Bad wound on chicken bottom. UPDATE

[chutewoman]

I am new to the forum, but am in need of help. I have a black sex-link hen (about 1 yr old) that has had her feathers and, from what I can tell, skin removed from her bottom by the other hens in the pen. I need to know what to do for her. She was not feeling well before this happened but now she in bad shape. She was not eating well, very sluggish, comb was funny dark color, poo was clear and yellowish green, and she had started losing feathers, figured she was molting, other chickens took advantage of her condition. I have her in the house now because it is too dangerous in the pen and it is cold here, below freezing. I have water available and feed and have sprayed her bottom with iodine. Is there any advise anyone can give me. Thanks for any help!!

 

[silkiechicken]

Bringing her in was the right thing to do. Keep her warm, try to get her to eat and drink.

Dark comb could be because of the cold and lack of blood flow, with the clear yellow green poo being a sign of not eating.

Egg yolk boiled is a good supplement full of vitamins.

If you can take a fecal sample to the vet, they can see if there are any internal paracites so you can treat with the right drug for the paracite found if there is any.

For now, warm and comfortable is a good idea.

 

[chutewoman]

should I put anything on her bottom to help it heal? They picked enough skin off that it looks almost transparent. Her vent still is intact though.

 

[silkiechicken]

Some neosporin or blue kote may help.

Blue kote would disguise the wound too. But I'd not put her back out till she is healthy again.

 

[chutewoman]

Thank you, I will put neosporin on it and try to get her to eat, would moulting make her not want to eat?

 

[LynneP]

And while you're treating your hen, take time to do a rodent check in the coop because a rat will often bite a hen near the vent. Check for access in case your other birds get attacked too. I'm hoping I'm wrong, by the way, but I don't want you to overlook this, just in case...

 

[chutewoman]

Thanks for the advise. This evening I looked the coup over and do not think anything is getting in. I saw the red sex link peck at her while I was feeding them this morning, I had noticed the black sex link was losing feathers from her bottom two days before this happened, she was also losing them from her back,(no rooster in pen) the spot on her bottom had a speck of blood on it and so I think they just took advantage of the situation. I also had some white silkies in the pen until the same thing happened to one of them. The silkie had to be put down due to not healing from the attack. I moved the silkies out and no one has pecked each other since. I just want her to live, she is still not interested in food at all, this was going on before the attack, I have tried the egg, green beans, corn, wet feed. The only thing she will do is drink sugar water. Any other ideas.

 

[chutewoman]

I had to put my chicken out of her misery. Thanks for all the advise, I believe if it was just the wound that was the problem she may have made it. I just think she was already so weak before the attack that she did not have the strength to get better. Just in case it helps someone else here is what happened. Perfectly normal hen about 1 yr old stopped eating, just went around picking up a little here or there (mostly putting it back down) for about 3 days. (note here: we have had unusually cold temps before this happened, like 1 degree nights) I tried to entice her with treats but she did not seem interested. Would go in and out with the rest of the hens, walk real slow around the pen and sit down a lot. Poo was clear and yellow mixed. After about 3 days, she started losing feathers on her back and bottom, real fast like overnight. No roosters in pen, no parasites in pen or on bird, skin did look dry and did crack on her bottom. Other chickens saw this and pecked her bottom clean, took skin and feathers before I knew what had happened. Brought chicken into home, cleaned wound, used neosporin and she stopped eating altogether, but would drink water. Today she would not eat, would not drink, would only stand and sleep. If I touched her back she would open her eyes and fall over like she was surprised. Tonight she was unresponsive and would not open her eyes so I went ahead and put her down. My stomach is sick, this is the third chicken I have lost in two weeks. Not from exactly the same thing,one white silkie was killed by a dog,and another white silkie was attacked by the same group of hens, that wound did finally kill her( they pecked her vent and bottom real bad), but she was healthy up to the attack. One thing I know now is that I should have separated the hen sooner, I did not think she would do well in the house, so I left her with the others. I think they take advantage of weakness. I also learned do not keep white silkies with red and black sex links over the winter. My hens pecked pieces of feathers off them to eat and if they made them bleed the hens would have a feast! I moved my 3 remaining bloody silkies into their own pen( this is where the dog got one) and they have not once pecked each others wounds, wish I knew then what I know now. To anyone reading this I have a couple questions, will molting make a bird stop eating like this and do white silkies have as much trouble with the pecking each other as my sex links do? I am wanting to increase my flock for next year and was thinking white silkies may be the answer to some of my winter time problems. I have had no trouble with them now that they are alone in a different pen is this usually the case with that breed? Where do I go for answers on this?

 

[nnbreeder]

Could you please tell us your feeding program? Another thing to look at is the housing. If there is not enough space sometimes hens will start pecking each other.

As far as getting answers to your questions you are at the right place.

 

[kryptoniteqhs]

Quote:
aww im sorry...my favorite hen just passed too ;(