Beat up meat bird

[casibugg]

Hi there!

One of my poor meat birds really took a beating from his fellow chickens. I rescued her from the tractor and have him on my porch. Her head is very pecked up and I put some blu-kote on it. I have her drinking and eating, which is a good sign but I think she is probably in shock. I put her on my sun porch to keep a close watch on her but was wondering if I should put a heat lamp over her? It is warm on the porch and she has the benefit of the sun. I don't want her too hot but also if she is in shock want to keep her warm. Any thoughts? I would say it is in the 80's and she is about 12 weeks old but on the smaller side since she was not getting her share of the food.

Thanks for any advice! We have had laying hens for a few years but this is our first time with meat birds and they are quite different!

 

[Eggcessive]

Eighty degrees is fine for a sick or injured chicken. Twelve weeks is pretty long to keep a meat bird if you are planning to butcher her. They can suffer from heart attacks and broken bones when kept past 6-8 weeks old, but as long as you are limiting her feed, she may grow older if you plan on keeping her. Just remember they are created for butchering around 6-7 weeks old. I would clean her wound with saline, and use some plain Neosporin on it. Hopefully, she will start drinking when she is more alert. Then place her in a dog crate with her own water and feed within the coop or run, so they all still can see each other.

 

[Birdinhand]

I've seen this with meat birds. it's hard to say why it happened. sometimes it happens because they are too close, other times it's just that being a runt puts them in the rejection category, in which case re-integration is not a likely possibility. if it simply got injured somehow, the sight of blood can cause a pecking frenzy sometimes. the color red pops out from a mile away for chickens and they can't resist it, that is why nipple waterers are colored red. keeping meat birds this long though is problematic, they simply are bread with something like a 6X metabolism and by around 8 weeks they tend to approach a sort of programmed end point. there are special things you can do to extend their life but IMHO, you aren't doing them any favors keeping them alive, they tend to have a rough life, particularly with some strains of CX.

 

[casibugg]

Eighty degrees is fine for a sick or injured chicken. Twelve weeks is pretty long to keep a meat bird if you are planning to butcher her. They can suffer from heart attacks and broken bones when kept past 6-8 weeks old, but as long as you are limiting her feed, she may grow older if you plan on keeping her. Just remember they are created for butchering around 6-7 weeks old. I would clean her wound with saline, and use some plain Neosporin on it. Hopefully, she will start drinking when she is more alert. Then place her in a dog crate with her own water and feed within the coop or run, so they all still can see each other.

Thank you! They seem to be a slower growing breed. I had to postpone our butcher date because they were not quite 5 lbs. I was surprised as I had expected them to finish much more quickly. This is our first time and we are keeping their food full. This one is definitely much smaller than the rest.

 

[casibugg]

I've seen this with meat birds. it's hard to say why it happened. sometimes it happens because they are too close, other times it's just that being a runt puts them in the rejection category, in which case re-integration is not a likely possibility. if it simply got injured somehow, the sight of blood can cause a pecking frenzy sometimes. the color red pops out from a mile away for chickens and they can't resist it, that is why nipple waterers are colored red. keeping meat birds this long though is problematic, they simply are bread with something like a 6X metabolism and by around 8 weeks they tend to approach a sort of programmed end point. there are special things you can do to extend their life but IMHO, you aren't doing them any favors keeping them alive, they tend to have a rough life, particularly with some strains of CX.

I was thinking that I would keep her/him separate until they are butchered if it makes it. We are not trying to extend their life at all. I would have preferred to have them finished a couple weeks ago but they just are not growing fast. We have weighed them and postponed twice.