Doreen

[Luvachicken]

Poor Charlotte still has no feathers around her neck so I was wondering if I put the anti peck on first and then tied a triangle piece of hanky round her neck if that would do the job. I did see Matilda having a good nibble at her and it is looking quite red.

Could I use the purple stuff instead of anti peck?

[the bradley bunch]

not sure about the neckerchief - you'd have to do it carefully if you did because i imagine if it gets caught on anything or if she tries to pull it off she'd be at risk of strangling herself . maybe if you did do it you could sew one of those safety clips they have on cat collars. you could buy a cheap collar for a pound or so, then just cut the safety clip out of it.

 

the purple spray is more of a treatment for the wounds caused by feather pecking rather than a deterant - or so i've recently been advised. if the skin is sore then i imagine spraying anti-pecking spray onto her neck would sting and not be very nice for her.

you could try stockholm tar, which is sold by flyte so fancy (.co.uk) - although it's very messy i don't think it would have the same stinging effect on sore skin. but i'd advise phoning their customer service team for advice before making a purchase as they will know better.

 

if the neckerchief idea is do-able - then i'd suggest rubbing in some aloe vera gel (also available on flyte so fancy - sorry they're just my supplier of everything so i don't ever look anywhere else!) every evening and leaving the neckerchief off overnight to allow some air to get to it - chickens are at their least aggressive at night, so maybe pop the cream on just before they'd normally head in to their coop for the night / or lift her out when they're all settled & sleepy and pop her back in when your done! then when you let them back out in the morning pop the neckercheif back on. i think instead of the traditional neckerchief design you could cut a rectangle of thin fabric the length of her neck, and sew on 2 safety clips; 1 at the top and 1 at the bottom of the rectangle, then once it's made secure it so that the rectangle of fabric protects the back of her neck, with the clips positioned on the underside of her neck (as a cat collar would be). if the plastic clips are an irritant then you could cut up an old sock and make a little protector to slip over each clip before you fasten it together.

i hope this all makes sense - it's hard to describe something like this using words alone!

 

as well as anything else you do, i've heard that seaweed, cod liver oil...and even tuna are all things you can give your girly to help speed up feather growth.

 

good luck and i hope charlotte shows some improvement soon

[Chucky Mama]

You can get small bandanas that attach with velcro. I however would not use one on a chicken for fear of strangulation. If they got it caught and panicked even with the velcro they could injure themselves.

[JanTheDiver]

Four out of five of mine have bare necks, I have tried everything including Stockholm tar which just made them pull their own feathers out as they didn't like it,making them more bald

 

I am now just spraying purple spray on them weekly and it seem to be working, it stops the peckers going for red patches (necks & bottoms!).

 

I have been through most pecking remedies and haven't found anything that works for my girls

[Egluntyne]

I'd be worried about the possibility of strangulation, and the hygiene issue. I'd use some anti peck spray and leave it at that.

[Luvachicken]

Awww, thanks everybody for your help. I must admit I hadn't really thought about them panicking if the neckerchief got stuck.

I do have aloe vera purple spray and also Tea tree spray which I could use. I really didn't want to use the anti peck spray after nearly gassing the poor girl last time. Which does anyone think might be best to use - I was hoping to put it on before they went to bed tonight?

[JanTheDiver]

The standard Johnsons is a waste of time, but I did have success for a while with Netex, but make sure you put less on than it says on the pot otherwise you will end up with drunken chickens (I did first time!)

[Luvachicken]

Well, Charlotte is the proud owner of a lovely purple necklace and me a purple finger. It was much easier to put on than the nettex and certainly didn't gas both of us. Matilda looked at her as if to say why have you got that?

I think Matilda seems to peck while they are waiting to come out from their bedroom in the morning, so do you think it would be ok to put a neckerchief thing on Charlotte just before they went to bed and take it off first thing - or is best to just keep using the purple spray?