chicks with bloody noses

[recurveman]

I've been getting some birds that have blood on their noses.  What is the best thing to give them?  It seems like I get a few each hatch.  I'm using a GQF brooder, feeding turkey starter and watching my temp.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.  

Later,

Chad

[faro]

Hi Chad,
Blood on the nose is pecking from the other chicks. You may have to thin out the group, or try a red bulb to stop the picking.

How many chicks do you have in how large an area?

[quailer370]

recurveman are these the same chicks as in your thread in the Incubation forum?

with my first hatch i had a problem similar to yours.  my hatch was small so i didnt want to thin out my birds.  here are a few ways to keep them from pecking at each other:

1.  give them more room, or a red bulb

2.  put things that chicks can hide in in the brooder-small boxes, cardboard tube, etc.

3.  throw them some hard-boiled egg yolk to give them something else to pick at (i never actually tried this one but ive heard a lot of people suggest it)

good luck,
-quailer370

[recurveman]

I've got about 90 chicks in a 3 foot by 3 foot brooder.  I have a blue and red blub in there.  The brooder is rated for 100 chicks up to 5 weeks of age.  I usually take the chicks out after about 4 weeks and stick them in their own flight pen.  

I don't have any cover for the chicks to hide in and I only feed them turkey starter.  Maybe I should stick some cover in there and give them something else to munch on.  I figured they had some type of illness.  

Later,

recurveman

[faro]

Make sure that the only light source is the red or blue bulb. If you are getting natural sunlight into the brooder, they will peck more with more light. Just keep an eye on the pecked ones, they will get picked on more now, and the others may kill them.

Good Luck!

[recurveman]

That might be the problem.  I'm leaving one of the sides open so they would get sunlight.  That is the group that is pecking at each other.  I just thought that since they were older they would start pecking.  But I always open the side to let in light and to make it cooler so they get used to a lower temp.  That is when they really start to peck each other.  I will try to leave the sides open with the next batch.

Thanks,

Chad