Chicken bald back

[mad_hen_lady]

One of my chooks is being very badly pecked by the other 2. I have tried tea tree oil mixed with petroleum jelly, vicks vaporub and a proprietary anti-pecking spray. None of it seems to be making much difference. I feel so sorry about the state Edie is in, I feel it would be much kinder to have her put down. Very sad. Am willing to try other things first, of course.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I sympathise. I have one that gets attacked by the others. As a result she stays up high in the walk in run which is rotten for her but at least she's safe.

 

What's your setup? Can you separate her? Sometimes putting just one of the bullies in with her can work - rotating which one you put in with her.

 

Purple spray can be good for masking red bits (which attract them to peck) and helps wounds too.

[merlina]

Removing one of the bullies for a (short) while - even a day or two can make a difference. I'd try that next. It can change the dynamics of the group and hens seem to forget behaviours quite quickly (sometimes!)

[gavclojak]

Oh dear, I am so sorry for you. I had this a while ago and resulted in sending my girl on respite/extended/sabbatical.....she was with four other girls and all was well for 6 months then WW3 broke out...they attacked her so badly she was bleeding. I tried separating the bullies and then the two good girls attacked her resulting in bleeding again. I put her with one of the bullies who mercilessly chased and harassed her. She literally couldn't move without being attacked, and I am not talking the odd peck...it was savage!! I actually hated my girls for a while.

 

In the end I separated her and the bullies even tried attacking her through a fence. She was so unhappy alone, all she did for the week she was alone was pace up and down the perimeter until a lovely omleteers offered to help and took her to accompany her lower ranking hen..

 

I am sorry I don't have an answer for you as I tried everything that was advised, we even resorted to bumpa bits but for one reason or another that didn't work out.

 

Maybe someone will offer you a gem of advice and it works for you. I do hope so as it can be a nightmare:((((

[mad_hen_lady]

Thanks for the advice. I have put Edie into our tortoise enclosure which is safe from the other chooks and any predators; however, not cosy like the eglu and I am not sure what to do if the weather turns very cold.....let's hope she recovers quickly and the Bad Chook (yes I am talking about you Emily) loses the nasty habit.

[gavclojak]

fingers crossed for you.

if my girl would have been happy alone I would have kept her like that but she was soooo sad, I also didn't want to get another new hen and they picked on her too....hope she soon gets back with the clan and they are one big happy family again

[paulad]

Try bumpa bits - seems to be working for us

[Mica40]

Its so hard to see it happen

Ive been outside with stockholm tar today

I wanted to post picture on here but cant figure it out

[Mrs_B]

Sadly chickens can be very nasty when it comes to this - I have found it's important to distinguish why they peck in the first place and the most difficult to solve is when it's become a habit.

 

The top hens in my two groups do quite a few jabs at the others everyday and although this looks horrible it's natural as their position as top hen. But it's bullying/bad habits that are the problem Last year I went through so much upset with bullying and nasty pecking that I almost gave up on keeping chickens altogether. One chicken in particlar was being bullied and it started with one chicken sitting on top of her and forcing her to stay until she'd done some nasty damage - then over the few dasy when I was trying lots of sprays: the others started to copy the behaviour (BUT I haven't seen it that bad since thankfully) It became so bad so quickly I immediately went out and bought an Omlet Go and created two groups (one with two, and one three hens). One thing I could solve right away to help the situation was to create more room so I could also put more things in their runs to keep the chickens occupied so they didn't become bored. The habit did break but it took a good few months of keeping up with purple spray (always purple spray!), other anti pecking sprays (you'll find the right one for you and your hens) as well as tea tree spray for very sore skin.

 

The pecking started up again when the girls started moulting this year (they are now one flock again as 4 hens) but I tried bumpa bits this time and I am so glad I did. They were hard to get on the hens but the girls soon got used to them and if fitted correctly definitely stop the feathers being pulled (one of my hens must have felt itchy when her feathers grew back because she used to cause some nasty cuts to herself whilst her feathers grew back - and the bumpa bits stopped this habit too!)

 

I will also now put a dog crate in the WIR (which I didn't have last year) and put the naughty girl in for one day and I found this helps by giving the others chickens a break but also helps to break any pecking habits the chicken is learning!!

 

If any of your hen's backs becomes bald/badly grazed, I would recommend getting a coat, as it protects the area and also allows for the feathers to grow back over time!

 

Good luck, it can be a long road but persevere and you'll get there

 

x

 

Edit: Also I forgot to add if you can move the items in their run around, it can make things more interesting for the chickens and helps against boredom and pecking

[Egluntyne]

I'd put a bumpa bit in the aggressor.

[The Dogmother]

I'd put a bumpa bit in the aggressor.

 

Ditto