I heard a squabble and ran out the door to see one of my Americaunas run across the bridge - but no predator in sight.
She lost a lot of feathers - mostly on her little butt and tail; also a few on one wing and her chest.
She has a tear right below where her tail feathers were - but above her vent (which fortunately wasn't injured).
The tear is only in the skin and about 1" long (my thumbnail in this pic is 5/8" long). In a human, it would require stitches - but I don't know how to treat this:
The images are somewhat graphic - just so you're warned:
My other 12 chickens are not bothering her and she is walking normally.
Can anyone please help me with my poor chicken?
UPDATE: thanks to everyone for all your help and advice. I treated her wound with triple antibiotic cream and flushed it with betadine tea for several days. I ordered Rooster Booster No Peck, Blukote, Swat, Aluspray, and Poultry Drench online. The Rooster Booster came in a couple of days later and I applied that - and was relieved that I didn't see any signs of infection. On Saturday, the Poultry Drench arrived, so I gave her a dose of that and checked her wound again. Even though it had only been a week, the exposed muscle was completely covered with healthy skin (and I didn't suture or butterfly bandage it) -- I can see that new feathers are just starting to come in. You all were right about how resilient chickens are ... And to me, it's nearly miraculous how quickly she's recovered. We've named her Lucky - she was our only Americauna that was laying -- she laid a beautiful blue egg the morning after she was attacked, but hasn't laid since.
I'm keeping all the hens locked in the hoop coop, and they're a pretty disgruntled lot, after having the run of our bit of acreage. But I let them free range whenever I'm outside working, which will have to do for now. My chicken medicine bag is now stocked and I just had to tell all of you how much I appreciated your taking the time to post such helpful advice and encouragement when we really, really needed it!
She lost a lot of feathers - mostly on her little butt and tail; also a few on one wing and her chest.
She has a tear right below where her tail feathers were - but above her vent (which fortunately wasn't injured).
The tear is only in the skin and about 1" long (my thumbnail in this pic is 5/8" long). In a human, it would require stitches - but I don't know how to treat this:
The images are somewhat graphic - just so you're warned:
My other 12 chickens are not bothering her and she is walking normally.
Can anyone please help me with my poor chicken?
UPDATE: thanks to everyone for all your help and advice. I treated her wound with triple antibiotic cream and flushed it with betadine tea for several days. I ordered Rooster Booster No Peck, Blukote, Swat, Aluspray, and Poultry Drench online. The Rooster Booster came in a couple of days later and I applied that - and was relieved that I didn't see any signs of infection. On Saturday, the Poultry Drench arrived, so I gave her a dose of that and checked her wound again. Even though it had only been a week, the exposed muscle was completely covered with healthy skin (and I didn't suture or butterfly bandage it) -- I can see that new feathers are just starting to come in. You all were right about how resilient chickens are ... And to me, it's nearly miraculous how quickly she's recovered. We've named her Lucky - she was our only Americauna that was laying -- she laid a beautiful blue egg the morning after she was attacked, but hasn't laid since.
I'm keeping all the hens locked in the hoop coop, and they're a pretty disgruntled lot, after having the run of our bit of acreage. But I let them free range whenever I'm outside working, which will have to do for now. My chicken medicine bag is now stocked and I just had to tell all of you how much I appreciated your taking the time to post such helpful advice and encouragement when we really, really needed it!
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