Anyone have this problem after using pine tar???

EllyMae

Songster
11 Years
Apr 13, 2008
1,466
7
171
The South Mountains of NC
I had to use pine tar on my EE hen because she was getting picked on pretty bad by one of my bantam cochins. Well, today I noticed that the bald areas have a yellowish waxy like substance on them and it's kinda gross...no smell or anything. But I'm afraid she might now be developing some kind of skin "funk" or even a reaction to the pine tar...? I tried picking if off but it was waxy/greasy like. Anyone know what this might be?
 
Let me add that she is the only one with the yellow crud stuff. I hope it's just the pine tar gunk...but it really looks weird. Is this a sign/symptom of something else??
 
Ellymae, the stuff `wears away into dingy mahogany-yellow. If it's the tar you should be able to rub it between your fingers and still get a whiff of `creosote'. Is there any inflammation of the skin around the margins of the `tarred' area?
Can you lightly pinch up an area of the `waxy' area and then let go: skin integrity good? skin supple and not remaining raised where you pinched it? Has she been dirt bathing?

Dawn dishwashing soap (weak solution with warm water) will remove most of the remaining tar, just do a little each day(skin usually stains and will wear away as cells are replaced).

The tar is a pretty potent antibiotic (kills fungus). If it was applied very thickly over a large area the impermeable nature of the stuff might have caused a problem.

When we were using it on the jakes, their body temperature would cause some melting and release of the more volatilie constituents, there remained some waxy clumps in the folds of the caruncles (yellow dissapeared over about a month).

Could be somethng else, a pic would be helpful. Was the pine tar effective for the picking?
 
Last edited:
It seemed to work as long as the pine tar was still pretty fresh on her head. But now the hen that was doing all the picking and pecking has gone broody so maybe my EE can have some time to heal. I am going to leave off the pine tar as long as no one is hurting her.
 
I never noticed anything like that when I used pine tar. Pine tar is said to have natural germicidal properties, so it should help in healing the wound, as well as discouraging pecking.
Is the wound getting better? You stated there's no smell to the wound - which to me would indicate infection - so I really don't know what to tell you. Sorry.
 
Thanks so much for the replies...this EE is my favorite and I really don't want anything to happen to her due to my lack of knowledge. Pine tar is something I have never used until now so I wasn't sure if it was supposed to turn into a yellowish substance. All I can tell you is that stuff STINKS when you open the can!!!
She dirt bathes alot so maybe that is why the stuff is gunky....
 
Well, glad she's getting a break (nice that the nemesis is stuck to the nest).

We slathered it on the jakes (would spar like fiends both while free ranging and in the run). They had a lot of raw areas on their heads (we had tried Blu-Kote/no pick from feed store, to no avail). The tar was obviously `stinky' enough to slow down the `beak stitching' of one another's heads and caruncles. They still neck-wrapped, chest bumped and `claw jumped' one another, but their heads healed up and they were ever so much more wary when one was deciding whether to attempt a coup to overthrow the Alpha.

Stuff is hard to work with (and have to be careful of the eyes) but as a last resort it is hammer, not a `hail mary'.

Kim_NC suggested imitation grape soda for egg eaters (supposedly tastes terrible to chooks). We picked up a bottle today. I'll put out a couple of bowls of meal worms and spray one batch with the soda. If they totally avoid the `soda worms' I'll post (might work for picking if it works at all).
 
Last edited:
Quote:
EllyMae, I just want to clarify what I wrote last night. No smell, no infection. Smell, infection is what I meant to say.
Glad your hen is getting a break.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom