Help! Injured hen!

[Tiffy316]

I'm mostly worried about helping her stay warm since some of the nights get down into the 30s. She won't wear the doggy coat, and IDK how long it will take for the chicken sweater I ordered to arrive.

Is there anything else I can do to help her stay warm during these cold nights? Maybe put some straw or wood shavings down?

 

[AprilsZoo]

Like I explained wrapping her in a criss-cross or figure-8 style so that when you look from above the gauze forms an ‘X’ & her wings (—) come out to the sides like this —X—, will keep her almost as warm as her feathers. The fluffier rolled gauze (Kerlix) will be warmer than the thinner type.

If you don’t have or can’t get the rolled gauze, you can use ace bandages instead. Pick up several at the dollar store. They aren’t ideal, because they‘ll need washed instead of being disposable.

Also, you don’t need a fancy chicken jacket/shirt, you could use a baby or toddler t-shirt (depending on her size) ... cut holes near the hem in the front for her legs and if her wings don’t line up with the sleeves, cut holes along the sides below the level of the sleeves... if necessary take a few tucks to shape the garment to better fit the hen.

How is she doing, btw? Hopefully, she is healing nicely... You’ve made a nice little set-up for her.

 

[Tiffy316]

Like I explained wrapping her in a criss-cross or figure-8 style so that when you look from above the gauze forms an ‘X’ & her wings (—) come out to the sides like this —X—, will keep her almost as warm as her feathers. The fluffier rolled gauze (Kerlix) will be warmer than the thinner type.

If you don’t have or can’t get the rolled gauze, you can use ace bandages instead. Pick up several at the dollar store. They aren’t ideal, because they‘ll need washed instead of being disposable.

Also, you don’t need a fancy chicken jacket/shirt, you could use a baby or toddler t-shirt (depending on her size) ... cut holes near the hem in the front for her legs and if her wings don’t line up with the sleeves, cut holes along the sides below the level of the sleeves... if necessary take a few tucks to shape the garment to better fit the hen.

How is she doing, btw? Hopefully, she is healing nicely... You’ve made a nice little set-up for her.

Oh, now I see what you mean about the bandages. I'll give thst a shot. She's doing fine so far, but she doesn't like this new pellets food as much as the crumbles. None of my chickens do. But they made a mistake at my local feed store when I made an online order and gave me pellets by mistake. But she is eating. She just doesn't like the pellets all that much.

 

[Tiffy316]

She's healing up nicely so far. She just shed a scab a couple of days ago. I've gotten better at wrapping her bandages, but I mostly do it to help keep her warm until my chicken sweater comes in the mail since it tends to scab over very quickly. I still wash it and apply Neosporin every night before I put her back in her cage. She's very good about having her wound doctored, and only occasionally struggles when I wrap the bandages around her. She's doing pretty good so far and seems to be happy. Once her sore heals, I'll let her go back out with the others, with some protection of course.