My leghorn who is lowest in the pecking order got a decent gash on the bottom of her ear yesterday. I have two other hens that have gotten a bit bully-ish this past week so am assuming one of them caused it. I cleaned all the dirt out of it and put some antibiotic ointment on it - none of the chickens in the flock are bothering it, although lowest in the flock she is not harassed or constantly picked on per say. Her rooster has actually taken to circling her when one of the meanie top hens starts to bug her, which makes them leave her alone. But he will and does mate with her, he isn't over zealous in his mating but the neck grab is of course still there.
My concerns are how dirty it gets, the rooster possibly grabbing her there instead of the back of the neck and with her being the lowest in the pecking order if I remove her and then put her back she'll be picked on more than just always being shooed away. Should I remove her into a dog crate that I can keep much cleaner than their coop/run and just deal with the re-introduction? Or do you think it would be okay just to leave her with everyone where she'll be happier and clean it multiple times a day? I found a bottle of clear liquid bandage last night digging around my horses' medicines and plan to put that on this morning.
My concerns are how dirty it gets, the rooster possibly grabbing her there instead of the back of the neck and with her being the lowest in the pecking order if I remove her and then put her back she'll be picked on more than just always being shooed away. Should I remove her into a dog crate that I can keep much cleaner than their coop/run and just deal with the re-introduction? Or do you think it would be okay just to leave her with everyone where she'll be happier and clean it multiple times a day? I found a bottle of clear liquid bandage last night digging around my horses' medicines and plan to put that on this morning.
