dead rooster and wounded hen

[Redfamily]

I am so glad to find your website--My family and I are brand new to owning chickens; we only know what we have read in a book. We bought 6 Rhode Island Reds a week ago-1 rooster and 5 hens, which we are told are about a year old. They have been free range until my husband and I can finish building their coop.

Unfortunately, yesterday I found my rooster dead--he had wondered too close to our neighbor's property and her dogs. Also, one of the hens is hurt--her wound is on her back and she is missing a few feathers. She is walking around a little but I'm not sure if she is eating. What I would like to know is if we should put her down or let time heal her or help her somehow?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thank You.
Kelly

 

[mudhen]

You may need to isolate her so she can recover. If she has open wounds, many here recommend Blue Kote.
Make sure she is drinking and eating.
May I recommend you change the title of your post to better describe the emergency and perhaps a more experienced person can advise you too. (just edit your first post and you can change the title)
BTW welcome to BYC.
Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[maggiePI]

If she has puncture wounds I would use antibiotics. Clean the wound with warm saline or half peroxide and water. Dry and apply triple antibiotic or neosporin ointment. I have dropper/syringe fed a dog-wounded chicken - water and blue green algae (or some other high energy green food). I mixed tuna water when I had it. The main problem is if she has a deep wound needing antibiotics. I agree - change name of your post to something addressing how to treat a dog bite if she has actually been bitten for help with antibiotic treatments that others may have used with good outcome. I wouldn't put her down. I syringe fed my hen for 2 weeks 3x a day and she went from almost dead to alive and doing well. Good luck. Sorry about your rooster.

It's sad to lose any of your flock. My rooster lives overnight in an indoor rabbit cage (no rabbit in there) so he doesn't wake my city neighbors.

 

[Redfamily]

thanks for all the good tips.

My next question is how to catch her and administer the medicine and where do you get the medicine?

 

[justusnak]

Red family.....so sorry to hear of your loss. Darned those dogs!! un Just waite untill she goes in to roost at night, and gently pluck her off the roost.

Neosporin you can get almost anywhere. Thats what I have on hand, for those "just in case" times.

Maybe you can get some liquid baby vitamins...and give her a drop or two every day. Just drop right in her mouth.Oh, she wont like it, but it will be good ofr her.
Good luck with your hen....keep us updated!

 

[maggiePI]

WEll, if you can't catch her than she must be doing okay!

If you are wondering how to give antibiotics they come so they can be given in water or food. If she does not have punture wounds the neosporin on it daily should do it. I agree - dang dogs! They killed several of our pets over the past few years.

 

[keljonma]

Sorry to hear about your birds!

If you have tea tree oil, you can apply it with an eye dropper on the wounds. It disinfects and heals the wound without drying out the skin. I've used it successfully on wounded cockerels that were pretty bloody. I only applied it once. The feathers grew back beautifully and you can't even tell where the wounds were.

If any of your other birds pick on her, she should be isolated. Vitamins and electrolytes will help with the shock of attack.

Good luck!