Blood drawn!

[pegpuss]

After a couple of weeks of the ladies getting on well together, I've come home today to find Beatrice's rear has been pecked to the point of drawing blood...not much but it's there none the less
She was a bit bald round the rear when we got her, I've been using sudocrem on her and it seemed to be OK til now! She was bottom hen, but no real signs of bullying.
I've cleaned the area, given it a good slather of sudocrem and squirted her with anti peck spray tonight, but within minutes Arabella (top hen) was pecking her again
Segregating her is going to be difficult but I could put her in a dog crate within the run during the day for a few days if need be (she'd be cramped but at least Arabella wouldn't be able to get at her) then put her in the coop with the rest of them at night.
I've read an article tonight that suggests putting dark food colouring on the area to disguise the colour and smell of blood might work. Has anyone tried this??? I do have some black colouring in the cupboard so could give it a go!
I hoped I'd got away with a nice easy transition from battery hens to pets, but maybe not

[fishpond]

Sorry to hear of your problem.
Had my 4 cluckies for somewhat over 20 months, the dominant one has been bullying the 4th one over winter (at least)but hasn't drawn blood.
I have seperated the offender from the other one for about 2 weeks now, last night when putting them to bed I made an error and the 2 met face to face, there was a well directed peck to the head, I am not sure how the eye survived.
I am now resigned to the fact they will never live together.
The pecked one hasn't laid properly for months, but that is not a problem to me or apparently to the cluckie.
What is the point I am trying to make?
You may need a seperate, permanent run as even though they appear to sleep alright
together, I lift the pecked one out every morning into her own space, sometimes I allow the other 2 to join her later (not a problem).
But I am sure the pecked one and the dominant one will never share the same run.
Hope this helps.

[Linda S]

Hi Emma sorry your;e poor girl is getting pecked we use aprpduct called purple spray for our horses it is obviously purple and i think it is antiseptic.Im interested to know if this is ok for hens i think i have seen it mentioned but cant remember wich post i read that much its addictive this site.Im sure someone will know about it on here its available at most horse tack and feed places lasts ages and is prob about 4quid.Years ago i think it was called gentian violet .hope youre girl is better soon Linda

[Karhog]

I would hope this is just a set back and perservere- Think the food colouring could be a good idea- There is also a violet spray you can spray which covers the blood/red area as well as acting as an antiseptic.
Either way- ensure there is no red showing as this will certainly attract pecking.
Have you tried the old water pistol...Or picking the bully up and carrying her around for a while. (haven't tried this but I've heard it can help with the pecking order side of things)
Good luck

[pegpuss]

Thanks for the replies.
I've read about the purple spray on here but not got any, I'll try to get hold of some as soon as I can. I've been applying enough sudocrem to give her rear end a very, very white appearance though!
In theory the water pistol sounds great but, as hubby and I both work full time, we aren't around much to enforce it.
I'm now contemplating putting Arabella in the dog crate in the run for a few days to knock her down a peg or two. The others don't seem to bother Beatrice, or at least they haven't while I'm around. Top girl Arabella was very blatant about it though, right in front of me while I sat in the run with them tonight

[aishakali]

Oh crikey, this is whats giving me the eebe jeebes about introducing more chooks I didnt worry about getting any more when I had the 3 but now I've lost one, I dont want to be left with just 2 and then possibly 1. It seems that more things go wrong than go right on here but I suppose I will have to bite the bullet sooner or later. Really hope things settle down Emma and you have a happy flock once more

[Freeranger]

I heard that an old-fashioned remedy for this was to rub mustard onto the area, which would act as an astringent to help constrict blood flow (and therefore the red colour) and provide an off-putting smell/taste to the marauding hen. It may sting a bit. But I'm new to all this, so offer it with no recommendations just maybe worth a try?

[aishakali]

Ouch!

[Willow]

I'd think about popping the agressor into a crate for a short while, and also possibly adding anything to the run area that will distract the hens and enable them to get out of each others eye sight..
Perches, raised platforms, rows of largeish plantpots, boards or anything else you could think of..
You'll usually get a hen at the top and one at the very bottom of the pecking order.. the ones at the bottom get very fast and learn to stay out of site of the 'boss' ..
good luck and dont give up..

[pegpuss]

Thanks again for the replies.
Tina...there are a couple of small bushes in the run as it's a sectioned off area of garden rather than a proper Walk-in-Run and also a few plant pots but I'll find more bits and bobs to add. Beatrice does tend to sit behind things and seems quite content to do so.
The good news is I left them to it today since they all seemed peacable enough together when they had breakfast. I've come home from work to find Beatrice's given herself a jolly good dust / mud bath...it rained heavily earlier so they had a choice. This has nicely stuck to the thick layer of sudocrem on her bum and I can't see any more real evidence of pecking so she's perhaps found her own solution! She looks like the dirtiest, scruffiest chook in the world but who cares
I'll still look out for purple spray as a precaution against next time though.

[sazchops]

Hi, I also have a pecker and a peckee. The purple spray is Gention Violet. It is antiseptic and anesthetic! I spent my childhood bathed in the stuff due to excema. ( You cant buy it in a chemist any more )
Apparently chickens can't see purple so it is not as attractive. You can also get anti-pecking spray which smells and tastes horrible, but believe me, even a few days later, it still smells bad.
If you are going to separate the pecker, I was advised to give it a week at least!
I hope your girls sort it out
Sarah

[pegpuss]

Thanks Sarah, that makes sense!
I remember my Mum swearing by gentian violet for our skin ailments back in the 60's but hadn't connected the two! I think she used to buy it from Boots back in the day!!!

[pegpuss]

Hmmm not so good now!
After giving her a couple of days peace, poor little Beatrice has a bloody rear end again tonight. I'm thinking the heavy rain has driven them all to take shelter in the confined space under the coop and compounded the problem with close proximity and boredom!
I've put loads of plant pots and what not in the run as suggested by Tina and I've put a small plastic dog kennel in there too so she has access to a separate shelter if the rain continues. The run is really a sectioned off bit of garden and doesn't have a roof.
I've fed extra meal worms as someone suggested upping the protein levels might help and I've bathed her rump, sudocrem'd it and tried black food colouring on top of that this evening as I still haven't got purple spray. Will see what tomorrow brings but I'm hoping that since she has had a couple of days respite, the problem isn't too entrenched and will resolve eventually.
If not, I might just ask hubby to add a roof to their section of garden so they will use more of it come the rainy days!

[fishpond]

Putting a roof on is the way to go anyway, but it may not cure the pecking.

[silverback]

How big is your run?, is it 5 chooks you have?..