injured comb

[brusternme]

I am not sure what has caused this, but went out to clean up after the girls only to find one has an injured comb. It is dripping blood and I am not sure what to do. This is my first injury so I could use some good advice! Thank you.

 

[sharol]

I've read here that flour will help stop the bleeding. Then blu-cote to discourage pecking.

 

[junglebird]

I've cared for combs damaged from pecking, and, I think, also getting caught on the chicken wire.

I use a saline solution to wash it (boil a cup of water with 1/4 cup sea salt in it, cool, then pour in jar)
then put on a balm to protect it (I use a home made salve with tea tree oil and herbs in a beeswax base, but I think bag balm, or even chapstick would be helpful)

On the first comb I cared for, I used peroxide to clean it then Neosporin to heal/coat it. I found those products to be too harsh - they dried the comb out, leaving it more fragile. I found iodine to be too harsh also.

 

[ravenseye57]

I'm also having comb and wattle trouble with my roo. He got frostbitten when I had to seperate him from the hens (long story, see "Rooster thinks saddles are the enemy"). Now he has dead black skin on his comb tips and wattles. I put more vaseline on it, I had them coated with vaseline when it happened but that didn't prevent the frosbite. Any other first aid suggestions? His wattles were very swollen at first but that has gone down now, but I'm afraid of gangrene.

 

[CMV]

Quote:
Just monitor him and keep sniffing him. Yes, it sounds weird, but gangrene STINKS to high heaven so is spotted quickly if you keep sniffing him. It smells sickly sweet like rotting corpse. Betadine applied to the areas will likely prevent an infection, dry out the pus/inflammation, and allow the necrotic areas to dry up and fall/slough off quicker. At this point the key to getting this process done and over with, is to dry out the affected areas so they can just fall off.

brusternme- sharol has some good advice that I have used many times and had absolute success with. Blukote is a wonderful product...just don't get it on you or you will have it on you for weeks.

junglebird- Tea tree oil is absolutely toxic to birds and small mammals if ingested in even the most minute quantities. I would recommend you re-think using this particular stuff on any small animals that may ingest it through preening, grooming, or playing/tussling. There are some heart breaking stories in the archives here of folks using it and finding out the hard way that what is good for humans and what is good for animals are two different things.

Good luck to all.