Part 0800.0005

[Luvachicken]

Charlotte had most of her neck feathers missing so I decided she needed a spray. I held her while hubby squirted the Nettex round her neck. It was quite hard to do as she kept moving her beak and head. We did this about 6.15 tonight and soon after Charlotte walked into the grub container, then staggered up the ladder and sat down. When I went to shut Matilda in at 7pm poor Charlotte was staggering around and sometimes going backwards s"Ooops, word censored!"ing her beak.

What have I done ? Will Charlotte be OK ?

Should I leave the eglu run door open to let more fresh air in?

[scarlettohara]

Perhaps try and wash/rub the excess off ?

[Chicken Shirl]

Poor little girl. Most probably got into her beak. Can't taste very nice I shouldn't think. I would leave the door open for her. Hope she is OK.

[Luvachicken]

I must admit I feel a bit sick too now, I hope she will be Ok. I will leave the door open for them and hope they don't wake up too early. I just hope she doesn't fall out of the door during the night - should I put the door halfway ?

[Chicken Shirl]

Once it is dark she will hardly move around so I think you are safe to leave the door open. That is if the run is fox proof and completely secure. Have you checked on her since the staggering walking etc: has she settled to go to sleep.

[Luvachicken]

I just checked just now with a torch and she seems to be nicely settled - mind you, Matilda is as far away from her as possible ...she must whiff, poor thing.

[Chicken Shirl]

That all sounds good then. I'm sure she will be fine with plenty of ventilation through the night for both of them.

 

Is she being pecked or has she started her moult.

[miller30]

Hi i saw on another forum someone elses chickens were acting drunk after using this spray not sure if it contains alcholol but im sure they said they made a full recovery leanne.

[Luvachicken]

Thanks for all your answers.

 

If the spray contains alcohol it's no wonder they walk around a bit drunk like

 

I think Matilda pecks Charlottes neck feathers but there are none left round her neck now. Can a chicken peck all of her own neck feathers?

[chickenNutter]

My Frizzle bantam is virtually bald on her head and neck, she had lost feathers on her undercarriage while she was broody, and I presumed the head/neck thing was a moult. Could the others be plucking then? Is it common on their heads? she has been bald for ages and it dpesn't look like it is growing back

[Chicken Shirl]

Well they can pretty much reach everywhere on their body when they preen themselves.Except right under the chin so to speak.

 

They may need a bit more protein in their diet. Try some scrambled eggs or tuna fish with the oil rinsed off. Dried mealworms are good too.

[Luvachicken]

Charlottes feathers have been missing for ages now and as there is only Matilda to keep her company i have to assume its her. The bit of her throat where an adams apple might be - if you get my drift - is quite red now whereas the other bits look more freshly plucked, but I'm sure the area is getting bigger and I'd like her feathers to grow back before any nasty winter weather comes.

[Chicken Shirl]

Sounds as if they are pecking then. They do get bored if they are cooped up all day. Hang some greens in the run and some old CD's to keep them amused.

[Chucky Mama]

Sorry, bit late to be of help. It is actually very dangerous to overdose chickens with anti peck. I would hope that she is over the worst now but it is very important to follow the instructions regarding the spraying time to the letter.

[Chicken Shirl]

How is she this morning.

[Luvachicken]

Charlotte is fine today, thankyou for all your help.

I did shut the door on them in the end as each time I went to check on them they looked quite unsettled.

Charlotte even layed an egg after her ordeal but it was one of the most wrinkly ones I've seen - poor thing.

 

I'm not sure there really are any instructions on my anti peck sprays - one is in French but I worked out it said to use in a well ventilated area and the one I used, Nettex, does actually say use for 3-5 seconds and use every 3-5 days.

It does say about skin irritation etc, but not about how it might harm a chicken, but how can you manage to squirt a squirt for for a set amount of time when it's not in an aerosol can ? I think next time I will squirt some into a dish and put it on with cotton wool then it definitely won't go up her beak.

 

Thanks again everybody

xxxxx

[Chucky Mama]

The length of time that you spray for is crucial and must not be exceeded under any circumstances. They can die

[Egluntyne]

There was a long discussion about this on another forum a while back.

[The Dogmother]

The length of time that you spray for is crucial and must not be exceeded under any circumstances. They can die

 

I've heard this too. Most brands seem to have fairly clear warnings about usage.

[Jools]

It was on Practical Poultry forum and it turned out that the Nettex instructions were actually wrong. I don't know the eventual outcome though.

[Chucky Mama]

It was on Practical Poultry forum and it turned out that the Nettex instructions were actually wrong. I don't know the eventual outcome though.

I was told by them that the current stock should all have clear instructions regarding spraying times. These were not clear of the early stock when it was first released.

[Luvachicken]

I bought my spray back in the middle of Jan'10 when we had all that snow, in Pets at Home. The instructions aren't all that precise and doesn't even say how far away you spray from.

 

Poor Charlotte had a very close encounter with it and my head was right next to hers as hubby sprayed.

 

Hopefully I won't have to use it again.

Charlotte is back to her old self now though and next time I will definately use cotton wool and spray the stuff into a pot first. Is it ok to do that ?

[The Dogmother]

So long as you get it onto the chicken, I don't suppose that it matters.

 

The lesson here being always to read instructions carefully, and to be extra careful with anti-peck sprays.