A bath, then what??? Help needed. (Graphic Pic)

[TcherDawn]

My favorite Hyline hen Petunia has a terrible looking backside. I think she may have laid a no shell egg and the other three girls picked her bum incessantly. There was blood everywhere and they kept chasing her around and wouldn't stop. Now she needs a bath, but should I try to put on some Neosporin on the wound after the bath. We will have to keep her seperate until when? Is it until she completely heals or when her feathers grow back? She seems normal other than the bloody poopy backside, eating and drinking fine, but not laying (which is unusual for her being she is a production laying cross) We just had to put one down on Mother's Day for internal lay. I hope this isn't the same thing. It is going to be 94 degrees today. Do I have to blow her dry, or will the heat do that?

 

[biddybird]

I would wash the wounded area only, I wouldn't full bathe, no need to traumatize her any more than necessary. I use neosporin like crazy with my girls. Any wound gets it, you might put an antibiotic in the water. I use Duramicin(hope that is the spelling). I use about a tablespoon in a gallon of water. I would definately keep her away from the others until healed good. Sounds like she is not at the top of the pecking order. They are horrible when a lower rank has a sore.

Hope she recovers well for you.

 

[MotherJean]

I agree, don't give her a full bath, but you can set up a tub to give here a "sitz bath." Make water level about 5" deep with warm water. Add 1 full cup of 5% hydrogen peroxide per gallon of water (it's the stuff in the brown bottle near the rubbing alcohol at your store, if you're not familiar with that). The peroxide will help the blood bubble off the feathers better than plain water. It's also a disinfectant. Just don't use it full strength on the birds vent because it will sting. Diluted, it won't. Stand your girl in the water and just press down on her back to make her sit and keep her sitting and soaking for about 10 minutes. Gently swish the water near her bum, but don't rub the feathers and vent like you're shampooing. Wrap her in a big bath towel and hold her for a few minutes to calm her down and sort of blot her dry. If the weather is warm, she can air dry. If not, use your blow dryer on a cool setting. When her vent area is completely dry, use a small cloth wadded up to make a powder puff and powder her vent area gently with corn starch. She may or may not need antibiotics, either orally or topically. You'll have to wait until you get that cleaned off to see how serious her wounds are. The real key is to keep that area clean and dry. If you can't get all the blood and poo off with the first bathing, you can repeat the sitz bath every day until you're satisfied that she's healing.

Hope your lady heals quickly.

 

[TcherDawn]

Thank you both so much. She is my favorite. The sweetest and most person friendly of the 4 I have left. She IS at the bottom of the pecking order, so putting her back in when she heals is probably going to be difficult. I am concentrating for now on getting her better.

OH MY GOSH, she just laid an egg. Yay! Maybe the bath helped. She is clucking proudly at me!!!!

Dawn

 

[MotherJean]

That's so good to hear. You done good

Just one more thing...keep an eye on her poo for any signs of blood. The only time I've ever had the hens peck at the vent on another hen was when she had cocci. If you see any blood in her stool, get medication for her right away. I'd be tempted to medicate the whole flock, but I can't speak with authority on that. Maybe someone else here?

 

[TcherDawn]

Hi MotherJean, I only have 4 birds. I clean their poo off the droppings board every morning. Would I have already seen blood in their poo if they have cocci? Or is it sneaky?

 

[TcherDawn]

This is Petunia, her cuter side, feeling a bit better and calling out to her flock that she can hear.

 

[MotherJean]

She's a beauty and she looks very well considering her injuries. You probably would have noticed any blood if you clean every day. Only reason I suspected Petunia is because of my past experience. She may not have cocci, just thought I'd mention it. Since you have her in isolation, it'll be easy to check. Generally, a hen won't get pecked in the vent unless there's something there to attract attention to it - redness, blood, egg yolk, etc. Of course, it could be that one hen pecked her there for no reason, drew blood, and then the rest piled on. When our girls get sick or injured the guessing game begins. Sometimes we never do figure out what really happened. I am glad, however, that she's looking good and laid an egg for you. All good signs.