Pecking Injuries: pictures

[rowechicks]

I tried to mesh two flocks a couple weeks ago and my older laying hens are not taking kindly to my meat birds, which all ended up being rooster. The roosters are now 8 weeks old, so it's almost butchering time. I found one of my roosters yesterday with big blood spots at the top of the each wing joint yesterday. I have a couple books here, so I kinda followed them. I cleaned the spots with saline solution and a little hydrogen peroxide and then put petroleum jelly on them so it wouldn't get all dry and painful. I checked on him this morning (he is not with the flock right now) and he seemed to be doing better. He wasn't laying there and seemed more active. I tried to take a couple of pics, but i didn't want to handle him too much. When I got back from a run from town with supplies, I checked him again, since I bought some stuff to help. I got the Rooster Booster Wound Care. The left side didn't look too bad, but I'm worried about the right side. If it's going to get infected, I'd rather cull him now and not loose the meat. This is my first year raising any kind of chickens, so any help would be wonderful!

 

[Farmgirl47]

Unless you're willing to wait to butcher him (not necessarily with all of the birds, just with him in particular) then I'd cull him. We once had a hen get a HUGE gash across her side/back (we could even see her guts ) from a fox attack and although, amazingly, she healed up just fine, it took a lot care.

 

[rowechicks]

Unless you're willing to wait to butcher him (not necessarily with all of the birds, just with him in particular) then I'd cull him. We once had a hen get a HUGE gash across her side/back (we could even see her guts ) from a fox attack and although, amazingly, she healed up just fine, it took a lot care.

Ok, I figured it would take a lot of care. I'd just cull him this weekend, but a funeral is getting in the way of a grandparent sleepover and I'm not sure how we'd keep our five year olds from seeing, or being scarred.