Hi everyone,
I have an adult White Leghorn hen who was injured this morning. I'm not sure what happened, but when I went out to feed the flock this morning and tidy up the coop, I found one of my White Leghorn hens with her neck and chest covered in blood! I scooped her up and carried her inside, and gave her a quick warm shower to wash off most of the blood, so I could see the wound. Turns out that she tore one of her wattles. Instead of a piece getting sliced off, though, it's more like a width-ways cut - i.e., the wattle was sliced/split so that a big flap was shaved off and was hanging there. She has a large wound which is the size of the flap - about 1/3 of her wattle has an open wound.
Anyway, I cleaned that up with a Betadine/water solution and then applied Blood Stop powder. My hubby and I clipped off the dangling flap and then repeated the Betadine and Blood Stop. My question is, should I consider dubbing the entire wattle? I'm keeping her clean and quiet in a crate in my bathroom, but I'm afraid the wound might become infected. It is OK to wait and see how she heals before considering dubbing, or is it safer to go ahead now? This is my first year keeping chickens and I don't know how fast/well they typically heal from things like this. I'm not fond of dubbing, and would rather not, but if it will help her heal faster/more completely I would definitely do it.
Any advice? Thanks...
I have an adult White Leghorn hen who was injured this morning. I'm not sure what happened, but when I went out to feed the flock this morning and tidy up the coop, I found one of my White Leghorn hens with her neck and chest covered in blood! I scooped her up and carried her inside, and gave her a quick warm shower to wash off most of the blood, so I could see the wound. Turns out that she tore one of her wattles. Instead of a piece getting sliced off, though, it's more like a width-ways cut - i.e., the wattle was sliced/split so that a big flap was shaved off and was hanging there. She has a large wound which is the size of the flap - about 1/3 of her wattle has an open wound.
Anyway, I cleaned that up with a Betadine/water solution and then applied Blood Stop powder. My hubby and I clipped off the dangling flap and then repeated the Betadine and Blood Stop. My question is, should I consider dubbing the entire wattle? I'm keeping her clean and quiet in a crate in my bathroom, but I'm afraid the wound might become infected. It is OK to wait and see how she heals before considering dubbing, or is it safer to go ahead now? This is my first year keeping chickens and I don't know how fast/well they typically heal from things like this. I'm not fond of dubbing, and would rather not, but if it will help her heal faster/more completely I would definitely do it.
Any advice? Thanks...
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