I Think hardware cloth Wounded one of the girls *UPDATE ON CHICKEN*

[dawj]

I got home today and found one of my Buff Orpingtons with a triangle cut in her head/neck kinda folded torn skin. I noticed it cuz her head was black on one side (dried blood.) It wasn't bleeding so I examined wound and was able to lift flap and it was clean no bleeding so I applied tripple antibiotic ointment on the wound. I also applied vicks to her good side and a few inches down her neck to hopefully stop other hens from pecking her.

I crawled everywhere on my knees (hens looking at me like a fool) looking for anything that could have done this. I found a couple spots on the pop door openeing where I used hardware cloth to join the coop to run and I actually cut my finger running my hand around opening (on the top side of door). Could this have done it.... or do you think one of the other hens could have pecked her or bit her like that? The one that got wounded is my girl, she is the one who comes to me the most and actually if I let them all out she will come down to the camper and join me sitting at the table playing cards(we sit in the camper on hot nights). I combed the coop and run and there is no signs of entery. My coop and run are on my byc page.

Thanks,
Dave

The hens don't seem to bother her nor are any of them skiddish. She was fine at 5:30 am when I went to work.

Make sure you check hardware cloth well what seemed like not a big deal cut my hand....... unfortunatly after one of the girls got hurt.

 

[Omran]

Quote:
Thank you for sharing this info Dave, It is really very helpul especially for me because the hard rain last month washed a lot of the dirt and I am putting it off to lay more dirt on my hardware cloth.
thanks again.

 

[bertman]

Dave, just as you cut your hand on the hardware cloth, so can a chicken do the same with any part of its body that comes in contact with the sharp, pointy little ends.

If you can clip the ends off, do so. If you can't, then take some duct tape and double or triple layer it so it covers the sharp hardware cloth fangs.

Then, if your girl keeps getting cut you'll know to look for another source of the problem.

Good luck.

 

[bryan99705]

Sounds like your bird just got pecked hard by another bird. If you had a wire issue, the bird would probably be more torn up.

 

[Denninmi]

Well, its hard to know for sure how the injury occurred, but I've cut myself A LOT working with hardware cloth, it's evil stuff in that sense, those ends are really sharp and dangerous.

After you trim an edge, you can take a grindstone polishing bit for an electric drill and grind down the sharp points -- it helps a lot to have a helper hold the edge tight or to clamp it down so it can't wiggle/wobble. Be careful NOT to grind into the parallel wire that you're keeping and sever it.

http://power-tools.hardwarestore.com/54-359-grinding-stones/grinding-stone-set-253724.aspx

You can also use a file and do it manually, but it takes longer.

 

[RedDrgn]

It could have been an injury from another bird or the hardware cloth. Regardless, if you cut your hand on it then a chicken could get cut on it, too.

We just finished putting up hardware cloth in our run, and as much as I know it's a great thing to have, we HATED IT. Cutting and putting it up left our hands bloody - no matter how you cut it, it's sharp. We curled sharp edges back so that the chickens can't get to anything they could hurt themselves on. It was a bugger, but if you don't do it, there's always a chance someone's going to catch themselves on it.

 

[ParadiseFoundFarm]

Why does it mostly hapen to our favorites? Sorry - hope she gets better soon.

 

[dawj]

Do the chickens heal as fast as they grow?

 

[dawj]

Well Today my wife heard an aweful racket outside and there was a dog out by the run. All 9 hens were trying to get through pop door at once. This is prob how my fav. girl got hurt since 2 of the girls had bleeding scratches from being trampled by each other to get in coop today. The orig. hen is doing well. the tear tab is hanging their and when it falls off i don't think she wil have feathers on her head again in that spot, it seems to have healed from the insdie out. I was told by an officer that since the dog trashed my garden around the coop and showed teeth to my wife if it comes back again i have the right to protect my home, my kids, my wife and animals i was told to shoot it or call them and if the dog is aggressive they will shoot it. (2nd day in a row).

 

[bloom_ss]

Quote:
Wow. I don't think I would have waited to hear what the officer had to say...I probably would have taken care of the problem right then and there. Nothing makes me more mad than irresponsible pet owners who let their dogs run loose on other people's property. Especially dogs that are aggressive like that.

Glad to hear your hen that was injured will be alright...I hope the other one's scratches heal up quickly as well.