Re: baby chick badly hen pecked, what to do?

"Kelly S." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Hi,
> We just had an incident today where one of our baby chicks (1 1/2 mo
old)got
> herself badly hen pecked today by one of our older pullets. I found her
this
> afternoon huddled in a corner her head all bloody and no feathers left. We
> brought her in the house and put her in the box we had left over from when
> they were day old chicks. She is very lethargic and is not interested in
> eating or drinking. We are trying to keep her warm with a heating pad and
> blanket (our one heating lamp is in the chicken coop with all the other
> chicks). Is there any more we can do other than just wait it out?
you do not say where in the world you are??
so noone knows what you might have available
but time warmth quiet and access to feed and water are probably the most
effective
Shock probably kills more than infection
I take it you have cleaned her wounds

And what
> can we do to keep this from happening again.
what was she doing out with old birds ???
at 6 weeks old they should be separate -
Chickens are not nice to each other at all
This is not a surprise

The chicks should be separate for a number of reasons
- the bullying which you are observing - which will be stressing the rest of
them out too
- feeding - at 6 weeks old they should only just be moving from chick crumbs
to growers feed. Laying birds should not have access to growers feed - the
nutrition is incorrect. [in some countries it can be medicated too]. Layer
feed is not the best thing to use to rear young birds on.
- disease - there are many who say that multi age rearing stresses the
immune system of young birds more as they are being challenged by the
natural bugs of the older birds.

Your solution is very simple -
- rear the ages correctly and that is separately
take all your 6 week old birds out and put them in their own run with their
own feed until they are around 15 weeks - once they have moved onto layers
feed then they can be reintroduced into the flock - with care

--
regards
Jill Bowis
new for Christmas http://www.animalgiftshop.co.uk - hand quilted cushions
Pure bred utility chickens and ducks; Housing; Books
Herbaceous; Herb and Alpine nursery
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http://www.kintaline.co.uk

When we first introduced the
> new chicks into the coop we kept them in a separted cage built out of
> chicken wire so the older chickens could get used to them. When they were
> all too big for that we let them out and now they are all outside during
the
> day free range. I've been watching the older chickens during the day and
> only times they seem aggresive to the chicks is when they enter the coop
to
> lay eggs. I've seen them corner one of the bigger chicks before but never
> hurt them because I stopped them before it could. Any suggestions? Since
> they are free range we cant clipp their beaks, right? Thanks for any info.
>
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