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pistachio

Chicken found this morning being pecked to death. Why?

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hi pistachio, only just caught up with this and wanted to give you some reassurance that following an attack like this, it is still possible to re-introduce them and for them to all get along again one day. I had a similar attack on on of my girls a few weeks ago and now they all happily free range together again. I've fitted the other girls with bumper bits (which if you are wondering are easy to fit and don't cause any irritation once they are on - I was a bit nervous of them myself at first!)

I would ensure you are feeding raven up well to ensure you are giving her sufficient nutrients to heal and fight any infection she picks up (lots of porridge, poultry spice, some avipro would be good if you have it) and try and let her have a view of the others - mine craved to be with the others when I separated her (just stood and stared at them all day). hopefully with time, she'll heal up and the others will accept her back. its been a difficult start to chickening for you and I'm sure things will start to get better from now on.

a successful reintroduction IS possible so fingers crossed for you :):)

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thanks emmaw - that is encouraging. I bathed Raven's wound today and it looked much improved. I think I only need to put the antibiotic goo on for one more day. She was out with the other 5 (which includes the aggressive one that i separated off) and they left each other alone. In a few days time I'll try them back together. thanks for the feeding tip. I've noticed that since the aggressive one has been separated off (only a day) the others seem happier and are eating better. The poor aggressive one is yearning to be in with the others again. The poorly one has had less contact with the 4 in the original Eglu cube but will be closer tomorrow (I can't get them all near the eglu cube). I did consider the bumper things for Boudicca's beak but heard that some chickens just learn to bite deeper and use the clip thing as a biting surface (yuck). That's probably not so common but it put me off a little. I might get some in as a possible future remedy. It's been really helpful to come on this site and hear from people like you :)

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I did consider the bumper things for Boudicca's beak but heard that some chickens just learn to bite deeper and use the clip thing as a biting surface (yuck).

 

 

Eugh! That sounds grim! I was going to order a couple of bumpa bits today to help out with my pecking problems but that sounds a bit alarming! I'd got the idea that they were a pretty fail safe solution... :think:

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I keep reading similar posts. can anyone say WHY they seem to pick on our Favourite :( or is it they become our favourite because they get left out of the gang. Mine is the "personality" "adventurer", the othetr 2 don't really seem to like her. Hoping when she's fully feathered & fatter they won't do it so much!Also have Bunper bits in the box "ready"!

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Ada is my favourite because she's the brightest, funniest, prettiest and the smallest of the four :)

I isolated the bully today, in a dog crate within the run. She's making the most pitiful whining noise and I feel rotten. I'm not letting her out until I can get some bumper bits - I've written to Wernlas but missed the post yesterday, so it'll be a few days. I have anti peck spray and poultry spice on order.

Hopefully this will give Ada time to recover and break the pecking and feather pulling cycle. Have I done the right thing??? :shock:

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Things are going well with the chickens. Raven is healing well and is of less interest to the others when they roam together. Bouddica (aggressive one) is being kept alone during the day (but within sight and smell of others) and is behaving less aggressivley when roaming the garden with the others. I will put them back together soon and I have the back up of spray and the possibility fo bits for their beaks. I am feeling more hopeful. I know they will peck at each other from time to time and boss each other around but I hope to not see the cornering and deep repetetive biting and cannibalism of before. Thanks for everyone's help and encouragement - I'll let you know how it goes. I've certainly learnt a lot about chickens through the whole incident and feel closer to my chooks.

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