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koo2cat

Help - pecking order (blood drawn!!!)

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Have had our chickens nearly 3 weeks now. All was going well, even had some eggs! However, I have noticed over the last week that one of the Pepperpots has a few feathers missing around the tail that look like they have been removed by another hen! :(

 

Have just been out in the garden with them while they free range and saw the culprit at it, one of the gingernuts. It has now started to draw blood! The pecked hen doesn't seem bothered and I don't think is being denied food or water. It isn't even Margot (top chick) doing the pecking. Could the order have changed and what should I do about it?

 

Help!!!

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Just had the same problem, if one is bleeding you need to separate it from the others pronto! When they see blood it seems to spark a lingering dinosaur trait and they do it all the more and can result in serious damage or even death. I think this is mainly a problem in industrial sized intensive set ups though.

 

Rescue the victim, keep separate from the others, (I used a cat box in the house) clean up her wounds using a mild tea tree oil solution. Once the bleeding has healed I would spray her with Purple spray to disguise the wound. When you put her back with the others if she is still getting grief remove the aggressor and give her a day or two in solitary, that'll learn her. :evil: Bumper bits are useful too as they stop them from doing any damage.

 

Hope this helps, I know how you feel! It's awful seeing one get beat up isn't it?

 

Kev.

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Definately seperate her from the others, permanently if you really have to. I lost on of my chickens after just a morning when we had gone out and left them in their run. When we came home she was cowering in a corner with blood coming out of her vent, I can only presume the others had gone for her for some reason.

 

I do hope you wont have this as your end result, but chickens can be cruel to each other and its really horrid to see. Some time out for the offender might be enough to stop this. But give the poor bleeding chook some TLC and she should be fine in no time. Some anti peck spray might help once you put her back in with the rest.

 

Hope you get it sorted :pray:

 

Sarah.x

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Thanks everyone - feeling really stressed and worried! Have let the 3 good girls out to free range - all perfectly happy, and kept the bully in the run. I will seperate the bleeding one tonight, will our cat carry box be okay? And I have ordered some stuff to put on the wound from Omlet which should arrive tomorrow. Will this all just settle down or will the bully have a taste for the others now? My husband is coming home from work soon so will try and rig up some sort of seperate run for the wounded soldier. :cry:

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When you have assessed the wounds and treated them, why not spray her with some anti peck spray or Ukadex (warning smells terrible, but is very bitter).

 

Tea tree Spray is bitter as well as being antiseptic so might be useful.

 

Another thing yo could consider is fitting either a bumpa bit or anti peck ring to the culprit.

 

Good luck.

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Thanks everyone. Have seperated her from the others and sprayed her with some antiseptic voilet spray stuff. The wound is the size of a 50p peice and was bleeding, looked very sore. She seems happy enough and we have rigged up a separate pen alongside the cube run so she can still see the others and tonight she will be in the cat carry box inside. Where do I get antipeck spray from - do Omlet do it? When should I put her back with the others?

 

I hope this will all settle down as I thought chicken keeping was easy - today hasn't been (although I was rather impressed with my amateur vet skills spraying on the antiseptic!)

 

Cat :cry:

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