4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[dipper]

hi

 

we have had our chickens for about 4 weeks now 2 and 1 , anyway is a right trouble maker she is by far the biggest and is in charge - she keeps pecking the we have tried water spraying any other suggestions?

thanks

[Redwing]

It does take a while for the pecking order to sort itself out

 

Anti peck spray can be useful

 

Ukadex is the best but stinks so try the pet shop version first

 

Separating the troublemaker for a few days then putting her back in means she will slip down the pecking order so is an option

 

Bumper bit the offender if it gets really bad

[Egluntyne]

I agree....put a bumper bit on the offender....or remove her for a few days and then put her back in. She will have lost her dominant position then.

[Abbey Road Girl]

As is often the case, listen to Egluntine. In my experience, the application of diluted tea tree spray and the application of purple spray (though useful to discourage violence stimulated by the sight of redness or blood) was not enough to stop feather pecking.

 

The use of bumper bits applied with the right kind on circlips pliers is the most effective treatment. But don't expect to do the trick without the right kind of pliers (there is more than one kind) and someone to help you!

[dipper]

erm whats a bumper bit ?

[Redwing]

Its a plastic 'bit (as in horse bridle) that gees between a hens beak to stop her grasping at the feathers

 

see here:

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5-Bumper-bumpa-bits-to-stop-injury-to-hens-chickens_W0QQitemZ190323120941QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry?hash=item2c50245b2d&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1683%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

[shiney]

Hi, found your post useful as my girls are pecking my little newbie to death. Found the bumpa bit on ebay but whats pliers and circlip? Confused!

[Abbey Road Girl]

Hi, found your post useful as my girls are pecking my little newbie to death. Found the bumpa bit on ebay but whats pliers and circlip? Confused!

 

A bit hard to describe but I'll do my best. The wrong circlip pliers are bent over into an L shape and when you squeeze them close inwards. The right circlip pliers are straight and when you squeeze the handles the ends expand.

 

The bumper bits are hard plastic and although the ends that fit into the nostrils can be a bit more easily expanded if first softened in hot water (never tried that but am taking the word of others), the right type of circlip pliers I know from experience do work a treat. Worth spending about eight quid on if they lessen the trauma of fitting the bits.

 

You poke the ends of the pliers into the holes in the wide end of the V shaped bits and open the hen's beak (you have someone else holding the towel-wrapped hen's body and neck), slide the bit into middle of the hen's beak and then position the prongs at the wide end of the V into the hen's nostrils.

 

Some aren't much bothered but others are. Still it is for their own good and they will come to get on with their chickeny lives.

 

Good luck!