Yesterday Hubs commented that one of my hens skips instead of running. So I started watching who was doing what. I saw the skipping, but she seemed fine; i just thought, "More chicken weirdness." Then I found the same hen roosting in the nest box instead of on the roost. Went to move her to the roost and noticed that her leg band had gotten too tight and her foot was swollen. Tucked her under my arm and removed the band. It's one of those spiral bandettes. I somehow sliced her leg removing the band. Couldn't staunch the bleeding so i took her in the house for some better first aid. Pressure didn't help, but copious amounts of quick-stop worked. I put on a gauze bandage covered with vet wrap and she got to stay in the house overnight. She's back in the coop, but she's spent all day sitting outside in the rain. I'm sure the bandage is soaked. I'll re-do it tomorrow, but i'm worried it's going to get infected staying wet so long. If it does, what would be better, an injectable antibiotic or a topical one?
