In a matter of minutes one of my orpingtons was being pestered and pecked by the other chicks. She has bloody tail feathers. I am assuming that somehow something caused a small drop of blood and suddenly all the chicks wanted to peck and check it out. I have taken her out of the box and put her seperate with her own food, water and heat. She seems ok but her tail is bright red. She looks like she has bloody splinter sticking out of her backside. Do I need to clean it or Dr. it at all? Do I put anything on it? How long do I keep her seperate? Is this the start of a big problem you think? They are in a large box. It is the box my bathroom vanity came in. They have lots of room in there with several inches of clean pine bedding. Anything else I need to do?
Thanks!
Laura
Yikes bloody chick!
hey Laura! Sorry , I just hate when that happens! The least little difference in one Chick and all the rest will gang up on it!! You were right to separate the injured one. I would clean its bottom off as best as possible but dont pull or pick anything. Then dip its bottom in an antiseptic and let it dry! Keep the baby close enough it can hear the others and they can hear it. Just dont put it back in with the rest , not until it heals! No blood showing or scabs! I'm pretty sure it will be okay but keep it clean! Good Luck!
Thanks! That is pretty much what I did. I swished it's bottom in some warm water that had a little Dr. Bronner's Baby Castile in it and then patted it dry. I haven't put anything else on it. I don't know that I have any antiseptic. I have some salve with tea tree oil in it, a natural neosporin type goop. It's greasy though. What kind of antiseptic would you use? I have listerine LOL, the vet told me to put it on the dogs "hot spots" once.
Thanks for getting back to me!
Laura
Do you have Bactine spray on hand? Or any olive oil? Either will help it to heal. The oil will keep it soft and less painful than dry wounds are. Olive oil has healing properties too.
yep, I have olive oil. No bactine.
I was worried about her becoming dehydrated because everytime I put a small saucer of water in with her she would flip it. I only have one waterer and it's in the big pen. I put her in with the other chicks for a few minutes to drink and she did fine. Her tail is looking good and is dry and the other chicks don't seem to be messing with her. I have them all together right now where I can see them but I am not going to leave her in with the others overnight. I need to figure out how to give her water though. Any ideas? Maybe a pie pan with marbles in it so she can't flip it or drown (is that a problem with 2 week chicks?).
Thanks everyone. I noticed that they are all really putting on lots of feathers and those tail feathers all look pink and juicey. I don't imagine it would take much to make one bleed.
Laura
Im so Happy that your baby is better!
Laura,
Your best bet introducing her back into the flock is to put a RED bulb in your brooder light. That way they can't tell any difference in her. It will give her time to heal. Sounds like you jumped right on it, just in time. The bad part of picking is that once they start, they all jump in and often times it will lead to cannibalism if you aren't right there to stop the madness! YIKES, I can't stand to think about it. There is definitely a reason I watch my little ones SO closely. :) If you have to seperate her again tonight, just put some water in the base of a plant holder, with a few small rocks in it to prevent drowning, and she will do just fine. Olive oil is a lifesaver for pecking spots..........I keep some on hand at all times. It doesn't seem to sting them at all when I doctor them. Your chicks are lucky to have such a good Momma! :-) First chick crisis averted! Have a great day and let us know how she does.
Belinda
Thanks everyone! Chick is doing much better. She is now named Violet (from the book A Series of Unfortunate Events). She spent that first night with her sisters and did fine but the next morning she tried to fly out of the box and just bumped her tail and it started bleeding again and so I removed her right away. I cleaned her up, applied olive oil and put her in a cage next to the other chicks. Boy did she cry. She did NOT want to be by herself. I kept her there all day until she was scabbed up good and not so bright pink. I got a red light and put her back in with the others and watched close. She is doing fine. You can hardly tell anything happened to her and the red light seems to keep the chicks much more mellow vs. having a regular light on them 24/7. I also put a nice chunk of sod in there and they are so busy with that they wouldn't notice if I spray painted her neon pink!
Laura
Good news!!!! I like the sod idea too!
I'm so glad to hear that Violet is going to be ok. They sure do make LOTS of noise when seperated, huh? lol The red light is a must as far as I'm concerned. I'm glad you noticed the calming effect so soon. They are well worth paying a little extra for. I know that the sod will deter them for quite a while - - - after I mow, I give mine the fresh cuttings and they chow down like little piglets! :) Post us some updated pics of your babies, Laura when you have time - - - we all love pics! Have a great evening.
Belinda
These pictures are from a few days ago and they already seem much bigger! One of my Leghorns (the brown one) has a much larger comb than all the others. It seems to be growing faster. That isn't a roostery sign is it? The lady at the feed store told us that there is about a 90% accuracy rate on sexing the chicks. My 10 year old math wizard pointed out that with 10 chicks we should get one rooster out of the bunch.
You can see my little brown leghorn and her/his comb in the background.
Laura
Check out the wings! The kids call this one Feathers. She is very sweet and will flutter out and sit on my leg whenever I open the box. I think she really likes me and it isn't just cause I have mealworms!
Laura
The front side of Feathers.
You know Laura, that does look like the beginnings of a Rooster Head! All of mine were supposed tobe Hen s too! But Im noticing tiny combs also on a couple of mine and they seem to be much bigger than the rest!
Aww Feathers is Fantastic! She knows she's a pretty girl!
Im curious about the red light thing too! What kind of bulb is it? Just a regular light bulb, only red? Or is it a heat type lamp? What Wattage are you all using? My babies have been under a regular light bulb and I know that has to be stressful!
I got a red light that look like a regular lightbulb but red. It is only 25watts. Not very warm but we have worked our way down from 100 watt when we got them. It is getting hot here in South Texas so they don't need my help keeping warm. I use a light...oh what's it called, it reflects the light and makes it warmer. It's like a big aluminum cone that the light screws into. I then set that cone right on top of the chicken wire lid I have over my big box. I use a warmer bulb if I have to seperate one chick in her own box, it seems to calm them when they are feeling lonely.
I added more bedding last night to kind of freshen up the place ;-) and it was so cute to watch them all nestle in and make their little bed spots. Feathers actually rolled on her back a few times before getting her little nitch just right. It was like watching cats try and find a comfy spot. I bet they will love it when they can get out and bathe in the dust!
Laura
Laura your chicks are too cute. Love the imagery of Feathers rolling on her back. Is that a Rainbow in the background in the picture "Check out her Feathers"? I love mine I am on my second one (got off Ebay used) my first one lasted about 20 years but I bought that one new.........
Yes! Good eye! I love my Rainbow. I bought mine used too and it works great. It is the only vacuum that doesn't get stinky after vacuuming up pet hair over and over!
Laura
If all of the chicks are the exact same age, you could suppose that the bigger ones might be roos. I think that it is too early to determine with combs. I think that might be more of a individual variation ( although jump in if you disagree) like nose size in people.
I know when I ordered my 25, assorted Brown Egg Layers, that I could have, Barred Rocks, Cuckoo Marans and Old fashioned Dominiques, they all will have "barred " feathers, but the combs will be different! So confused I am!!! I wont know til the knowing is done!!! but I did notice some had strange combs already!!!