Do they not have any common sense?

[ridgefire]

I swear my chickens have no sense of any kind. I went out to feed and water them and I had a BO stuck in the wire between the main barn and the coop.

To help explain I made a drawing

My coop is a built onto the side of my barn and you have to step down to get into the storage area. Because of all the snow this year the chickens wouldn't go outside so I was letting them roam the entire barn but that quickly came to an end because of poop. So I made a gate to block the door to the main barn out of chicken wire. This summer I plan on actually building a door frame to add a door.

Well back to the problem. Apparently my chickens don't like being confined to this area and decided to try and tunnel under the gate. Well she almost made it but didn't count on gravity allowing this gate to fall onto her as she removed the dirt out from under it. Seeing as this was just supposed to be a temporary quick fix I didn't worry about the sharp edges from the chicken wire. So she had some of those points embedded into her back and she obviously had been thrashing around to escape so she was a bloody mess and missing feathers off her butt. It looks like it would if the roo was being over friendly but not in this case. I cleaned it the best I could and put her back in. The others didn't seem to pay any attention to her or the red spot. But if it gets worse I guess I will have to make room in the freezer for her. Sorry if that sounds mean but my chickens are not pets to me. I do love them but they have a job and need to earn their keep.

ok now for the question. Should I apply any antibiotic to the wound? And if do and still end up putting her down is there any worry about using the meat from her?

 

[CarlaRiggs]

This doesn't sound too serious.. and to answer your question YES! They have no commone sense.

As long as the wounds are not deep, I wouldn't worry too much. Put some antibiotic onto the cuts, and keep them clean. Make sure none of the other chickens pick at her. As long as she's eating/drinking well, I'm sure she'll be fine.
And no, the topical antibiotic won't hurt if she's eaten. However, I wouldn't eat a chicken with oral antibiotics in her system.

Carla

 

[ridgefire]

I checked on her today, other than a scab she seemed fine. She ran right over when I threw their treats down and was eating just fine. She is high enough in the order that the other hens dont bother her.


She is either one tough bird or she heard me talking about making her my dinner and is putting on a show.

 

[CarlaRiggs]

Oh, good... I'm glad to hear she's perked up today.

I'm amazed at some of the photographs shared here at BYC. I'd think the chicken is a goner, but after a week, it's back up to eating, drinking and scrambling for treats! Always a shock to see something like that on one's own hen, though.
Thanks for the update.

Carla