Predator attack

[City Farmer Jim]

Even at only 12 months? I'm looking at all the girls and the 4 HENS do appear to be molting...this is the first time that we have made it to a year with our flock(s) some really tough life lessons for us with the first 8 girls..lost 7 of the 8 to dogs. We reinforced our fencing and thought we had all the ways in taken care of...guess not. Another tough life lesson learned.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Sorry you are having such a rough start. Hope your girl comes through this okay. I agree, BYC has GREAT minds, experience and helpers! They're the best!

 

[DeuceyG1335]

Our best guess is a dog attack. The neighbors had the father die 2 weeks ago and now there are a minimum of 6 new chihuahuas and possibly 10...we lost a silver laced Wyandotte and the buff orpington survived...we have made our chain link fence more secure. The flock is visibly shaken and definitely not the flock they were 4 days ago. The reason we are saying dog is we saw where something(small) dug under the fence very close to where they all dust bathe. Nothing was eaten on the dead bird and you saw the injuries that the orpington had.

I haven’t had a dog kill 10 of my chickens and injure one really bad. She had few deep cuts that were bad but she is perfectly fine now, they healed up great and I’m hoping that your Orpington heals good. But, I can say now that she has been attacked she will act skittish when she sees a dog or anything that’s what mine did she was all skittish when a dog was in the yard and still is but not as scared now.

 

[aart]

Even at only 12 months?

Yep. I, and others, have had 9mos do a partial molt before

 

[City Farmer Jim]

One last question for the AWESOME minds here at BYC..do any of you know anything about the layman's term "preening gland" ? Our injured girl has a gooy sticky stuff on her feathers north of her vent, I'm trying to be gentle with her and get it off but it's not going willingly. I plan to trim back some more feathers that are hanging and appear to be touching the wound and possibly irritating it. MORE advice will be GREATLY APPRECIATED

 

[aart]

One last question for the AWESOME minds here at BYC..do any of you know anything about the layman's term "preening gland" ? Our injured girl has a gooy sticky stuff on her feathers north of her vent, I'm trying to be gentle with her and get it off but it's not going willingly. I plan to trim back some more feathers that are hanging and appear to be touching the wound and possibly irritating it. MORE advice will be GREATLY APPRECIATED

The preening gland is on the lower back, just in front of the tail.

 

[City Farmer Jim]

GOOD MORNING ALL. These are a little graphic for so early in the day and they are the before pictures. We have trimmed away as much of the yellowish STUFF as we could with out making her jump with every clip. It is not as bad as we thought and looked much worse than it really is. It looks like a torn muscle? At the 6 o'clock position in the pictures you can see what we are talking about. Is it cause for concern or let nature take its course?

 

[Eggcessive]

That looks like it is healing. Good job on trimming away the feathers and poop. Now, I would soak her bottom in a shallow warm bath daily, either using Epsom salts or something like a small amount of Dawn. Keep washing the dried poop and keeping her clean. Then put some plain Neosporin or spray some Vetericyn on her vent. Hopefully when she has healed more, the torn tissue will heal. Then maybe her vent will regain some control.

 

[City Farmer Jim]

She has received Vetericyn 3 to 4 times a day and Epsom salts bath 3 times now. She has pooped normally with no issues we could discern..she is a very good hen and taking it all in stride. Do you think it is safe to lat her out with her sister's...she paces back and forth talking to them and really wants back to the flock life

 

[Eggcessive]

I would stay with her and have some visits free ranging. If any peck at her vent, then isolate her again. Others may see the red injury so there is always a chance they will peck. If she stays out of the flock for long, that is also bad, since they might attack her. Hopefully, they will ignore her injury.