kelvette
Hatching
- Jun 4, 2015
- 3
- 0
- 7
Hello everyone!
I have been lurking around a lot and you guys all have such great advice! I am new to chickens, we got 4 hens about 3 weeks ago. Everything was great until last week. On Tuesday my husband left our dog outside and he managed to get into the run. He killed one chicken which I think was at the top of the pecking order. She was a bit of a bully. We cleaned out the area and then decided to rebuild the entire set up.
On Thursday we left the dog inside and when I got home from work I noticed one hen (Poach) was all bloody. I ran inside to change and when I came back out the other two hens were in a frenzy pecking at her. I grabbed a stick and corralled them into the roosting area and closed the door. We have no idea if the chickens did all the damage or if some kind of predator got in.. It was a very strange scene.
We got Poach inside and set up a small dog crate for her. We cleaned her eye and back of her head with saline solution and polysporin. She opened the eye after about a day but it is just all black. I don't know if she can see out of it. She also had some deep holes in the back of her head.
She wouldn't eat anything, not even scrambled eggs, so I got some banana flavoured baby food and she loved it. I think that helped her regain some strength. She is now back to eating normal feed. She layed a large egg on Friday. Did not lay Saturday but then layed a small egg on Sunday while out in the yard free ranging. Over the weekend I let her free range while we rebuilt the coop. She did not go near the coop. She would find comfortable spots in the garden and just sun bathe.
I brought her over to the coop Sunday afternoon and I could feel her little heart start to race and she nuzzled into my neck. The other 2 chickens in the coop went crazy. They were yelling and pacing back and forth so I took Poach back to the garden...
She shows no interest in staying outside for long, she has become very cuddly (for a chicken) and does not ever act like she wants out of the crate. (we have been keeping it in our house)
Since the attacks the remaining 2 chickens in the coop have been pooping all over the nesting boxes and acting frantic like pacing, flying around and turning over their feed stations.
My questions are:
What are the signs of infection? It's almost been a week, should we continue using polysporin or just let it heal?
Will the other chickens ever be civil to Poach again?
Is pooping in the nesting box related to all the drama that has been going on?
inside?
How long should we keep Poach inside?
Thank you in advance for your help... I would appreciate any feedback.
I have been lurking around a lot and you guys all have such great advice! I am new to chickens, we got 4 hens about 3 weeks ago. Everything was great until last week. On Tuesday my husband left our dog outside and he managed to get into the run. He killed one chicken which I think was at the top of the pecking order. She was a bit of a bully. We cleaned out the area and then decided to rebuild the entire set up.
On Thursday we left the dog inside and when I got home from work I noticed one hen (Poach) was all bloody. I ran inside to change and when I came back out the other two hens were in a frenzy pecking at her. I grabbed a stick and corralled them into the roosting area and closed the door. We have no idea if the chickens did all the damage or if some kind of predator got in.. It was a very strange scene.
We got Poach inside and set up a small dog crate for her. We cleaned her eye and back of her head with saline solution and polysporin. She opened the eye after about a day but it is just all black. I don't know if she can see out of it. She also had some deep holes in the back of her head.
She wouldn't eat anything, not even scrambled eggs, so I got some banana flavoured baby food and she loved it. I think that helped her regain some strength. She is now back to eating normal feed. She layed a large egg on Friday. Did not lay Saturday but then layed a small egg on Sunday while out in the yard free ranging. Over the weekend I let her free range while we rebuilt the coop. She did not go near the coop. She would find comfortable spots in the garden and just sun bathe.
I brought her over to the coop Sunday afternoon and I could feel her little heart start to race and she nuzzled into my neck. The other 2 chickens in the coop went crazy. They were yelling and pacing back and forth so I took Poach back to the garden...
She shows no interest in staying outside for long, she has become very cuddly (for a chicken) and does not ever act like she wants out of the crate. (we have been keeping it in our house)
Since the attacks the remaining 2 chickens in the coop have been pooping all over the nesting boxes and acting frantic like pacing, flying around and turning over their feed stations.
My questions are:
What are the signs of infection? It's almost been a week, should we continue using polysporin or just let it heal?
Will the other chickens ever be civil to Poach again?
Is pooping in the nesting box related to all the drama that has been going on?
inside?
How long should we keep Poach inside?
Thank you in advance for your help... I would appreciate any feedback.
