My bloody mess......

csummer8882

Songster
8 Years
Apr 20, 2011
273
3
111
Rockingham County, NH
Came home this afternoon and the girls were "locked" out of the coop and stuck in their run. (The coop door had shut from the wind.) There is no food in the run, just in the coop. They still had water, it wasn't totally frozen over. One of my RIR has been pecked. Her rear end, near her tail feathers has been pecked bloody. Chunks of skin hanging off. I put her inside the coop with food and water. The others are out in the run till I can get a handle on this. I have no extra places to put a sick chicken, no dog kennels, no cat kennels. There wouldn't be room in the coop anyways for something like that. Do I put BluKote on her and leave her with the rest pf the girls or does she have to be separated? She will not be able to come in the house. Will this be the 1st chicken that I have to process? Thank you!
 
They usually hate to be away from the rest of the flock.

Can you clean the wound and apply neosporin or polysporin?

Can you use some surgical skin tape to tape the skin together? Ask your pharmacist.

Do you know who is picking/pecking on her?

Is there any fencing you can use in the coop to split the flock in two with your wounded hen on one side and the pecking hen on the other side?

Hope these ideas help. Shower stalls work good for a temporary medical station. Just put newspaper on the floor of it!

God bless you and your RIR.

p.s. sounds like your coop is small so maybe some chicken wire down the middle and a food and water dish on each side. Then split them and put her with the less agressive hens. Breeds like to hang together and she being the only RIR is the odd man out. Maybe you could put 4 on one side and this poor hen and the least dominant hen with her. It would take some chicken wire, a staple gun and one more food and one more water dish.
 
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if it was me I would isolate her as hens are attracted to the colour red and could continue to peck her and damage her badly. I have a dog cage which I use for my sick girls. If you have a cat box would this fit inside your house.
 
I have no cat carrier and they cannot come into my house. Their coop is small, I will try to get a fence or something inside it tonight. Its getting dark now so wish me luck. Thank you.
 
Well, I kept the girl separated till my hubby got home. Cleaned her up and put some neosporin on her. She has separated herself, scooting herself into the nesting box to sleep. Its pitch black in their coop. Hubby lets them out before the sun comes up so it will still be dark when he gets to them in the morning. Hopefully they can't smell the injury. I will keep her separated tomorrow as well. I hope this works!
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How about a cardboard box of sufficient size in the coop for a temporary isolation site? Put a board, screen or some other covering over the top to prevent other chickens from hopping in. BluKote her and get rid of anything red. Food and water in the box, of course. If the chicken is small enough an overturned hard plastic laundry basket will do, too. Just put a flat, heavy something on top to keep the basket from being disturbed and make sure the holes are too small for chickens to poke heads in and peck some more.

My coop door swung shut in the wind. My husband screwed a $2.79 hook latch and small eyebolt into the coop wall and door so that I can latch it open with minimal time/ effort.

Sometimes chickens just get mad or bored and they pick on the lowest standing critter. I have a sad little pullet who may need to be isolated from the main flock for the rest of her life. She's sweet and a little "touched" I think and simply rolls over on her side when the other chickens are aggressive toward her. They are brutal to her even though (or despite that) she doesn't fight back.

Clarifying quesition... did you see the flock pecking her? Could it have been a predator attack where this one was the unluckiest one?
 

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