feather pecking in pheasants poults

shotie

hi new to the forum and new to rearing pheasants im having a small bit of trouble with feather picking amoung the mix of 7 week old poults only have 13 poults the breeds are of ring necks ,kansas, and melanistic poults all mostly cocks.ive noticed that the melanistic poults seem to be picking on the rest of the poults just before they roost at night but fine during the day but on watching them i noticed one of the ring necks is bleeding from its tail feathers by looking at it i could tell that one or two of its tail feathers where removed causeing it to slightly bleed im just thinking weather i should move the melanistic poults from the rest?? also what could i put on the wound of the bird id rather sort the problem now before it gets out of hand.

vapour_trail

Sounds like theyre too confined. There is a syrup you can get at your local agri supply shop, cant for the life of me think of the name but it comes in a tin and is the most foul smelling (excuse the pun:rolleyes:) stuff you can imagine and tastes rank so the birds wont want it on their beak. You just dab a bit on where the pheasant or chicken is being pecked. It also acts as a disinfectant and forms an almost plaster like barrier against dirt. Great stuff , sorry I cant think of the name but Im sure if you ask at wherever you buy your feed theyll tell you. You can de-beak as a last resort. It involves taking the point off the beak of the troublesome bird. It doesnt hurt them but personally I dont like doing it. Isolation is also another option, but by the sounds of it your birds are just a bit over crowded.

snipe02

Get them red sunglasses or blindfold them

isnt there yolks ya can get for their beaks to stop them pecking plastic things you shove on they can still eat with them but notpeck eachother

Tommy87

Hi there, the fella in our gun club says the same happens him every year. He hangs stuff like cabbages in with them. So they can peck away at them. He said its from pure boredom.

patdahat

you can get yokes for the beaks try, maceoin

lb1981

Put some grit down ,they need it for digesting their food anyway , a couple of straw bails and hang some cabbages from the roof , throw some potatoes around the pen and any root veg all of this gets them picking around and not each other.

Maxmillian

Hi SHOTIE,

Once they get a taste for blood they are really difficult to stop. Not only that but within 48 hours most in the pen will be feather picking and they will eventually destroy the injured ones. Immediately seperate any birds that have blood on them; contact mceoins in Dingle and request "medium or adult ""bits"". You can manually put them in yourself so no need to purchase an applicator. Actually, PM me and I may be able to get them to you quicker.

Max

dodderangler

patdahat wrote: »

you can get yokes for the beaks try, maceoin

Yokes will make them chew their own beak off

shotie

cheers for the replys lads have ordered them beak bits todays.they have loads of room in the pen and it has plenty of cover and game crops etc they have grit and all that down for them the dont bother with each other during the day it only seems to be when it comes to them roosting most of them roost together or near each other and by watching them the melanstic poults dont want the ring necks roosting near them theres plenty of spots where the birds can roost but all seem to pick the one spot .was watching them again tonight and the melanstic poults where at it again but the ring necks soon got the message and moved off and roosted in another spot the one that was slightly bleeding has stoped but i removed her just in case.there all happy out untill it comes to them roosting what could that be just some been more territorial ?