[NormandyMary]

Went to open up the henhouse this morning to check how Monty's first night  had gone, when I had the shock of my life. It was like something out of a horror movie. One of my red girls was pecking at Mont's bad foot, the one I cut last week to get the puss out, and it was literally pouring with blood. She had it all over her beak too. I just ran in, scooped The Montster up ad brought him back to the house. I felt sick with shock. Funnily enough though, the swelling in his foot seemed to have gone down further.Im just about to spray him with antibiotic from the vets, but was it NORMAL for a chook to do this or just plain nasty?

[alancane]

Sorry that you had to wake up to this shock Mary. The little that I know is that chickens are attracted to red and they will then keep pecking on that area and thats why you use purple spray to hide the colour so it isn't atrractive to them anymore.
I have heard much worse stories, so it sounds like you got there just in time.

Definately bathe and clean up the wound and use the antiseptic spray - did you manage to find the purple spray? You will definately need it. Good luck Mary.

[Aidy]

Chooks can be brutal when they want to be picking on the weakest, sometimes to death. As Alan says you need to mask it.

[D]

I got up to my coop one afternoon to find that my Faverolle had swollowed something sharp and blood was coming up through her mouth. Several of the other birds were there pecking and eating the blood when they got the chance. The birds weren't doing a lot of damage to her, but I'm sure she wasn't to happy about it. All I did was take her home and put her in an old dog crate for a couple of nights feeding her soft foods until she seemed like she would be alright to go back with the others.

[bantam novice]

Oh Mary what a horrible shock  .  I would agree with Alan here that the chickens are attracted to the red colour.  You  got there  in time so that's really good     bathe it and hide the colour and he should be OK.  It may, as you say, have had a beneficial effect on his foot.

[NormandyMary]

Thanks so much to all of you for your quick replies and reassurances. Im off to the shops this afternoon to buy the spray. Monty is now recovering in his box in the conservatory. Ill keep him in this weekend to let a proper scab form before letting him out again. We are thinking of segregating him from the others for a while until he is properly back on his feet. We have a second house which is perfect for him, and he will have a run of the garden. The girls will not be getting any treats for a couple of days as punishment for their naughtiness.

[orchardlady]

If possible exclude Monty from the rest of your girls. Cockerels are notoriously soft on their wives and will let them be absolutely beastly to them. There are two schools of thought here:

1. Exclude him so everyone can see everyone. In which case Monty might fret to be with the ladies.

2. Exclude Monty so he cannot see the girls and should not fret but when you reintroduce him there might be stresses  and tension in the group getting used to him again.

Best of luck.

[joyfull]

sadly I have had a little one pecked to death in the past, they will always pick on the weakest and at the first sight of blood it can become a right frenzy. They were doing nothing wrong - just being chickens. Do keep him separate until he is all sorted. If you have any wound powder put that on or at a push cornflour will help stem the flow. The purple spray may sting him so you could try germolene which has antiseptic and anesthetic qualities. Keep his wound clean and he should soon recover and be able to go back with his girls.

[GrannieAnnie]

When you put him back with the girls, if they are still pecking his foot, perhaps you could manage to bandage it until its better?

I managed to do that to one of my young hybrids, but she was then only living with the Black pearl, which are both now very happy living with Joy!

[NormandyMary]

I got some purple spray, and guess what.. its purple not blue which was how it looked on the website. I havent put it on yet as I will bathe him tomorrow, and put on some more antibiotic spray. Ill purple spray him before he goes out again. Poor b*gger. The antibio spray is bright turquoise, so with the purple spray he'll look like a right Jessie!!!