What do I do with the wound from here?

[Justmewithchix]

I have 19 5 week old Buff Orpington chicks and this morning I found one that was bleeding with the other chicks pecking at the wounded area. I removed her from the pen they're currently in (about 3ft x 6ft, and will be expanded again soon until they can be moved to the outside run/coop) and am keeping her in her own box with a little warmth.

I managed to clean the area and discovered a small handful of broken and bleeding pin feathers/shafts around her tail end (still not too sure how it originally happened but her flock mates pecking at her certainly didn't help) and managed to pull most of the bleeding ones. There's still about 4 or 5 tubes I can't get to as the area they're in appears to be a bit swollen and almost looks punctured. They don't appear to be bleeding anymore and I've applied a little plain neosporen/triple antibiotic to the spot (though she's preening the area now...). I'm keeping her away from her flockmates for the moment and I'm just wondering if there's anything else I should be doing for her or her wound?

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

At that age and with what's already happening you really need to move them out to the coop right now. They don't need to be inside any longer and they don't have enough room.
Just keep the area cleaned and see how the birds behave once you give them a lot more space.

 

[Justmewithchix]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

At that age and with what's already happening you really need to move them out to the coop right now. They don't need to be inside any longer and they don't have enough room.
Just keep the area cleaned and see how the birds behave once you give them a lot more space.

Thank you for replying! The only concern I would have is the fact that our nighttime temperatures are about 50s at the moment. Would they be OK in the outside coop at this age with that? The outside chicken run is still being finished up, another reason they're not outside yet, but it should be pretty much done fairly soon.

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

I agree, I would move them out to the coop where there is more room and stimulation. If it's still very cold at night you can still offer heat, they will use it if needed or not. Watch this one carefully, keep the wound clean and use some sort of antibacterial ointment on it. Keep her in sight of the others but separated until this wound is no longer visible.

Enjoy your chicks! If you have any further questions, be sure to ask. Welcome to our community!

 

[Kenneth Zweerink]

Welcome to BackYard Chickens. The Best of Luck with your Flock! And a Big Hello from Eastern Nebraska.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens. This is a great place to explore and hang out.

 

[DobieLover]

Would they be OK in the outside coop at this age with that?

They will be fine. Close the pop door so they just have access to the coop. If there is lots of clean, thick, dry bedding for them to hunker down in and no drafts on them at all they will be perfectly fine in those temperatures. I would get them out PRONTO!
The novelty of being in a much larger, new environment will also be a big distraction for them so they are far more likely to leave the injured pullet alone.
Put some things in there for them to perch on and fly up on. Old wood chairs, lean a pallet against a wall, whatever you have.

 

[Blue Raptor]

I have 19 5 week old Buff Orpington chicks and this morning I found one that was bleeding with the other chicks pecking at the wounded area. I removed her from the pen they're currently in (about 3ft x 6ft, and will be expanded again soon until they can be moved to the outside run/coop) and am keeping her in her own box with a little warmth.

I managed to clean the area and discovered a small handful of broken and bleeding pin feathers/shafts around her tail end (still not too sure how it originally happened but her flock mates pecking at her certainly didn't help) and managed to pull most of the bleeding ones. There's still about 4 or 5 tubes I can't get to as the area they're in appears to be a bit swollen and almost looks punctured. They don't appear to be bleeding anymore and I've applied a little plain neosporen/triple antibiotic to the spot (though she's preening the area now...). I'm keeping her away from her flockmates for the moment and I'm just wondering if there's anything else I should be doing for her or her wound?

Welcome to BYC!

 

[Justmewithchix]

Thank you all for the warm welcome and advice!
I was going to wait another day or so to watch this little one and let the wound heal up a bit so I could move them all at once, but I walked out to the garage where the pen was when I heard some squawking and they had started picking on another one to the point of bleeding feathers. No open wound and only about 3 feathers were broken, but this did indeed make me move them out to the coop, as was suggested. Temps might fall a little bit tonight but I'm giving them a heat lamp just in case they need it, and I'm going to keep an eye on them through the evening. They seem to immediately love the space that the coop provides though, so hoping for happy chicks with no further incidents for the time being!

Thank you all again! I'm glad I found this place, I wouldn't have known how to handle this situation otherwise!

 

[Justmewithchix]

They will be fine. Close the pop door so they just have access to the coop. If there is lots of clean, thick, dry bedding for them to hunker down in and no drafts on them at all they will be perfectly fine in those temperatures. I would get them out PRONTO!
The novelty of being in a much larger, new environment will also be a big distraction for them so they are far more likely to leave the injured pullet alone.
Put some things in there for them to perch on and fly up on. Old wood chairs, lean a pallet against a wall, whatever you have.

I did end up moving them just a little bit ago, after an incident with another one (not nearly as bad, but still broke some feathers). They seem a lot happier and they're all exploring the new space.

Thank you so much! I was a bit lost on what to do, as I thought they needed to be a little bigger before going out to the coop.