Pinless peepers damage

[HeatherLan]

Only helpful comments please.

I am currently in my second year owning chickens and up until recently things were going smoothly. We introduced 5 new chickens to our flock in the fall and although our chickens seemed to be possibly picking feathers slightly before it seemed to become exacerbated after. One chicken was injured by having the base of her back by her tail pecked and became bloody. I removed her until she healed and then reintroduced her by putting her cage into the coop for a week and then allowing her to re-enter the flock. Unfortunately she was wounded again and then next morning I put the cage back into the coop and put her back into it. Around this time we had a high number of our hens missing various levels of feather mostly at the base of their backs and some around their vents and on their wings. While my one hen was healing in the cage I looked into other solutions for the feather picking. I had checked them for mites/lice and there wasn’t any signs and so I chalked it to Behaviour. This is when I came upon Pinless peepers. I did a ton of research and there was a lot out there that said they were not painful and caused no damage to the chickens and they calmed flocks to stop feather picking. I purchased the peepers off Amazon and my husband and I put them on. The flock got used to them quickly, seemed to calm and new feathers started growing back. 3.5 weeks later I went out and decided to check on the peepers closely to see how the chickens were doing. That’s when I saw one chicken with damage on her beak. Immediately I got help and I took them all off the chickens within the hour. I was devastated at what I found. Out of my 16 pretty much every one has some kind of damage from swelling, bruising, etc.

I will never be using these again and now have to try and make sure my girls will be okay and won’t be harmed further from the damage these caused. I have included a picture of the worst one and would appreciate any advise on how to make sure these girls heal properly.

 

[Eggcessive]

I have never used pinless peepers, although it is sometimes a good suggestion for those with a chicken who pecks and injures others. Many times only the one or two who are doing the pecking may needle the peepers. I suppose they need to be applied properly and checked often for any irritation or damage. Sorry that your chickens have damaged beaks. Hopefully, they will heal.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

How many hens do you have and how much space do they have (sq ft of coop and run).

 

[HeatherLan]

How many hens do you have and how much space do they have (sq ft of coop and run).

I have 16 and they have a decent size shed my husband built although I don’t know the specifics and they have two runs that are attached to each other. The one is a car port and is covered and then that one has an opening (which we close each night) that opens to a second run that is about 1.5 car ports in size. Unfortunately shortly before we got the 5 new hens our chickens had to stop free ranging due to issues with a Neighbor and other animals and I think, although they have decent outdoor space, due to the cold weather and no more free ranging that impacted them quite a bit.

 

[HeatherLan]

I have never used pinless peepers, although it is sometimes a good suggestion for those with a chicken who pecks and injures others. Many times only the one or two who are doing the pecking may needle the peepers. I suppose they need to be applied properly and checked often for any irritation or damage. Sorry that your chickens have damaged beaks. Hopefully, they will heal.

Unfortunately, I could not pinpoint specific bullies even though I spent a lot of time and had gotten advice on how I would pinpoint them. That is why I decided to do it on the whole flock to be safe. I followed the instructions and had done quite a bit of research on the peepers and did feel they went on properly and fairly easy. However, I definitely should have kept a much closer eye as the damage was not easily visible. Thank you!

 

[tripletfeb]

I'm sorry you had issues with the peepers. I have used them successfully, in fact, my one girl has been wearing her peepers for over a year. Every time I take hers off, she goes back to her bullying ways. She has never had irritation or bruising like I see on your girl. I would say maybe you didn't put them on correctly, it's very easy to do it wrong. That being said, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't put them back on. As far as your girl goes, just make sure she is eating and drinking and I would think she should heal fine

 

[HeatherLan]

I'm sorry you had issues with the peepers. I have used them successfully, in fact, my one girl has been wearing her peepers for over a year. Every time I take hers off, she goes back to her bullying ways. She has never had irritation or bruising like I see on your girl. I would say maybe you didn't put them on correctly, it's very easy to do it wrong. That being said, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't put them back on. As far as your girl goes, just make sure she is eating and drinking and I would think she should heal fine

Thanks for replying. It’s very possible I did. I tried to do my research ahead of time but it was my first time doing it. Do you have a picture of yours wearing the peepers you can share?

 

[dawg53]

I've used pinless peepers on my chickens without any major issues. I had a rooster that I used a pair on him and he wore them for 6 months. However, he was young and crowed incessantly, I decided to rehome him.

When I removed the peepers, skin had grown around the pins in his nostrils and caused minor bleeding. I cleaned him up and applied Neosporin into his nares. He healed up in no time. He still crowed his head off and I rehomed him.

I suspect that I shouldve purchased extra-large pinless peepers and applied them since he grew to be a big boy, and changed them out to a larger size while he was growing. Lesson learned.

I've never had issues with hens wearing them. I'm sorry you went through this. Perhaps you mightve needed to use larger sized pinless peepers.

 

[tripletfeb]

Thanks for replying. It’s very possible I did. I tried to do my research ahead of time but it was my first time doing it. Do you have a picture of yours wearing the peepers you can share?

Here's two of my girls with their "glasses" on. The brown girl's broke one day so I took hers off. She hasn't needed them since. The light brahma is the one who's been wearing them for a year. When I took the brown girls' off, she just had some clogged nares, I cleaned them up and she has been fine

 

[Lasotahssm]

I'm sorry you had issues with the peepers. I have used them successfully, in fact, my one girl has been wearing her peepers for over a year. Every time I take hers off, she goes back to her bullying ways. She has never had irritation or bruising like I see on your girl. I would say maybe you didn't put them on correctly, it's very easy to do it wrong. That being said, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't put them back on. As far as your girl goes, just make sure she is eating and drinking and I would think she should heal fine

Purchased peepers for 2 of my girls and I was just about to put them on and I noticed the space between the left and right side is tiny. The plastic is rigid too so I am afraid it will pinch her septum. Do you know the anatomy of their nostrils? I'm scared these will damage as tight as the 2 sides are to one another