# Help Please!



## KingAki (Mar 19, 2021)

I went out to check on my chickens today and my cornish rock has a bloody back end! Does anyone know what could have caused this and how to help it?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You've got a feather picker in the flock. You need to remove that girl. Spray her with Blu Kote to hide the red and help heal the injuries. 

Next you need to stand back and figure out why this happened. And locate the one that is the culprit. Do they have enough room? They need four square feet of *open *floor space per bird. Are they getting enough protein? Cornish Rocks need more protein than other breeds. Are they bored from being locked up?

Are they near processing age?


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## KingAki (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> You've got a feather picker in the flock. You need to remove that girl. Spray her with Blu Kote to hide the red and help heal the injuries.
> 
> Next you need to stand back and figure out why this happened. And locate the one that is the culprit. Do they have enough room? They need four square feet of *open *floor space per bird. Are they getting enough protein? Cornish Rocks need more protein than other breeds. Are they bored from being locked up?
> 
> Are they near processing age?


Thank you for your response!
We're currently working on their run since we can't have them free range with the amount of potential predators in the area. She does have plenty of protein. They may be bored from being locked up, would it be safe to let them out of their temporary coop during the day? Would I be able to trust them to return during the night?


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## KingAki (Mar 19, 2021)

KingAki said:


> Thank you for your response!
> We're currently working on their run since we can't have them free range with the amount of potential predators in the area. She does have plenty of protein. They may be bored from being locked up, would it be safe to let them out of their temporary coop during the day? Would I be able to trust them to return during the night?


She's also the only one to be pecked at, do you think it's because of her size in comparison to the others?


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Flat out , it's boredom. They need to be outdoors as much as possible. Can you at least put up a temp fence to allow them outside time until you get the run done? Or have someone babysit them while they're up. They will hesitate to come out at first, let them decide when it's safe. They'll stay close to the coop initially. You might have to help the go up because they haven't had to do that yet. 

A light in the coop sometimes helps in getting them to go in at bedtime.

Your run is taking too long to be constructed looking at the size of that bird.


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## KingAki (Mar 19, 2021)

robin416 said:


> Flat out , it's boredom. They need to be outdoors as much as possible. Can you at least put up a temp fence to allow them outside time until you get the run done? Or have someone babysit them while they're up. They will hesitate to come out at first, let them decide when it's safe. They'll stay close to the coop initially. You might have to help the go up because they haven't had to do that yet.
> 
> A light in the coop sometimes helps in getting them to go in at bedtime.
> 
> Your run is taking too long to be constructed looking at the size of that bird.


Alright, we do gave a larger fence that goes around the property, but with the size it is, the others, which aren't cornish rocks and are a lot smaller, could fit in-between. I'll try letting them out and babysit them while they are, and I'll put a light up in the coop as well, thank you for the help.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Getting the outside area done for them is priority. 

Unless something chases them they'll stay very close to the coop until they are more familiar with their new huge, open area.


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## Overmountain1 (Jun 5, 2020)

Yep- they’ll stay really close to ‘safety’ IE the coop. And yes I’d def let them out as much as you have time for; ours have been in an unfortunate holding pattern for their final coop so I can relate to delays- but in the meantime they’ll need the exercise for body and mind. Def give them free time- you’ll love watching them explore too. They should be pretty easy to herd. If you need to supplement the fencing you could try the plastic bird netting, it is relatively inexpensive and works well- our runs have been made out of them for almost a year; occasional patch here and there, and while I don’t trust them to be safe from larger predators I am always home so that’s a bit different. It would prevent the smalls from going between tho. 

Hopefully this will help your big girl get back to feathered in short order!


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## danathome (Sep 14, 2020)

*In addition to what's been said; possible overbreeding IF you have a rooster; though I tend to think feather plucker too. If there is no broken skin the bleeding is due to a broken blood feather/s.*


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## KingAki (Mar 19, 2021)

danathome said:


> *In addition to what's been said; possible overbreeding IF you have a rooster; though I tend to think feather plucker too. If there is no broken skin the bleeding is due to a broken blood feather/s.*


They're only 7 weeks old, so I'm not even sure if we do have a rooster, so I don't think that's the problem, it was most likely a feather plucker, as it seems to have stopped now that they're free ranging.


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## danathome (Sep 14, 2020)

KingAki said:


> They're only 7 weeks old, so I'm not even sure if we do have a rooster, so I don't think that's the problem, it was most likely a feather plucker, as it seems to have stopped now that they're free ranging.


*Definitely feather plucking then and glad to hear the problem seems over.*


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