Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Guest]

Does anyone have any advice about tackling vent pecking and how to deal with it, seems to be a bit of a problem at the moment and some are more guilty of doing it than others

[AnnieP]

hi Narnia. If they are drawing blood, then you must seperate the victim, as once they see blood, they will continue and make the poor little birdie very sore!

 

Most of us have had pecking problems in the past. Try getting some "purple spray" from a horse type shop. They will know what you are talking about! It is mildly antiseptic and will help, and the purple might discourage the others from pecking. If its worse than just the odd peck, then Stockholm tar is best: a really disgusting black gooey stuff that gets everywhere!

 

Some larger pet shops sell anti peck spray, mainly for parrots I think, but I have used this too.

 

Worse case scenario is that you can buy anti peck rings: a pig to fit, but believe me, they work! We have one on one of our chickens who was a right bully, and she now can no longer inflict misery on the others. If you need any more info on any of the above, just ask!

[theherd123]

I have a bottle of Gentian Violet - the purple stuff Annie mentioned & its great!

 

I was concerned that one of our chickens was not growing any feathers back (she is an ex battery girl and arrived quite battered & featherless)

We suspected feather plucking was going on so OH & I sprayed all of them at the weekend and have not seen any feather plucking since

 

Be careful when you use the spray though - wear old clothes and rubber gloves as the stuff stains. OH has a rather attractive purple speckled wrist as his rubber glove slipped down

 

My girls are now all purple but i feel the colour suits them

[Guest]

I've had the anti pecking rings recommended to me but should I only use these as a last resort and do they effect their feeding/drinking And if I do use them should I only use on the main suspects or just all of them

[Trish]

The anti pecking rings don't seem to bother the chooks after about 10 minutes. They can do all the normal chickeney things with them on except get a strong grip on a feather or someone elses vent. I had a very hardened feather plucker here who we tried all sort with and in the end we found a spray called Ukadex. It stinks and so will you and the choos after using it but it really has worked well and Ruby is no longer a Punk Chicken. Hope your girls sort things out soon and settle down to a more friendly life.

[Snowy]

I have a bottle of Gentian Violet - the purple stuff Annie mentioned & its great!

 

I was concerned that one of our chickens was not growing any feathers back (she is an ex battery girl and arrived quite battered & featherless)

We suspected feather plucking was going on so OH & I sprayed all of them at the weekend and have not seen any feather plucking since

 

Be careful when you use the spray though - wear old clothes and rubber gloves as the stuff stains. OH has a rather attractive purple speckled wrist as his rubber glove slipped down

 

My girls are now all purple but i feel the colour suits them

 

Sorry this is off topic - but really Emma, spraying your chooks to match your eglu.........

[Lesley]

I was thinking that as well Snowy

 

Narnia - I've assumed you meant Vent pecking and have changed the word in the heading?

 

Please, somebody correct me if I'm wrong - it's my age!!!

[Guest]

Sorry yes it is VENT Pecking I ment, too much festive cheer But I think am going to try the Gentian Voilet first and see how I get on with that. I've noticed that the Domestic Fowl Trust sell it so I'll get it from them.

[Lesley]

Sorry - I meant to add that we use the violet stuff from Domestic Fowl Trust

 

We have used bumper bits but they don't last long as the beak grows over them and they are able to peck again whilst still wearing them.

[theherd123]

I have a bottle of Gentian Violet - the purple stuff Annie mentioned & its great!

 

I was concerned that one of our chickens was not growing any feathers back (she is an ex battery girl and arrived quite battered & featherless)

We suspected feather plucking was going on so OH & I sprayed all of them at the weekend and have not seen any feather plucking since

 

Be careful when you use the spray though - wear old clothes and rubber gloves as the stuff stains. OH has a rather attractive purple speckled wrist as his rubber glove slipped down

 

My girls are now all purple but i feel the colour suits them

 

Sorry this is off topic - but really Emma, spraying your chooks to match your eglu.........

 

 

You know i just couldnt resist im so colour coordinating these days!!!

[One Man Banned]

Would I be quite abnormal if I said Post A Pic Emma?

 

Would love to see such glamorous colour co-ordination!

 

 

A

xx

[Lesley]

There's nothing glamourous about hens sprayed with gentian violet Andrew, I can assure you

 

It sounds far nicer than it looks Carl had purple hands for days

[One Man Banned]

:lol:

 

I now have this image in my head that Carl looked like he tried to open one of those sealed bank boxes security guards use.........BANG!

