Beak Injury, Pooped On, Scared/Traumatized

[chickendreams24]

Also she's stunning and looks like several of my EE.

 

[lrach73]

She's not doing great. For the last 3 hours or so she's been laying in the corner of the coop. She perks up if I open the door by her, but otherwise she just lays there. I don't think she's drinking or eating.

 

[coach723]

Is it dark in the coop where you have her? That will reduce activity and eating. If she's not sick, it would be better to figure out a way to separate her out where the rest of the chickens are. The least stress you can cause her the better. Some birds just don't do as well alone, and keeping them in the company of other birds helps them do better. Just guesses since I can't see your bird, nor do I know her.

 

[lrach73]

Is it dark in the coop where you have her? That will reduce activity and eating. If she's not sick, it would be better to figure out a way to separate her out where the rest of the chickens are. The least stress you can cause her the better. Some birds just don't do as well alone, and keeping them in the company of other birds helps them do better. Just guesses since I can't see your bird, nor do I know her.

I ended up putting a wire dog crate (large) inside the run, put down some pine shavings inside and moved her out there. The first thing she did was fly right into the side and make her beak start bleeding again . I think she's freaked that all the chickens, including the cockeral, all ran over and surrounded the crate.

I'm going to leave her be and see what happens, I guess. What do I do with her tonight? Typically, everyone would go inside the coop and I would close it up at night, but the crate is too big for me to lift up into the coop.

I should add that putting her inside the house wouldn't work and sort of defeats the purpose of her still being part of the flock. I'm way too allergic to have her inside.

 

[coach723]

When I have one crated I just put a large blanket over the crate at night. They usually go to bed as usual that way. Give her some time to recover from the trauma and settle down. Some birds are just more flighty. I also usually keep a blanket or towel on top of the crate all the time so they don't feel attacked from above, or get pooped on. The other chickens will get on top of the crate.

 

[lrach73]

When I have one crated I just put a large blanket over the crate at night. They usually go to bed as usual that way. Give her some time to recover from the trauma and settle down. Some birds are just more flighty. I also usually keep a blanket or towel on top of the crate all the time so they don't feel attacked from above, or get pooped on. The other chickens will get on top of the crate.

Yeah, I attached some cardboard to the top so she's got a poop-free zone. The blanket is a great idea, thank you.

I just went out to check on her and now she seems a little spunkier. I think she's feeling a little bold behind her bars. The cockerel is standing by the back of the cage and she's sort of lunging at him and kicking a face full of pine shavings at him. She's done it about ten times.

 

[Kfults]

Good for her. Once she heals and her nutrition improves, hopefully she will reintegrate and have the confidence to join the flock ( with that cockerel gone)

 

[coach723]

Hope she's on the road to recovery. Just remember to allow as much time as it takes, don't rush it. If you try to integrate and it doesn't go well, go back to separation for a while. There is no 'set' time for it to be done, sometimes it's quick, sometimes it's not.

 

[lrach73]

She was having none of the sleep-in-the-kennel business. We went out there to put a blanket over the kennel and she was freaking out, because the others had gone into the coop. She was trying to fly, latching onto the side of the kennel with her feet, etc.... It was very obvious she wanted to go inside.

I was afraid she was going to hurt herself with the tantrum she was throwing, so I opened the door. She immediately sprinted up the ramp and jumped on the roost, found her spot and laid down. At some point she'd wiped almost all of the dried blood off her beak.

 

[Dona Worry]

When my rooster had the cracked beak, he felt extremely sorry for himself for several days. He also did not want to be isolated, so what I did is collected after dark and before dawn to clean and treat his injuries (I wrapped him firmly, but gently, in a towel) , and the whole flock got multiple dishes of special 'soup' made from their normal food, plenty of water, yogurt, and liquid vitamins. I made it extremely sloppy so he could actually drink it, and the first couple of days I actually supplemented it with syringe feeding.
I think a little tlc the first couple of days to prevent them getting weak or dehydrated goes a long ways.
And my roo is naturally flighty, but in low light and wrapped up snug, he was totally calm and cooperative.