beaks off poor baby chicks to stop this from happening. There is a thing called bluekote its sold at Tractor Supply. You spray it on wounds and it turns them blue and helps keep the wound clean.

If a container to hold these chicks is needed, I have made a article for a free no cost brooder box. Works great for my chicks and even my ducklings.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/disposable-brooder-made-of-free-materials.72679/

 

[ChickNanny13]

Nyla is correct, it's over crowded in the bin. Go to an appliance store, see if they'll give you an empty refrigerator box, love those for a brooder.

 

[Birdinhand]

a 4' by 5' space is great for chicks that are feathered out. if they get pecky and see blood, they just keep pecking and will even become canabolistic, especially in a small space.

 

[barred2rock]

Do you not have a coop for the older chicks to go in yet? They appear old enough.

 

[azygous]

Absolutely, space is the issue here. I saw this as a child when I visited my uncle's poultry operation in the 1950s. He had chicks wall to wall in huge barns, so crowded they could barely turn around. Each morning, I followed him from barn to barn as he waded through the mass of baby chicks and picked up the bloody, chewed dead bodies.

Chickens quickly turn cannibalistic when they outgrow the space they're in. This needn't be an issue with hand raised chicks, but a lot of folks simply aren't aware.

If you've got a coop and run, and if you live where it's summer, you could simply move the chicks outside now, supplementing heat at night for the youngest if necessary.

 

[The Camo Bulldog]

Thank you all. I will be moving them to a bigger brooder today. It is summer here, and actually quite warm and sunny today, but my climate tends to be rather temperate and when it decides to rain it will, no matter the season.