Help, please! Do I need to separate?

[cdampier]

Hi All ~

Here's my dilemma: I currently have 2 hens and woke today to find that Bette's comb has been ripped away from her head and is partially flopping around. I immediately separated the two, assuming it was an attack on Bette by Lucy. Since I only have the two (I'm a novice chicken owner, obviously ), do I need to keep them separated until Bette is fully healed? (is the stress of being separated going to be worse on them, I wonder?)

If I do need to keep them separated:
I have 4, 2-week-old chicks in a brooder that I'm planning on introducing in the future. Do I need to think about that as I think about reintroduction, and try to somehow integrate them altogether?

Any suggestions/advice from seasoned chicken owners would be much appreciated!

 

[BY Bob]

Lots of people here will help. Probably the most important thing is to provide photos.

Depending on the severity of the wound you may need to separate for care reasons alone. It is very important that the other hen not see any blood as they will peck at it. You can apply Blu-Kote to the repaired comb to change the color from red to blue in order to prevent this kind of pecking.

Do you actually know how the injury occurred? That can help make the decision to separate. If you knew that one did it to the other, then you would likely want to separate.

This should start you off. Others should join in soon I would think. We need photos, if you can.

 

[cdampier]

Thanks for responding, BY Bob! I don't have pics; I will try later. I sprayed Bette's comb with blu kote right away (did take a long time to stop the blood!). I am wondering if I need to try and remove the dangling part of the comb, or if I should leave it alone to see how it heals?

I don't know for sure how the injury happened; I am only assuming it was the other hen. I have hardware "walls" for the run; I suppose she could have scraped her head across that and got it stuck. They do rub their heads across the walls when they see a human, thinking they're being let out soon. But I've watched them do this hundreds of times and never have I seen them get hurt doing it. I didn't see any blood in the coop, where they roost at night, but I suppose, Lucy could have just eaten the blood-covered shavings after doing the damage.

One more thing: Can/should I let them free-range together? I usually let them out to range when I'm outside (generally a few hours per day) abut yesterday I kept them both inside. Bette is acting just fine; eating, drinking, pecking & scratching and otherwise being a chicken.

This is just frustrating, because I figured with just 2 hens I would not have to deal with violent behavior. I am hoping the new chicks (lavendar orpingtons & one BCM) will do okay with this old biddy; they are much "gentler" breeds.

Again, any input is surely appreciated!!