Hi there! Looking for some advice - about two weeks ago I found one of my hens with a large gash on her side, I’m guessing that my rooster may have slipped when he was mating with her. I cleaned her wound and got her patched up and have had her separated for about two weeks. She seemed to be healing pretty well, so I put a saddle on her and reintroduced to the flock. She did well with the group getting reintroduced to the pecking order, But it seems she is my roosters favorite and after a few go rounds the gash seemed to have ripped open again and the saddle didn’t quite do its job. I’m not looking to get rid of my rooster (he’s not aggressive and does a great job of protecting the flock from predators.)
Looking for any advice from those who have experienced something similar, what is the expected timeline for an injury like this to heal? I put her on a round of amoxicillin the first time around, it's been about a week and a half - do I need to put her back on it because it was ripped open again? What are the implications of keeping this hen separated totally from the rest of the flock for an extended period of time? (she did good with the first reintroduction but I'm worried I am going to have to keep her separated for even longer now. Are there any saddles or other protections that have worked for you on larger hens (that protect their sides) etc. Are spur covers absurd or do they work? Thanks in advance!
Looking for any advice from those who have experienced something similar, what is the expected timeline for an injury like this to heal? I put her on a round of amoxicillin the first time around, it's been about a week and a half - do I need to put her back on it because it was ripped open again? What are the implications of keeping this hen separated totally from the rest of the flock for an extended period of time? (she did good with the first reintroduction but I'm worried I am going to have to keep her separated for even longer now. Are there any saddles or other protections that have worked for you on larger hens (that protect their sides) etc. Are spur covers absurd or do they work? Thanks in advance!
