I was disturbed to discover over the weekend that both Cleo and Digby appear to have been the victims of chicken bullying. Both were bleeding and missing a good number of feathers on their backs when I checked on them Saturday afternoon. I suppose it's possible they they could have done it to themselves, or that they could have done it to each other, but I think Patsy is to blame. I've caught her a few times picking at the other birds, and for some reason she's decided that the two Ameraucanas are on her hit list.I had no choice but to separate them. I put Cleo and Digby into the storage container, and then headed off to Bi-Mart to pick up another one in the event that Cleo and Digby were doing this to each other. When I got back, I set up the second cage and then separated them. Before I could get the cover on top, Digby hopped out of her container and into Cleo's. I grabbed Digby and put her back in her own container, only to have Cleo hop over into Digby's cage. They both made it pretty clear that they didn't want to be alone, so I opted to just give in and leave them both in one.
My next task was to then get a better look at their owies.
This photo only shows a small section of the hurt area. Poor chicks. I took each of them out separately and then managed to coat the picked area with an antibiotic ointment. I imagine the whole scene was fairly comical as I was alone, had Simone at my heels when carrying each bird into the other bathroom, and then couldn't stop Simone from whining excitedly in each of their faces as I tried to hold the bird and have her remain calm while I smeared a cold oily substance on an area of her body that I'm sure was quite tender. Both Digby and Cleo let me do it though, and then I returned them to their iso tank.
I checked on them again Sunday morning, and their backs appeared to be much better. The ointment seemed to be helping, so I gave each of them another coat. I had also read in my Encyclopedia of Country Living that coating a chicken's feathers with petroleum jelly can help in cases of picking as whoever is doing the picking will get a beak full of goo. So I thought since they were both salved-up that I would try putting them back into the tub with Patsy and Pinky. I quickly learned that was a mistake.
I heard squawking and pulled back the curtain to see Patsy picking on Cleo. I shooed them apart, and then went back to what I was doing. A little while later I went in and Digby and Cleo were both on the other side of the plastic lining the tub. Fortunately they didn't suffocate. I put them back into the tub while I answered the phone and contemplated moving them back into the iso tank. I think Cleo and Digby pretty much made up my mind when they both hopped up onto the edge of the tub and made themselves comfortable, presumably to get away from the other two chicks.
So the iso tank is where they will stay until we are able to build the coop, which we have decided can no longer be postponed. Hopefully it will be up and completed by the end of this coming weekend.
And hopefully once they have more space, the bullying will stop.
This photo only shows a small section of the hurt area. Poor chicks. I took each of them out separately and then managed to coat the picked area with an antibiotic ointment. I imagine the whole scene was fairly comical as I was alone, had Simone at my heels when carrying each bird into the other bathroom, and then couldn't stop Simone from whining excitedly in each of their faces as I tried to hold the bird and have her remain calm while I smeared a cold oily substance on an area of her body that I'm sure was quite tender. Both Digby and Cleo let me do it though, and then I returned them to their iso tank.
I checked on them again Sunday morning, and their backs appeared to be much better. The ointment seemed to be helping, so I gave each of them another coat. I had also read in my Encyclopedia of Country Living that coating a chicken's feathers with petroleum jelly can help in cases of picking as whoever is doing the picking will get a beak full of goo. So I thought since they were both salved-up that I would try putting them back into the tub with Patsy and Pinky. I quickly learned that was a mistake.
I heard squawking and pulled back the curtain to see Patsy picking on Cleo. I shooed them apart, and then went back to what I was doing. A little while later I went in and Digby and Cleo were both on the other side of the plastic lining the tub. Fortunately they didn't suffocate. I put them back into the tub while I answered the phone and contemplated moving them back into the iso tank. I think Cleo and Digby pretty much made up my mind when they both hopped up onto the edge of the tub and made themselves comfortable, presumably to get away from the other two chicks.
So the iso tank is where they will stay until we are able to build the coop, which we have decided can no longer be postponed. Hopefully it will be up and completed by the end of this coming weekend.And hopefully once they have more space, the bullying will stop.
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