humane way to care for a chicken in isolation for a month

[ManueB]

I would also personally not isolate.
I've come to believe isolation stresses chickens so much it should be done only when strictly necessary.

I would bathe the foot before bandaging, to make sure it's clean. If you have epsom salts that's great but just warm water and getting her foot clean will do.
Just to add to what @Eggcessive said : I get vet wraps on Amazon because they are way cheaper and easier to find here than in pharmacies. And, for your hen, you could use a colloidal dressing or a foot corn wrap underneath, instead of a gauze. They are more convenient I find and well suited when the infection is light and there is no surgery. I like the colloidal dressing best because it keeps everything very clean underneath and it can be left up to four days. I get this one that can be cut to size.

Edited to add : to identify the egg, I think some people use colour on the hen's vent to mark the egg, but i've never tried it myself. My hen's eggs have differences in shape, size and weight that allow for identification even if they are not the same colour.

 

[Amphitecna]

Well, I guess I'd rather be an over protective mom than a neglectful one! I have already ordered vetwrap, from Amazon as ManueB suggested. It arrives on Wed. I'll see if i cant get her foot cleaned and wrapped with whatever we have in the first aid kit. She (and I) thank you. 18 more days seems horrible. She'll hold her own in the pecking order- there's only 3 of them and the omega is cute, and I love her, but she's a real wuss.

On a related, but side note- how do you give meds? I've tried sneaking them into her food and the old fashioned force feeding method. I hate the latter, but its the only guaranteed way I've found. Any ideas on that front?

 

[ManueB]

Well, I guess I'd rather be an over protective mom than a neglectful one! I have already ordered vetwrap, from Amazon as ManueB suggested. It arrives on Wed. I'll see if i cant get her foot cleaned and wrapped with whatever we have in the first aid kit. She (and I) thank you. 18 more days seems horrible. She'll hold her own in the pecking order- there's only 3 of them and the omega is cute, and I love her, but she's a real wuss.

On a related, but side note- how do you give meds? I've tried sneaking them into her food and the old fashioned force feeding method. I hate the latter, but its the only guaranteed way I've found. Any ideas on that front?

Some people find it very easy to pop in a pill or syringe liquid, but I hate it and will do it only if there is no other way.

Pills I crush into a powder then mix it with a very tiny amount of something the chicken really likes : yogurt, soft cheese, mackerel...
Liquid or gel : if it's a very small amount, same as above. If it's a bit more, I use something that can absorb liquid like bread mixed with egg.

The key is to use only a small amount of something very tasty. If there is too much, the chicken realises it tastes of medicine and stops eating, and then there is no way of knowing how much of the medication was ingested.

 

[Eggcessive]

I prefer to keep them in the flock. They eat better, they are less stressed, and many hens are pecked and bullied when out of the flock for more than a couple of days. There are safe methods to giving liquids or pills to chickens :
https://www.facebook.com/BolingBunn...ving-chicken-oral-medication/856943202314183/

 

[Amphitecna]

Yeah... I'd so much rather turn it into a treat than a torture. Problem is, while I had her in the box she was inconsistent in what kinds of treats she'd eat. One day she ate the egg I 30 seconds the next day rejected it completely. Ditto with bread. Maybe it was the stress? But any kind of flesh seems to please my little carnivore, so I plan to go that route. But hopefully now that she's back with her sisters she'll be less finicky.