Hi, I have 10 hens, 5 older hens and 5 new hens in pens next to each other. One of the original hens has lost all her feathers around her rear end and the other 4 are pecking at her and making it bleed quite badly. I cleaned it up and put her back but they were right behind her following her everywhere and pecking until it started bleeding again. Yesterday I put the 5 new ones in with the older ones and put her in the other pen on her on to give her rear end time to heal, but she looks really miserable and I haven't seen her eat anything either (not that I am with her constantly)! Have I done the right thing??
Pecking
- Thread starter Hilary
- Start date
E3lx
New member
Hi, welcome to the forum!! 
99 99 99 99
If this happened to one of my birds, I would bring her in to the house, put them in a box with shavings, food, water and pay constant attention to her.
It really depends how bad it is.If its absolutely rubbed raw and very painful looking, take her to the vet, get him/her to clean it up and to advise you. If it doesnt seem too bad, put her in a box. Clean it when it gets dirty, i would use a mild antibacterial wash. If it becomes infected or inflamed, contact an avian vet.
99 99 99 99 If this happened to one of my birds, I would bring her in to the house, put them in a box with shavings, food, water and pay constant attention to her.
It really depends how bad it is.If its absolutely rubbed raw and very painful looking, take her to the vet, get him/her to clean it up and to advise you. If it doesnt seem too bad, put her in a box. Clean it when it gets dirty, i would use a mild antibacterial wash. If it becomes infected or inflamed, contact an avian vet.
Rebelodicus
New member
The old blokes I speak to suggest "Stockholme tar" in situations like this .... I dunno though. Perhaps the modern idea of loads of money and vets has somethng going for it 
foxy
Active member
Pecking that causes that level of damage can kill her, the unpleasant side to chicken keeping I am afraid! 06 I would invest in some beak bits ASAP...these are available from the Domestic Fowl Trust.
Although there are a lot of potions to deter pecking, however they have drawn blood it is a very, very difficult habit to break so isolating the injured hen away from the peckers is the right thing to do in the short term, however you will need to return her at some stage.06
Suducreme is a nice ointment to use on sore areas, soothing and antiseptic.
06 I would invest in some beak bits ASAP...these are available from the Domestic Fowl Trust.Although there are a lot of potions to deter pecking, however they have drawn blood it is a very, very difficult habit to break so isolating the injured hen away from the peckers is the right thing to do in the short term, however you will need to return her at some stage.
06 Suducreme is a nice ointment to use on sore areas, soothing and antiseptic.
chrismahon
Well-known member
Anti pecking sprays are of some use but in our experience when they have drawn blood the injured has to be removed until healed completely, which will take months. What needs to be addressed urgently is why they did it. In our case they were wyandottes that had outgrown the run and got bored. The hen may be sick anyway, which is another reason it would be attacked. That would explain why she looks miserable and isn't eating. I am concerned that if overcrowding is the issue moving the 5 younger ones in with the four older ones will make it far worse. The injured hen should ideally go in another small coop and run in close proximity to her original flock to avoid future reintroduction issues.
