We brought Foghorn back from the vet. She is on medication for 10 days and has to be kept isolated so the other hens won't peck at her weird looking beak and so she won't peck at anything hard. So we have her set up in the house here and she is not happy. We're hanging around with her, but we can't let her fly in case she injures her beak and she can't roam around for the same reason. So she is 'cooped' up in the dog run we used before we brought them outside and it's covered so she can't hop out. I have to force pills down her throat and coat the underside of her upper beak with medication 2x a day and I feel AWFUL!!!! She should be with her sisters outside!!!!!!! She's so lonely Is there anything I can do to make these next 10 days a happier time for her? She's eating drinking, preening. She looks and acts totally fine, except for the blobby thing on her beak. What's going to happen when I bring her back out after 10 days? Will the gang accept her back? I am totally freaked about this! On a brighter note, Ghost our Delaware laid her first egg. Her egg song woke me up this morning! HOWEVER.....she managed to break it and was laying in the mess, so now her beautiful white feathers on her chest are streaked with yolk. Silly hen. It looks like she laid it on the shelf in front of the nest boxes, because it was all wet there when I checked. Our other RIR, Jean, (Foghorn's sister) is building a nest in the nest box and she was singing this morning too, but no egg yet. I guess the good comes with the bad as they say. But my poor baby.....
Okay here is some pics of my first hatch, need help identifing the crosses. I know they are part Aussie, just do not know if the mother/father were BO, or Aussie/cornish cross. All I had in the breeding pen was two roos, 1 cornish X annd 1 Aussie with BO/RIR/Aussie hens. Thanks for the help. The just got moved from the guest room to the chicken Hilton outside This one has barring on the breats This one has rusty color on back of head Red barring here []
I am really unclear what that first reply is about... Is there another hen you could bring to her to keep her company while she gets better? From what I understand, there might be some pecking order issues to be sorted out when she goes back out but if you need to keep her quiet, that's the most important thing. I hope she gets better soon, poor thing. Good luck.
I'm not sure what that was about either..... Thanks for the advice. One of the reasons she is supposed to be isolated is so that the other chickens don't peck at her beak cuz it looks weird. The hens are all pretty docile and we don't have a roo. I'm going to call the vet back tomorrow anyway. I can't get a pill shoved down her throat either. She will noit open her mouth for me. The Vet had it open in 2 seconds!
I'd like to know, too, how to get a chicken's beak open to give it medications. Let us know when you find out what to do to make it work!
Is it possible to crush the pills to be able to mix them in something? Or perhaps that medication comes in a liquid?
Keep the hen by herself. The other hens will peck at her beak. No doubt about that. You could make a small perch for her. That may make a world of difference. I know it doesn't sound like much but hens really like to perch rather then sit on the floor. I have a hen that is house bound. She likes it and really likes her perch. She was very sick in Aug. This hen that is living in my kitchen can't really see, basically blind. She should be dead. How she is still alive I have no idea. She was always picked on by the other hens. In your case the hens got a log with each other. Putting her back in 10 days she will fine with them. She will get her beak pecked though. It's kind of like a chicken checking on another. 10 days will go by quick. As for giving her a pill. Open her mouth like you would a dog. You have to catch the edge of her beak closer to her face. As you do that you may have to slide your fingers to the middle of her beak to keep it open. Don't worry, if she closes her beak as if to bite it doesn't hurt. You will have to be quick with the pill though. Just shove it down there as fast as you can. Practice makes perfect........ lol. You will do fine. Good luck.
Thanks again. crj - I will try to give her her pill again tomorrow using your advice. It's a full-sized Amoxicillin capsule! She's in her darkened room now and I don't want to disturb her. I'm so nervous about having to touch her beak though. The acrylic dressing on top looks precarious and the last thing I want to do is wreck it. I wish I knew what the vet did. She wrapped her up in a towel and then held her neck. Foghorn opened her mouth instantly, took the pill and swallowed. Yeeeeesh! I'll try putting it in a bit of cat food as well. I guess after 10 days she's supposed to be OK and apparently the acrylic stuff and the pins will just come off by themselves as her beak grows. Like I said, the hens are all very docile. They have been together since hatching. There is a lead hen, Ghost our Delaware, but only in the sense that they tend to go where she goes. We also have 5 ducks and they all hang out together in the yard, but sleep in different houses at night. Well it's a learning experience. I'll just move my office in with her in the back room so we hang together during the day. I feel so bad for her
