2009 Omlet cube and run for sale

[jane301161]

oh dear! Having now got my chooks organised with a dust bath (thanks to all those who sent me their ideas for said bath) I now find I have a rather awful problem. I think one of my chickens (the smallest) is being bullied as there is blood around her tail feathers and at least one of the other three keeps trying to peck her feathers out as she feeds. The one who does this in front of me also goes for the biggest chicken (desdemona) but Desdemona turns round and pecks her around the neck (holding on for good measure) and Tosca (the bully) leaves her alone for a while, turning back on to Mimi whenever she gets within range. How do i deal with this? I can't bear the thought of Mimi suffering. I think she is the only one not laying now by the way, as I regularly get 3 eggs per day. I feed them on layers pellets and then srpinkle corn for them around lunchtime and give them corn or marmite on toast for tea before they go to bed (they LOVE marmite!). Any ideas as to how I can tackle this tricky problem would be most appreciated. Also, should I take Mimi to the vet, or is this overkill? Is there anything I should put on her tail feathers (or at least, the ones tha remain) to stop bleeding? As you can see, I am in a bit of a state over this having just found evidence of blood on the roosting bars. As far as I can tell, the blood is from being pecked as opposed to anything more sinister. Apart from this they all seem well and happy. Lucia, the fourth chook, just gets on with things and seems to be left alone by the other 3.

[ClaireG]

Chickens are attracted to red so will go for blood. Get some purple spray and cover the bleeding area with that, its anti-septic as well. It may also be worth getting a bumpa bit for Tosca.

[sandyhas3chucks]

you might also like to spray the area with T Tree diluted in water spray! Or johnsons anti peck spray.