- Apr 26, 2010
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SO I went to get lunch at the main house and when I came back 30 minutes later my Rooster Chicken-Butt had bloodied himself!! There was blood covering his face, wattles and comb, he was wiping his face on the bottom of the cage, which is what he does when he gets treats stuck to his beak. But this is the first time it has resulted in blood! He cleaned up relativly well, he's got some cuts and bruises on his face and wattles. Theres no serious damage, but I want to know if anyone has any ideas as to what might cause him to do this. He was in the house and the cat was outside, he had food and water. He had his mirror so he wasn't 'alone' I checked his mouth and nostrils theres nothing obstructing his air way.
Chicken-Butt seemed fine for about 20 minuets, he was alert but not frantic, sitting in my lap like a good baby. I just don't know what to think, I'm almost afraid to leave him alone. I figured out how he bloodied himself, he was grabbing his own wattles with his beat and tearing at them... unsure what else to do we tied a sock to his head... separating the wattles from the beak then we cut air holes in the sock so he wont over heat.... Please help me I don't know what to do!!
<<Update>> We tired the blu-kote and that didn't stop him, finally we went and got some medical tape and taped his wattles. Magic! It worked, with the blu-kote and daily changing of the tape his wattles healed with out infection and very little scaring. Sadly every time we took the darn tape off he started biting and scratching again, we devised a plan, Capzasin (medical grade hot pepper derivative used for arthritis). The hope was that the cream would burn just a little when he bit the edge of his wattles, like putting hot sauce on a kids finger nails to get them to quit biting. I tested it on the back of my hand and after not discomfort I licked it. Yes I licked arthritis medicine, I didn't want to apply it to Chicken Butt if it was too hot or going to burn for hours. The slight burning sensation only lasted for about 10 seconds so we put the Cazasin on only on the leading edge of his wattles (where he was chewing) when there were no wounds. It worked I was so happy, he bit a couple times then realized that was causing his tongue to burn.
Sadly that night we had a thunder and lighting storm causing him to rip off the remaining wattle cover (we only tired the Capzasin on one we had planed to unwrap the other in a couple days) and go into a wattle chewing frenzy. My Significant other Jason got up yesterday morning to find him bloody again! I haven't re-wrapped his wattled becasue I didn't want to impede the swelling. We tried everything from a different diet to more outside/lap time and finally a girlfriend, all the hen did was make Chicken-Butt upset
Fortunately it was a yard hen so we just tossed her back outside and she was happy. Unfortunately the only solution I can think of is to let him peck at himself and hope he gets a clue or Dubbing his wattles. Any advice would be welcome thank you for taking the time to help.
Chicken-Butt seemed fine for about 20 minuets, he was alert but not frantic, sitting in my lap like a good baby. I just don't know what to think, I'm almost afraid to leave him alone. I figured out how he bloodied himself, he was grabbing his own wattles with his beat and tearing at them... unsure what else to do we tied a sock to his head... separating the wattles from the beak then we cut air holes in the sock so he wont over heat.... Please help me I don't know what to do!!
<<Update>> We tired the blu-kote and that didn't stop him, finally we went and got some medical tape and taped his wattles. Magic! It worked, with the blu-kote and daily changing of the tape his wattles healed with out infection and very little scaring. Sadly every time we took the darn tape off he started biting and scratching again, we devised a plan, Capzasin (medical grade hot pepper derivative used for arthritis). The hope was that the cream would burn just a little when he bit the edge of his wattles, like putting hot sauce on a kids finger nails to get them to quit biting. I tested it on the back of my hand and after not discomfort I licked it. Yes I licked arthritis medicine, I didn't want to apply it to Chicken Butt if it was too hot or going to burn for hours. The slight burning sensation only lasted for about 10 seconds so we put the Cazasin on only on the leading edge of his wattles (where he was chewing) when there were no wounds. It worked I was so happy, he bit a couple times then realized that was causing his tongue to burn.
Sadly that night we had a thunder and lighting storm causing him to rip off the remaining wattle cover (we only tired the Capzasin on one we had planed to unwrap the other in a couple days) and go into a wattle chewing frenzy. My Significant other Jason got up yesterday morning to find him bloody again! I haven't re-wrapped his wattled becasue I didn't want to impede the swelling. We tried everything from a different diet to more outside/lap time and finally a girlfriend, all the hen did was make Chicken-Butt upset
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