Came home to find feathers all over pen and this.....

[rebrascora]

I'm not familiar with colloidal silver although many people make mention of it and report good things.

I do have raw honey, so can use that too.

Curious to know if you perhaps keep bees since raw honey is not often readily available in people's homes?.... My interest is due to being a beekeeper myself.

Hope my post didn't come across as overly critical, it's just that many people grasp at the simplistic answer, which is to blame the cockerel without understanding the dynamics of the situation they have created and may end up in the same situation again and again, which is why I try to explain it. Hormonal adolescent cockerels are almost always a pain in the butt (or head in this poor birds case) but can often grow out of it although not having mature birds to teach them manners is a drawback to that process.
We have all made mistakes with our poultry keeping and certainly some of mine have proved fatal, which really hurts, but the best I can do is learn from them and educate myself as much as possible so that I make less of them.
I'm reasonably confident your girl will recover from this even though it looks nasty. They are amazingly resilient creatures.

 

[sharonp53]

I'm not familiar with colloidal silver although many people make mention of it and report good things.



Curious to know if you perhaps keep bees since raw honey is not often readily available in people's homes?.... My interest is due to being a beekeeper myself.

Hope my post didn't come across as overly critical, it's just that many people grasp at the simplistic answer, which is to blame the cockerel without understanding the dynamics of the situation they have created and may end up in the same situation again and again, which is why I try to explain it. Hormonal adolescent cockerels are almost always a pain in the butt (or head in this poor birds case) but can often grow out of it although not having mature birds to teach them manners is a drawback to that process.
We have all made mistakes with our poultry keeping and certainly some of mine have proved fatal, which really hurts, but the best I can do is learn from them and educate myself as much as possible so that I make less of them.
I'm reasonably confident your girl will recover from this even though it looks nasty. They are amazingly resilient creatures.

It is fantstic stuff. We use nothing else on ourselves when we have a skin infection or injury. And really no offense taken. I am really grateful you shared your experience with me, I will not make that mistake again.

When you are growing out cockerals how do you house them? I found they get very agressive with each other is housed close to each other. I want to keep about four to five roosters for my breeding needs but they are very hard work, and not too pleasant at this stage. Any advice would be very welcome.

I only eat raw honey, that I buy locally direct from the beekeeper, but I do plan to learn how to keep bees myself.

 

[rebrascora]

You need a large separate pen away from the girls and raise them together from being young in order to keep things from getting silly. Or you could potentially tether them which is what they do with "fighting birds" I believe. Tethering any animal can be contentious and it needs to be in a safe environment where they have protection from predators, food, water, shelter and shade etc.
I only keep one or two for breeding and the others go in the pot. Keeping an older dominant rooster with your young cockerels might keep them in check, but it is difficult finding a balance and I would suggest you start with just 1 or 2 and build up to your goals slowly. That way you will have older mature birds that can go out with the girls and make the "bachelor pad" available for the next generation of young bucks. It is always a juggling act. There was a stage where I had 10 male birds in a pen of varying ages and mostly they were pretty good with each other and the head guy kept things civil most of the time, until one day one of the young pretenders decided he was big enough and strong enough to take over and my old guy took a beating. I started butchering the surplus boys after that because it is too much work for very little gain.

 

[rebrascora]

Will have to look into sourcing some colloidal silver to try it.

Beekeeping is totally fascinating. I've kept them for 20 years now and currently have 10 colonies right outside my back door. Even if they never produced honey I would still keep them. Just amazing creatures and all the products of the hive are beneficial.... honey, wax, propolis, pollen, royal jelly, (bee venom even) all have therapeutic properties. Definitely give it a go and don't be put off by the start up costs. It can be done on a shoe string by building a top bar hive and attracting a swarm. I started with a swarm 20 years ago and that colony is still surviving and has given rise to most of my other hives as well as helping many other local people get started in beekeeping with swarms from my hives.

 

[sharonp53]

I love it. I am scared though since I had a horrendous reaction to multiple stings as a child (bees were swarming and flew into my head, I shook my head and got bees stuck in my hair). But my husband will help and I will get desensitisation sessions arranged and keep an epi-pen handy!

 

[sharonp53]

I think I will dispatch him tomorrow. I don't have time for all this right now. I will set up a cage for future cockerels and start again later or buy good roosters as I need them.

Thanks for the advice.

PS: My grandparents were from County Durham

 

[rebrascora]

I once took 5 stings in the face helping a friend with her rather feisty bees. My face swelled up to twice it's size and both eyes closed and I couldn't see much for a couple of days and it was very sore and bruised afterwards. I bought a full bee suit after that and whilst I get stung on the hands occasionally because I prefer to work without gloves whenever possible, I have not taken multiple stings to the face since and have had no more bad reactions. I do still get a little localised swelling and itching though. I think people worry about developing an anaphylactic shock reaction but it is pretty rare. Yes an Epi Pen is a good idea if you are worried about a strong adverse reaction.

Hope you get a good meal out of him. Barnies should have plenty of meat on them. Remember to cook him low and slow as he will be much tougher and more sinewy than an 8 week old Cornish X.

Wow, what a small world! Do you know where in County Durham they came from?... It is a very small county!

 

[sharonp53]

I will have to check old records, but Jessop or Gessop, rings a bell?

 

[hayley3]

I currently have the same situation. My rooster is penned separately from my hens. I bought 6 more hens who will be 6 months old in November. I'm giving him another try then. Until then he will be separated. He is good with people so that's why I'm keeping him. I also bought an Eagle tether anklet, which I have yet to try...been busy with the baby chicks.
My hen had the same big ugly gash on the back of her head...I used Vetericyn Plus which is a MIRACLE skin healer but you might not have that there.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

With cockerels, they are fine until their hormones kick in and then they suddenly want to mate everything in sight and repeatedly. Only 2 hens or worse young pullets in a pen with one is almost always going to end in injury. You can keep an older mature rooster as a trio with 2 hens like this but not young bucks. Pen him separately until next year or if you can't be bothered to wait that long, despatch him. He is only doing what his hormones drive him to do. In some respects you created this problem by penning him with these 2 girls. In a more natural environment, there would be a mature rooster in charge of these hens/pullets and a young trier like this would be run off until he was mature enough to challenge for flock leader by which time hormones have usually calmed down. Raising cockerels and pullets together once they hit adolescence is not a happy situation if you don't have an older generation to keep order and even then, too many cockerels causes stress at the least.

I would be surprised if you are able to close that wound up by stitching as I would doubt there is enough spare skin on that part or the body unless there is a flap hanging where he has scalped her and even then the skin may die back. I would just clean the wound thoroughly with whatever antiseptic solution is available....Betadine, Chlorohexidine, diluted Iodine or maybe even just some dilute saline might be best since you are working near her eyes and the other stuff might irritate them. Pack the wound with a wound ointment like triple antibiotic ointment and keep it moist and clean and it should heal naturally. Many people find raw honey works well to help the healing process instead of ointment but beware of wasps or bees being attracted. To be honest she is probably best kept indoors to prevent possible fly strike as well as just keeping it clean. Many people have had to deal with such scalpings and they seem to heal well without closing them up if you can keep them clean.

Good solid advice!