How long for separation?

[MybittyFlockof5]

Hi chicken tenders! I went out to collect my eggs yesterday and found my Ginger’s head all bloody. I have no idea what happened but her feathers were ALL fluffed and she had a clear comb injury. She is probably my least handleable hen but under the circumstances let me snag her and was chill until I tried to clean her wound and then she went bananas! I separated her gave her some rooster booster in her water with an egg yolk in a bowl and ordered some veterecyn that should be here today.
My question is how long do I need to keep her separated? Just til I can get the meds on her or until it heals entirely? It’s not washed well because she started attacking me so it’s black from the blood this AM.

 

[Yardmom]

Personally I would put her back as soon possible. Chickens removed from a flock do not get the same flock status as they previously had. This includes birds separated in see no touch areas, When the bird is returned the birds fight for pecking order. Once you return her watch for a bit to make sure she is able to mingle with the flock without being attacked. If they leave her alone keep her in the flock. If they attack try see no touch and supervise for an extended time when releasing her back into the flock.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Can you get BluKote to put on the wound so the other birds do not peck her?

 

[MybittyFlockof5]

Can you get BluKote to put on the wound so the other birds do not peck her?

Do they have that at TSC? This is our first chicken injury. Our TsC was out of poultry veterycyn yesterday so I had to order some.

 

[MybittyFlockof5]

Personally I would put her back as soon possible. Chickens removed from a flock do not get the same flock status as they previously had. This includes birds separated in see no touch areas, When the bird is returned the birds fight for pecking order. Once you return her watch for a bit to make sure she is able to mingle with the flock without being attacked. If they leave her alone keep her in the flock. If they attack try see no touch and supervise for an extended time when releasing her back into the flock.

Thank you! The only reason I put her in the garage last night in the see no touch kennel is because it was near dusk and I didn’t have a way to keep her safe in my run at night. I only have 1 lg kennel so we set her up in the garage waiting on meds.

Personally I would put her back as soon possible. Chickens removed from a flock do not get the same flock status as they previously had. This includes birds separated in see no touch areas, When the bird is returned the birds fight for pecking order. Once you return her watch for a bit to make sure she is able to mingle with the flock without being attacked. If they leave her alone keep her in the flock. If they attack try see no touch and supervise for an extended time when releasing her back into the flock.

Thank you! The only reason I put her in the garage last night is because it was near dusk and I didn’t have a way to keep her safe in my run at night but conversely was afraid to put her in the coop with the girls before getting some meds on her comb and obviously wanted to make sure she was done bleeding. I only have 1 lg kennel so we set her up in the garage waiting on meds. She is feisty and does not like to be handled at all so I’d like to minimize the stress on both of us by handling her as minimally as possible.

 

[Eggcessive]

I do use BluKote to cover red wounds or red skin, and heads of Polish that have been bloody, but since the blood has dried and is black, I would try her back in the flock now and stay around to watch behavior. She may not need BluKote, and some people say that it has made things worse. Do you have a rooster who may have injured her head mating? Or could she have been in the favorite nest box, and someone kept pecking her to move her out?

 

[MybittyFlockof5]

I do use BluKote to cover red wounds or red skin, and heads of Polish that have been bloody, but since the blood has dried and is black, I would try her back in the flock now and stay around to watch behavior. She may not need BluKote, and some people say that it has made things worse. Do you have a rooster who may have injured her head mating? Or could she have been in the favorite nest box, and someone kept pecking her to move her out?

I don’t have a rooster, just 5 generally docile ladies who are pretty good with eachother! My 2 pullets should start laying any day now so I suppose it could be a nesting box issue. Miss Ginger is a real digger so I was thinking maybe she had her head down making an hole and caught it on the wire or something since it’s at the back of her comb. Even when I added the pullets they really didn’t peck so I struggle to think they did it to eachother but it’s always possible!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Until you get Veterycin you can clean with saline solution, you can make it yourself. Put it in a spray bottle, then you can rinse it without having to handle her. Google "Saline solution" for the recipe, it's easy.

When you do need to handle any chicken, try to do it at night after they have gone to roost, they often fuss less in the dark. Also it can help to wrap a bird in a towel, pinning their wings, especially if you do not have a helper.

@Eggcessive is a Educator and I am not, so always listen to her!

 

[MybittyFlockof5]

Until you get Veterycin you can clean with saline solution, you can make it yourself. Put it in a spray bottle, then you can rinse it without having to handle her. Google "Saline solution" for the recipe, it's easy.

When you do need to handle any chicken, try to do it at night after they have gone to roost, they often fuss less in the dark. Also it can help to wrap a bird in a towel, pinning their wings, especially if you do not have a helper.

@Eggcessive is an Educator and I am not, so always listen to her!

Ginger is definitely not one I’d handle without a towel, she still pecked me when trying to rinse her. I usually do my checks and sprays at night too! I’ve been lucky to not have any issues until yesterday but my girls are my babies and I was so anxious! I know she doesn’t want to be in the garage- she’s been quite vocal about her discontent

 

[Eggcessive]

Whoops, I though I posted this hours ago. But here it is: Hens can pick on the younger ones. But I would try to add her back when the scab is black and dry, and no red blood is visible. If the wound was from pecking, they can sometimes scalp the whole back of the head and neck.