Is my pekin bantam male or female?

[stoice]

Rah!!!!

 

Came home today to find my ex-batt Babs has again been pecked on her bott till it bled (Just below vent) This time it looks a lot scabbier than the previous time 2-3 months ago. Since the first incident she has moulted and regrown all her feathers so bang goes my theory of her bald red bum as a target.

 

Could they all be bored? She's 2nd chook below Gladys (But it was Gladys I noticed who gave her a peck on the bum right in front of me) They have been best of chums since they lived as a pair for a month before I got Betty and Mabel and although my flock have now bonded Babs is the one who has never got an 'I'm in charge peck' from Gladys.

 

They haven't free ranged for a few days while i seed some patches in my lawn (But then they won't be able to much over winter anyway as my grass won't grow back!) Their run is 8ft x 4ft for 4 chooks. Is this too cramped? My dad is going to build me a full height run for xmas which will make it 9ft x 4ft but converts to twice the size by some clever system of double doors creating a second enclosure (My dads master plan!)

They have a few perches, a pecka block, veg in a cage hanging the pen and i often put a whole cabbage in to keep them amused.

One thing i noticed is Babs left me a little runny present after I'd washed her bott with savlon solution and sprayed it purple. Could it be a bout of the squits clogging her feathers that drew attention to her bum or do you think the runs is due to being pecked or too much veg?

I can't fit a bumpa bit on Gladys as she had her beak trimmed really harshly in the battery farm she came from and has quite a severe under bite, a bumpa bit stops her eating. I could put them on Betty and Mabel though, but I'm not sure they're the culprits as Mabel has also had a little botty injury before aswell.

 

Any advice would be great. If I can't fix this and keep getting an injured chook then Gladys will have to go my friends freeholding under the command of a beautiful Buff Orpington Cockerel. I know she'd be happy. I'd be gutted though.

 

Thanks

 

Stacey

[stoice]

Mybe I should separate Gladys (the suspect) from her victims again to try to snap her out of it. It'll have to wait a while though as I have Babs living in the other half of my shed until she heals. (My chicken house is a section of my shed under a shelf. (Again - thanks dad for the DIY!)

[Egluntyne]

Separating her might do the trick by breaking the habit.

 

Why not spray the victims bottoms with something vile, such as Tea Tree spray, Anti peck, Bitter Beak or the dreaded Ukadex which smells truly evil but has good results in many cases.

 

A friend of mine swears by Vicks Vaporub.

[stoice]

Might try the vicks idea until i can get hold of ukadex, thanks Egluntine. As this seems to be a recurring problem and all the anti peck stuff tastes so vile would not continuous use stop the victimised bird from preening her own feathers? If they are continously ukadexed there's no way I'm going to be able to pick them up for cuddles or a health check. How long does a dose of the stuff last? I mean, should I use it for a week, then off for week etc or will one whiff put Gladys off this forever?

Sorry to be a pain but I'm not sure my other girls can put up with Gladys' bott fetish for much longer.

 

[Egluntyne]

A spray of Ukadex should last quite a few days that is for sure.

 

I only used it a couple of times and it did the trick.

 

Use gloves, wear old clothes that you don't mind binning and tie your hair back if it is long.