Chickens After Surgery.

[AllyCat6170]

Hi All! Skip to bottom for the question but here is the story about my chicken!

My Rhode Island Red, Peep, just had surgery to remove a key chain or soda pop tab looking thing from her stomach. It was causing her to become egg bound. At first we thought she was just being broody. (She was having all the symptoms of puffing up, making velociraptor noises, staying in her nesting box, etc..) After about a week of this we did some research and we thought she had an egg stuck, so we took her to our vet. Upon reviewing an x-ray, we found she had eaten some sort of metal thing. (XRay below) Our vet said that he would do the surgery pro bono but she may not make it.

However, surgery was successful and now we are ready to bring her home. I’m worried about bringing her back because we have three other girls in our flock (New Hampshire, golf sex link, americauna) and I don’t want them to peck at her surgery site or hurt her! Has anyone had a chicken recovering from surgery? Should I isolate her until she’s healed? What should I do to best re-introduce her to the flock?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad to hear she is doing well after surgery.

You will want to keep her separated until she heals. Did the vet give you instructions for aftercare?
You may need to keep her in a clean environment for a few days, then you can transition her to a dog kennel in the coop/run - a lot depends on your set-up.
Here's the best way to re-introduce a lone chicken into the flock: http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-a-single-hen-to-an-existing-flock