I had some new hens in isolation in a (giant) dog crate in our woodshed and this morning I discovered that one of them had gotten her wing pulled cleanly off by SOMETHING. I was just about ready to combine the hens and now I will do that tonight after bedtime since I don't want to risk whatever it is coming back for another hot wing.
I do have a question, however. This hen is quite shy and I don't think it's necessary to bring her into the house. She was acting normally and now that I've bandaged her she's acting all funny because her balance is way off. The way I have her bandaged is just padding under where the bone sticks out and then on top of it, then wrapped with an ace bandage. I would like to do something different, though. The last time I had an injured hen she really started to get better when I left her unbandaged, so I'd like to keep the bandage at a minimum.
However, I not only have the "injured hen" dynamics but also the "new hens" dynamics. What I do have going for me is that I only have 3 other hens and I'm adding 3 more so it's not like I'm adding a few hens to an existing flock of 30... they will be equal. I'm concerned about being pecked at a lot.
I may bring her indoors tonight in a box because I don't have any blukote and I can't make it to the store till tomorrow, so would it be a bad idea if I brought her in, put the other 2 noobs in with their sisters in the coop, then tomorrow when I get some blukote, unbandage the injured hen, spray her real good with blukote and let her go? She wasn't acting injured until I bandaged her, so I think the bandage itself is what's making her "act" injured.
Oh - and the bone... the bone sticks out a bit. I think a bunch of it will end up recovered once she heals but should I shorten it? I have no idea how I'd do that.
I do have a question, however. This hen is quite shy and I don't think it's necessary to bring her into the house. She was acting normally and now that I've bandaged her she's acting all funny because her balance is way off. The way I have her bandaged is just padding under where the bone sticks out and then on top of it, then wrapped with an ace bandage. I would like to do something different, though. The last time I had an injured hen she really started to get better when I left her unbandaged, so I'd like to keep the bandage at a minimum.
However, I not only have the "injured hen" dynamics but also the "new hens" dynamics. What I do have going for me is that I only have 3 other hens and I'm adding 3 more so it's not like I'm adding a few hens to an existing flock of 30... they will be equal. I'm concerned about being pecked at a lot.
I may bring her indoors tonight in a box because I don't have any blukote and I can't make it to the store till tomorrow, so would it be a bad idea if I brought her in, put the other 2 noobs in with their sisters in the coop, then tomorrow when I get some blukote, unbandage the injured hen, spray her real good with blukote and let her go? She wasn't acting injured until I bandaged her, so I think the bandage itself is what's making her "act" injured.
Oh - and the bone... the bone sticks out a bit. I think a bunch of it will end up recovered once she heals but should I shorten it? I have no idea how I'd do that.