[trinacooke]

Hello!

I posted last time trying to find a solution to my Two Black Rocks pecking my other two chickens Bottoms and drawing blood!! it was a real problem and was getting worse!

I sprayed tem with the Purple spray which helped but they were still doing it and it was very worrying!!

In a last ditch attempt I brought a litter tray and the only thing I could think of to put in it was cage bird sand ......... I thought they would like to have a dust bath to help as an extra activity for them

BUT..........

They are eating it and..............

The bum pecking has STOPPED!!!!!!

I am sooooooooooooooo happy the wounds have scabbed over and are being left alown !

They have oyseter shell but the sand has vitamins and minerals for cage birds ..sooOOO perhaps they were lacking something in their diet that I was not giving them!!!!

WE LIVE AND LEARN .. and perhaps this may help some one else?

Regards Trina  relieved

[Tinkers]

Well I am definitely going to try that, We have been having problems for three months now.

We have the main offecder seperated off (sadly I think we are going to have to re-home her) the other two seem ok together although there is still pecking going on.

There's no harm in trying!

[GrannieAnnie]

Well well!!!!  That's a new one on me!  But like you say, perhaps its the added vitamins and minerals.  But whatever, if it works, don't knock it!  As long as the sand doesn't hurt their digestions.

[trinacooke]

Hi again,

I will watch the digestion, they are pooing normally and look very bright eyed and the sand is formulated for cage birds, parrots etc to eat (it has added oyster shell/vitamins and mineals) and as a litter so as chickens are birds aswell I would have thought it should do them no harm should it? I would have thought the digestion systems on most birds should be simlar.

........But I am no expert by no means! Rabbits Yes! but chickens I still have a LOT to learn 

Trina 

[WhatCameFirst]

That's really interesting, because we finally put a stop to pecking (we even had a fatality  ) with cat food.  We just gave them cat food every day for about 4 days and they stopped.

[HENrietta]

It is so nice to hear of other peoples hens pecking each other. We have just tonight put all our four together and the older two are going bonkers at my little newies. My hubby has really lost his temper with me as i have got so upset. Its only been an hour. i feel it is going to be a long weekend. Please someone assure me that everything will be fine). If things dont calm down by sunday i am definitly getting some cat food!!! Question for Whatcamefirst what fatality did you have???
Any advice would be greatly needed! Thanks

HENrietta.

[Foxy]

HENrietta -dont be upset! It is quite normal for established birds to have quite a nasty go at new chickens.
In your situation what you could try is wait until dark and the birds are roosting quietly-the slip the newbies in. Is it possible to split the run in two? It would be a good idea to in the morning pop the new girls into a separate run so the older birds can see but not get to the newbies. Have 2 feeders close to the partition so they have to get close, this will help them become more familiar with each other. It can take a while for a new pecking order to be established - from 2 weeks up to a month -but the agression will calm down after a week to just a well aimed peck!
The reason for introducing in the dark is that chickens dont fight when roosting. Hope this helps a little!

[poultrygeist]

Good news Trina and hope all settles down Henrietta.

It all adds to the sum of knowledge. If I see any cage bird sand I'll have to give it a try.

ROb

[andreadon]

i agree withfoxy -  don't be upset - it's natural!
but if you can keep them separated by wire for a while longer, it will be better for your nerves! Wire because they can see each other and get to know each other but can't get to each other!
try to put them in together at night - but you'll need to put them in their separate runs every morning - it'll be early mornings for a while!!

[HENrietta]

Thankyou Foxy and Andreadon, We did put them to roost together last night, and this morning there is no change, the older girls are just as aggressive. It's not even like they are giving them a telling off for going near food or water it is a constant chasing nad pecking  . Anyway my hubby has meshed them off again (thank the lord) .As they were getting a real beating.I have just ordered some Anti Pecking spray which evidently smells disgusting, but is very good! We are going to keep them seggregated until easter (5weeks) as we will have a few days off to really watch tham. They can see each other but they cant touch. Also the older two are extremly vocal is this normal? One other thing We have noticed blood in a poo, dont know which one it is, i will keep a close eyeout, but what could it be? Sorry about all the questions!
THanks guys please advise me on the poo if you are able to!
HENrietta

[andreadon]

They can see each other but they cant touch. Also the older two are extremly vocal is this normal?

Oh, god, yes is that normal!!
When we put our newbies in, the originals spent most of their time standing at the mesh shouting and cawking!! and every time we changed the run to suit the newbies, the originals would get really mad and started jumping up on all the newbies' stuff!  they were not happy with it!
I think you're right to keep with the segregation till easter, too: it really does take a lot of supervising.  Adam turned into a right mother when we were putting ours together - he would put out a finger and sternly say "No!" if the originals started.  sooo funny! 

can't help with the poo, I'm afraid, but someone will be able to...

[Vember]

Have you had a look through our Poo pics, see if it's like any of those?

How old are your birds Hen?
Blood in poops can be a sign of Coccidiosis, which will need treating asap.

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=17568.0

Sarah

[woodburner]

Serious feather pecking is comonly associated with lack of protein, but it stands to reason that it could be from vitamin or mineral deficiency, too. Hopefully I won't ever have that problem but if I do I hope I remember the bird sand tip, as I'd rather give them that than pet food. Thanks for sharing!   :happy:

[HENrietta]

Message for Vember.
Hi Sarah, thanks so much have looked at poo pics and thankfully Martha's poo is in the normal catergory . It looks almost like its an egg trying to form, its more of an orangey red that a red red. But Im sure she is to young as she is only 15 weeks. Anyway we will keep them all separated until easter and hopefully the older girls will accept them. And yes they do stand at the mesh squarking and shouting over. It is quite funny to see them so cross, i want to say to them 'these are your new friends now be quite and nice'(i actually do) 
 THanks everyone for all your tips its a real help.

Thanks Sarah great advice  .

[nicchick]

It was the feather pecking and eating that alerted me to a problem with one of our hybrids. She was the only one we couldn't catch and it turned out she had an impacted crop. I believe (though time will tell) that it was the protein she was after as she had such a small amount of food going through her system. She seems to be ok now and showing no interest in feathers. Nic.