 

Apparently that dye doesn't wash off either!

 

 

A

xx

[AnnieP]

Andrew, it horriffic stuff to get off! I use it frequently on the donks when they cut or graze themselves Last summer Misty nipped her lip on some wire and so out came the purple spray: Only trouble was that once applied, she then rubbed her face over mine and I went around with a purple cheek for two weeks.

 

My Dad says they used to put similar stuff on children's shaved heads if they had any nasty infections, like impetigo or ringworm. He says it was a badge of shame, and he often wore it too!

[theherd123]

Would I be quite abnormal if I said Post A Pic Emma?

 

 

Yes it would but i will post one anyway!

 

I hope to get away early from work tomorrow so will see if i can get a picture while its still light, if not it will be the weekend!

 

Flump is VERY purple but i can see her new feathers coming through now

 

Oh Annie a purple face!! You should have asked it to to the other side too at least it would have matched!!!

[Guest]

What ever you do to solve the vent pecking, please do it quickly. I had a bottom pecker last year, and didn;t take it as seriously as I should have, and as a consequence lost several chickens with vent prolapses (when their insides come out the vent, basically), as the pecking weakens the vent muscles until they don;t work properly.

 

Emma, I would LOVE to see piccies of purple chooks!

[theherd123]

After a busy & tiring day at work i got home late & thus arrived here in the dark but i did remember to borrow the digi cam so a few pics of purple chickens coming your way over the weekend!

[Guest]

We put nose rings on my six chooks yesterday afternoon and your right it's not an easy thing to do and they were not happy! cruel to be kind I suppose but felt a bit guilty

[Chickpea]

I fear my last resort will have to be the beak ring, I'm kinda coming to the comclusion that Honey is a bully! Over the last week and a half I've used purple spray for the sore bits and bitter beak around the feathers, but Maple seems to be getting increasingly balder by the day! And I'm getting quite worried by this what with the cold weather, as she is bald on nearly half of her chest! I think I might try the fowl (pardon the pun) smelling spray from SPR a shot, and order a beak ring as back up. (i thought it may have started as boredom because I had to fix the fences after the strong winds, but that's all done, so they've been free ranging everyday for over a week and it just seems to have got worse!)

[bellekatz]

I used a beak ring - if you get the Anti - Peck bit that just goes in their nostrils and netween their beak (rather than the bumper bit which works differently) their beaks will eventually grow over the end and they will be able to carry on pecking. I had a chucken that did this that I rehomed form another forum member, but after four months of peace she was back to her old ways and is now living with a nieghbour. I didnt realise what she had been upto for a while as could only see the missing feathers when my other chucks were bent over. I can send you an anti peck bit if you want - I had quite a few in hte packet - just send me a PM with your details.

[Guest]

My six hens had anti pecking rings put on about a month ago but I'm sure how long you're supposed to leave them on? Although the hen with barest bottom, hers feathers don't seem to have grown back yet ! Any suggestions??

[AnnieP]

Mine stayed on until it fell off.... about a year. By this time, Tubbs had grown a little groove in her beak anyway, and she could close her beak fully. I didn't see the point in taking it off really, as she wasn't distressed by it in any way.

[CannyCat]

I was looking at stockholm tar in the shop, but... well, it looked like tar...!!!

 

This won't hurt the chicken whose bare bum it's getting sprayed on, will it?

 

Which is better, the violet stuff or stockholm tar?

[rachel19]

I've tried the violet stuff but it didnt't work......if you have persistant peckers you might be better off with something like stockhom tar..........im trying the antipeck spray from spr centre at the mo - smells foul so hopefully it will work

[whitebarrow]

I've just lost one hen to a prolapse because of this and i've now noticed another is suffering from vent pecking. I've seperated them for now but this isn't ideal as the gardens not very big. The anti peck rings and spray sound like a better solution.

 

I've looked online and managed to find the anti-peck bit that goes in the nostrils (Domestic fowl trust), but i can't find the beak rings or bumper bits...

 

I used a beak ring - if you get the Anti - Peck bit that just goes in their nostrils and netween their beak (rather than the bumper bit which works differently) their beaks will eventually grow over the end and they will be able to carry on pecking.

 

Bellekatz, Would you mind telling me where you found your beak rings?

 

Thanks!

Debbie