hattie13
Chirping
- Oct 7, 2015
- 14
- 7
- 67
Alright, so this is a long one, please bear with me....
I have a low man on the totem pole chicken, Kevin as she's fondly known. She's accident prone and successfully been beaten up and come out on the good end of a bout of bumble foot. However, it's very clear she is the lowest in the pecking order and not the favorite of our gentleman rooster. Last week, she was bullied out of the coop by the more aggressive ladies on a very, very cold day and got a nasty bout of frostbite on her comb. I scooped her up, brought her inside and took her to the vet the next day. She was put on antibiotics which we administer nightly via injection and has been living the good life in the guest bath tub for the past 9 days. Her comb is healing well, there is no infection and she has been social and eating/drinking well until yesterday morning. And then she took a turn. She isn't vocal, refuses to eat, with the exception of a few treats here or there and drinking is at a minimum. The vet warned that chickens can become depressed if they are separated from others for a long enough period of time so I packed her up this morning, put her in the dog carrier and put her in the coop so she could see the other chickens, without being afraid that they were going to beat her up.
So, I'm wondering - is this behavior normal for a chicken on antibiotics or could it actually be that she was having separation anxiety from being a tub chicken? Any tips on how to get her back to herself and how to integrate her back in with the crowd (without them returning to bullying her)? I have a soft spot for this girl but I'm about $300 in on medical bills right now so I'm trying to troubleshoot at home on her behalf.
Thanks so much for the help!
I have a low man on the totem pole chicken, Kevin as she's fondly known. She's accident prone and successfully been beaten up and come out on the good end of a bout of bumble foot. However, it's very clear she is the lowest in the pecking order and not the favorite of our gentleman rooster. Last week, she was bullied out of the coop by the more aggressive ladies on a very, very cold day and got a nasty bout of frostbite on her comb. I scooped her up, brought her inside and took her to the vet the next day. She was put on antibiotics which we administer nightly via injection and has been living the good life in the guest bath tub for the past 9 days. Her comb is healing well, there is no infection and she has been social and eating/drinking well until yesterday morning. And then she took a turn. She isn't vocal, refuses to eat, with the exception of a few treats here or there and drinking is at a minimum. The vet warned that chickens can become depressed if they are separated from others for a long enough period of time so I packed her up this morning, put her in the dog carrier and put her in the coop so she could see the other chickens, without being afraid that they were going to beat her up.
So, I'm wondering - is this behavior normal for a chicken on antibiotics or could it actually be that she was having separation anxiety from being a tub chicken? Any tips on how to get her back to herself and how to integrate her back in with the crowd (without them returning to bullying her)? I have a soft spot for this girl but I'm about $300 in on medical bills right now so I'm trying to troubleshoot at home on her behalf.
Thanks so much for the help!
