My barred rock hen has some old wounds on her back...

[Chido]

We got her a couple of week ago from the feed store. That day we went to buy food a lady dropped by to give her hens to the store owner, apparently she couldn't keep them anymore. My brother-in-law wanted a barred rock so he bought this girl, and she is adorable. Because she wasn't very used to us, we weren't handling her to much at first, specially since she's very vocal and she "growls" a lot, and screams when you hold her. Today I think I found out why.

When we first got her he feathers were in bad shape, rough texture and some broken. I wasn't sure whether she was molting, but she' laying eggs so she lost her feathers in a different way. I think her previous owner must've had a rooster, because the poor thing has some ugly scabs on her back, right next to her wings. They look ugly but they are scabbed so my cockerel didn't cause the wounds, however some feathers are stuck to the scabs and I spent some time carefully pulling out the ones that were broken, so I could clear the area a bit. Should I try to soak the scabs/dry ooze stuff off her skin with peroxide, or just warm water? Also while they are scabbed, the wounds must still be sensitive to the touch because she screams if i grab her from there. Would a chicken saddle be ok to put on while she heals?

I also thought she could have been sick because she lot some weight, but I think it's probably the pain (we have a 5 month cockerel that pretty much mounts everything that moves and is covered in feathers), and getting used to be free roaming and able to eat grass and bugs besides lay pellets that is messing her up a bit. She poops a lot and the poop looks healthy, and she acts normal. I'm also lock the cockerel outside their enclosure while nobody is home so she and the pullets can get a break from so much lovin'.

 

[chicmom]

I wouldn't mess with the scabs unless they look infected. I would just spray some Blue Cote on them, which will promote healing. Scabs do an important job to protect the wound as it heals.

 

[chicmom]

Oh, and I would keep her isolated so that your rooster can't try and mount her, thus opening her wounds again.....Let her relax and heal, and eat eat eat!

 

[Chido]

I've been keeping Roo separated from the hens during he morning and afternoon hours when he's at his most annoying "chasing tail" phase. Thankfully the main issue is that my cockerel is big, but has no spurs yet (hey are just barely growing out) and his claws aren't too sharp.

They don't like being separated and I've seen the hen and pullets try to get out and hang out with him, so I allow them to be together when he isn't so annoying. I'll leave the scabs alone then, and just try to pull out the broken feathers that are stuck on the scabs only when it's easy to pull them without pulling the scab too

.

Thank you!

 

[Chido]

Well it seems things are getting mor complicated with my flock. One of my pullets seems to have gapeworm, since she gapes, coughs/sneezes, makes a gurgling sound when she breathes, and also wheezes but there's no eye or nose discharge. I'm giving all of them Ivermectin at the moment, but I'm still worried about Spaghetti, the hen with the wounds. she still screams when i touch her back, and while i don't see any open wounds, I can't really see well the condition of her scabs because many of her feathers (broken ones and others still attached to her) are glued to the scabs.

Is it ok if I trim some feathers to take a better look, then cover her back with a canvas saddle? I also have some baytril left from when I was treating one of my pullet, would it be ok to give Spaghetti some of that medicine to help her heal better in case she has some infection going on?