badly Injured silkie hen

[rocky11]

thank you ALL for the info. she made it through the night so i am hopeful..

 

[Melissa Rose]

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[marshallbrown]

Thats great information! Still wondering about putting them back in with the flock after they have healed. What is the best way to do that? What are the chances of this happening again?

 

[alcap]

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[M@M@2four]

I would lather her head in neosporin! I use that on all injuries. It works awesome, helps them heal quickly, and helps with the pain. Years ago when I had Polish chickens, I had a rooster get mauled by a dog. He was barely alive and had puncture wounds on his chest and his scalp was torn. I lathered the wounds in neosporin and gave him electolytes and medicated chick food. I also gave him plain yogurt(good probiotics). After a week, he was up and walking like he was never injured and came to a full recovery within a few weeks! Good luck!

 

[Uniontown Poultry]

So glad she's on the mend!!

Since she was the victim of other chickens (picking), it can be hard to stop - CAN be, it's not impossible. Chickens pick each other for a lot of reasons, usually as a result of some stress, including: 1) they are bored, 2) they are overcrowded, 3) they are too hot w/o ventilation, 4) there are bright lights on them, 5) they have a lack of exercise, 6) their resources are scarce (food, water, nest boxes, roost space) or appear so (like if you had a full bin of feed, but the chickens all had to eat out of one small feeder.

How many chickens do you have, and in what size space? How much outside time do they get & what size is that area?

If it is one bird who you have identified as the problem picker, you may need to get rid of her. And I don't know why, but silkies are frequent picking victims - I had a problem with mine getting picked badly a few years ago. You may be able to re-introduce your healed birdies once you've put measures in place to prevent a recurrence (such as identify and re-home the primary picker if there is one, adjust flock housing's temperature, flock size, etc. as needed), but make the introduction slow - no sense risking undoing all that healing.

I highly recommend a diversion for them, such as an aluminum pie pan nailed to the wall, or (my personal favorite) a cabbage or melon or pumpkin or an old apple or head of lettuce cut in half or quarters. You can do both - if you've got the space, do as many diversions as you like. You can even get a "treat ball" to hang in their coop so they have something healthy like lettuce or apples to peck at, and it keeps off the boredom. The treat ball I think has a little bell on it, too (my silkies love bird toys with bells for some reason!). It is also suggested that a diet higher in seeds, bran, grains, and dark leafy veg (kale, I guess) helps reduce picking, and Lord knows chickens love scratch grain tossed in their pen! Hope this helps, and good luck with your sicky chickies!!