Our 6-7 week old pullets have been attracting the attention of the neighborhood cats. This morning I noticed that one of them has a scratch with missing feathers and dried blood on her breast/lower neck. It looks like a cat may have been able to swipe through the space between the 2x2 at the bottom of the tractor and a depression in the ground. She doesn't seem to be behaving any different and the bleeding has stopped. I would appreciate any advice about treating the wound. (Not just what to use but advice about how to apply...) We have betadine, peroxide and antibiotic ointment on hand and are near a (people) drug store. This evening we will be near a feed store and we could try to get blue-kote or other livestock treatments there. We used to have gentian violet around (the active ingredient in blue-kote). If not we could probably get it from a (people) drug store nearby. BTW, there is only one other chicken in the tractor now (another pullet the same age) and I haven't seen any pecking. But should I separate them (maybe with wire within the tractor) to protect her from pecking by her sister?
I sprayed some betadine on the wound. After that her sister was pecking, although it seemed more like she was helping clean away the betadine than pecking at the flesh. Nonetheless, the wounded one is now inside a "cage" made of stacking wire storage cube panels within the larger tractor.
