Injured hen with laceration wants out of "infirmary"

[sonjadowns]

I found one of my hens with a large laceration two days ago. She was moving about normally with tail feathers up while she free-ranged. She is my most skittish hens so it was difficult to catch her. I had to make sure she didn't go into the pen and it was practically dark before I could catch her. I brought her in, irrigated the wound, and applied antibiotic ointment. She never acted like she was bothered except during irrigation. She rested well and was calm yesterday except during irrigation. Today, she is attempting to "break out" of the infirmity. If you couldn't see the gash, you would think she was fine. I suspect it is from one of my young rooster or from the barb wire fence from sneaking over to the neighbors property. The fence has now been fortified with chicken wire to prevent any more trespassing. She is in a medium size dog kennel. I have a 10X10 dog kennel outside and could put her in it. Would that be advisable?

 

[silkiemother]

as long as it it clean and the others can't get at her, I think she will be okay, you will just have to keep an eye on her

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I found one of my hens with a large laceration two days ago. She was moving about normally with tail feathers up while she free-ranged. She is my most skittish hens so it was difficult to catch her. I had to make sure she didn't go into the pen and it was practically dark before I could catch her. I brought her in, irrigated the wound, and applied antibiotic ointment. She never acted like she was bothered except during irrigation. She rested well and was calm yesterday except during irrigation. Today, she is attempting to "break out" of the infirmity. If you couldn't see the gash, you would think she was fine. I suspect it is from one of my young rooster or from the barb wire fence from sneaking over to the neighbors property. The fence has now been fortified with chicken wire to prevent any more trespassing. She is in a medium size dog kennel. I have a 10X10 dog kennel outside and could put her in it. Would that be advisable?

Can you get some photos of the wound before you let that wild chicken out? LOL
A lot depends on the wound, but if you have cleaned it well and applied an ointment, then I would be tempted to let her in the kennel by herself. Of course, the first thing she will do is take a dust bath, just to let you know! I've had that happen and it all still went fine.

Some birds just can not tolerate closed in spaces, stress from that confinement, I do believe will make things worse. Keep her separated until she heals. Look at the wound daily and clean/apply your ointment as needed.

 

[Shadrach]

I have a slightly different approach.
If you are confident the wound is clean and you have already applied anti biotic ointment then I would cover the wound with pine tar and let her go.
Most of the chickens here hate being confined and my believe is they recover more quickly if they are out with the rest of their flock.
Also, grab your roosters at night and check their spurs. I've had a couple of hens with cut sides from roosters spurs here. If they do have sharp points use a nail file and gently file the points off. There is no need to cut the spurs, just round the ends off a little.

 

[sonjadowns]

I have a slightly different approach.
If you are confident the wound is clean and you have already applied anti biotic ointment then I would cover the wound with pine tar and let her go.
Most of the chickens here hate being confined and my believe is they recover more quickly if they are out with the rest of their flock.
Also, grab your roosters at night and check their spurs. I've had a couple of hens with cut sides from roosters spurs here. If they do have sharp points use a nail file and gently file the points off. There is no need to cut the spurs, just round the ends off a little.

I will do that with the rooster. Thanks!

 

[sonjadowns]

Can you get some photos of the wound before you let that wild chicken out? LOL
A lot depends on the wound, but if you have cleaned it well and applied an ointment, then I would be tempted to let her in the kennel by herself. Of course, the first thing she will do is take a dust bath, just to let you know! I've had that happen and it all still went fine.

Some birds just can not tolerate closed in spaces, stress from that confinement, I do believe will make things worse. Keep her separated until she heals. Look at the wound daily and clean/apply your ointment as needed.

The dust bath concerns me. I am having trouble posting pictures via my old cell phone.

 

[sonjadowns]

She has calmed down and I found her happily eating and drinking. She had laid an egg and it is still warm. She seems better and more content. Thanks everyone!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

The dust bath concerns me. I am having trouble posting pictures via my old cell phone.

She has calmed down and I found her happily eating and drinking. She had laid an egg and it is still warm. She seems better and more content. Thanks everyone!

She may have been frantic trying to get to a nesting box.
A lot depends on the wound and how deep. I have had mine go straight to dust bathing and get dirt all in the wound, but I just rinse it and reapply ointment or blu kote.
Another option would be to put the cockerel in the 10X10 kennel, let him cool his heels for a few days and let your girl be with the pullets/hens. If damage was done by mating (spurs/nails) you don't want her being mounted until she heals up, but re-integrating after separation (for pullets/hens) can sometimes be tricky. For single cockerels/roosters it's not that big a deal.