Bleeding comb, but the other girls don't seem to notice

[HeyHo]

This isn't so much an injury post as a behavior question.

One of my girls injured her comb early this morning, poor girl was bleeding all over the feeder, the nesting box and down her beak. Rosie is lowest in the order, so I suspect she got pecked by a flock leader. I cleaned her up, sprayed the wound with some Vetrimycin and she acted the same as usual. So did the others -- none of her flock mates seemed to notice or care. And they were all interacting (chatting, digging together, taking turns in the nests). I didn't want to separate her and cause stress, so I let her be with the others in the run/coop while I was at work. I worried she would get picked on because of the injury but all seems well, although there was a lot more blood on the feeder where her comb rubs against it (she clearly isn't kept away from the food).

All the articles, forums, etc. say to separate her while the comb heals because the others will peck at the wound, but none of the other pullets showed any interest in Rosie's comb whatsoever. Since she's at the bottom of the order, I'm concerned that isolating her for minor injuries will cause longer term problems than just leaving her be. Has anyone else seen this kind of thing? I'm trusting my instincts in dealing with my girls, but just wondering if others err on the side of not intervening and how that has worked for them.

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

I've had a girl or two who have bled from their combs and I just left them there and they turned out okay. I don't remember which hen(s) it was, but I do know she wasn't at the top of the pecking order, maybe middle to lower middle. I was a little bit worried, like you, that the other hens would see blood and start pecking, but they didn't. So from my experience, I'd say to just leave her be unless problems arise

 

[HeyHo]

I've had a girl or two who have bled from their combs and I just left them there and they turned out okay. I don't remember which hen(s) it was, but I do know she wasn't at the top of the pecking order, maybe middle to lower middle. I was a little bit worried, like you, that the other hens would see blood and start pecking, but they didn't. So from my experience, I'd say to just leave her be unless problems arise

Thanks! That makes me feel better!

 

[aart]

Have seen the same thing many times...I don't clean or treat at all, it's rarely an issue.
Tho when I see blood smeared or dripped around the coop, I do keep a close eye on things to make sure nothing needs to be attended to.

Had big smear of blood on feeder a few weeks ago, because of location it had to be a comb, but I couldn't even figure out who was bleeding.

Just the other day I came into coop to clean/feed etc and a pullet was in a nest with a huge drop of blood on her comb and another on her beak, checked back later and she was fine.

Just because they can go all 'cannibal' with blood or an open wound,
doesn't mean its guaranteed to happen.....observe and adjust.

 

[HeyHo]

Thanks, aart! I can read all I want, but there's nothing like learning from the experiences of others!

 

[Shadrach]

I agree with those above. Sometimes I treat to stop infection but apart from that I don't seperate and so far there haven't been any disasters from being picked on by other flock members.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

My lowest pecking order chicken had a comb injury a few months ago. One ofthe other chickens would not stop pecking at her. Someone on her suggested washing the blood off with baby shampoo, to get the smell off. It worked and I didn't have to keep her separated. The other chicken stopped pecking at her. She had blood on her feathers, though.

 

[tripletfeb]

I had the same thing happen to one of my girls. Never figured out how she injured her comb but I cleaned it and put blu kote on. None of the other girls even noticed anything. I saw blood splattered around the coop the other day, not much. Can't figure out who it is but everyone is acting normal so I just let it be.