everything is falling apart

[zebraffe4231]

I must have done something wrong in my life and my chickens are suffering the consequences. So my "problematic" rooster to say the least is being rehomed. I can't have him over-mating the hens and attacking me so I'm working on finding him a better home that will suit his "sexual" needs. But on top of that...I noticed that my barred plymouth rock hen broke her beak. So I took her inside to examine it and guess what. Just guess. She has bumble foot as well. In both feet.

Right now I have her in a cage inside because I don't want her to make her feet worse or her beak. Should I keep her there or put her back in the coop (where she will be harassed by the rooster)? I have finals right now so I can't fix any of her injuries until Saturday.

 

[junebuggena]

The beak will probably heal on it's own in time. She will need deep dishes for both food and water though. The bumble foot should be treated ASAP. You don't want the infected areas to get larger, and if left too long, the infection can spread to the bones and kill.

 

[KayTee]

First of all, don't stress (easier said than done, I know!)

With regards to her feet, your girl has probably had bumblefoot for a while - another couple of days won't be the end of the world. If you could post some photos on Saturday that would help us advise you if surgery is necessary or if poultices or soaking would be the first the course of treatment.

For the beak, if she doesn't seem to be in too much pain then do as junebuggena says, give her deep dishes of food and water for the next few days - a photo of her beak would help too. Some people have glued beaks back, or used resin to form a replacement (usually done by a vet) - it depends upon the amount of damage done. @Nambroth has had broken beak problems that worked out fine:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/556859/the-ongoing-story-of-kua-the-broken-beak-pullet

If your girl doesn't want to eat or drink then her broken beak is probably very painful, and you need to at least get some pain relief from the vet. (If you can't go yourself try to get someone else to go for you.) Medicating without vetinary advice is dangerous - some human pain relief is lethal to chickens. I have used aspirin (vet prescribed) in the past, which is ok if there is no bleeding involved, but I don't have the dosing details to hand. I will try and find them asap. Maybe someone else on the thread will be able to help out with some ideas.

All the best for you and your girls - good luck with your finals - we'll be waiting for your post on Saturday!

 

[dawg53]

The beak would be the main concern right now, she has to eat/drink to survive. You can attend to the bumblefoot Saturday. Put her in a hospital cage away from the others. You'll want to give her watery gruel to eat, layer feed mixed with mashed scrambled egg to entice her to eat the watery gruel. The beak will heal in time depending on the severity of the injury. I had one that healed rather quickly in 10 days, but it wasnt a major beak injury. As mentioned, a deep dish is best.

 

[casportpony]

The person that started this thread might have some good ideas
:https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/848424/plese-help-chickens-beak-got-bit-off

-Kathy

 

[zebraffe4231]

Okay so I took pictures of everything.





She is eating and drinking and pecking things normally which tells me it doesn't hurt her. So I put her back with the flock because she's obviously been walking with the bumble foot. Two more days can't be that bad right? She started dust bathing when I put her back so I think she will be fine.

 

[junebuggena]

The bumble foot might instead be crud balls, either way it is minor and should only take a few minutes minutes to treat and clean out.

 

[dawg53]

Both footpads have the telltale scabs and will require minor surgery.