segregating a wounded bird???

[chickenbythesea]

I unfortunately have a very wounded silver spangled hamburg. I had a very aggressive lavender orpington go at her sometime last night (she's been bullying for a while and I had decided to cull her anyways) and now she has two huge wounds on her backside. I'm going to treat her just the same as human. My issue is that I should separate her out but won't that just end up putting at the bottom of the pecking order? I can separate her out but I don't want to hurt her chances. Please give advice.

 

[leetfreq925]

I've found that any wounds will draw more pecking - the rest of the flock will sense the weakness and could end up finishing off your wounded hen. Blukote helps deter the pecks, but for the most part I would recommend she gets separated until the wound can heal a bit.

 

[chooks4life]

It helps to have a mesh sided cage in an area they like to frequent so she is in close proximity and in full view. Tucking her away out of sight can be stressful to some injured birds whose flocking instinct trumps their self preservation instinct. If you don't have a cage like this, it's good to make or get one. If you keep animals you will always run into circumstances which require a cage.

Best wishes.

 

[chickenbythesea]

I have divided the coop in two with chicken wire so they can see each other but not get near each other. We had her wounds dressed and then she escaped (my daughter accidentally let her get out). So now she's free ranging in the yard. Hopefully we can catch her tonight and segregate her again. the wound is much worse than i thought last night. It's down into muscle and very close to bone. I may still loose her but am going to do everything to prevent that.

 

[ten chicks]

I have divided the coop in two with chicken wire so they can see each other but not get near each other. We had her wounds dressed and then she escaped (my daughter accidentally let her get out). So now she's free ranging in the yard. Hopefully we can catch her tonight and segregate her again. the wound is much worse than i thought last night. It's down into muscle and very close to bone. I may still loose her but am going to do everything to prevent that.

Separate her,put her into a dog cage and bring her inside to treat wounds and monitor her condition. If any chickens notice these wounds,they will peck/pick at them,possibly with dire consequences. Separate the bully for a couple of days,this usually re-establishes the pecking order. When placing your wounded girl back,reintroduce her to the other girls(keep bully out for a couple of days while doing this). Wounded girl may be upset at the separation,but i would rather have an upset chicken than a dead one.

 

[leetfreq925]

If the wound is that bad, she needs to be somewhere more contained anyway, otherwise you risk infection. Keep either Blukote or Vetericyn on it many times a day. And I would catch her and get her inside and treated ASAP, otherwise tonight it may be too late. I have found that chickens don't stay upset too long and a little corn or tomatoes will help

 

[chickenbythesea]

she has the veteracyn on and I've packed the wound with honey (it's a nursing thing... not quite medihoney but will do the same job). I've dressed the wounds and believe it or not, she's got gauze dressings on and they're actually staying on. I've got her segregated from the others and will stay on her side of the coup until she's healed. I'm giving her extra protein to eat and hoping to decrease her stress. The offending hen has been culled since she was starting to harrass some of the others and we couldn't in good conscience give her to someone else. My son has become a very good assistant... so, I will be changing the dressing tomorrow and hopefully things will improve.

 

[ukuleledave]

We had the same sort of thing. Our leghorn was pecked down to the skull. A week away from her lady friends, and she was fine. I should have kept her on antibiotics longer, and kept her away, but she was miserable in the dog crate. She's fine now, and just a little skittish. As far as the pecking order - she apparently wasn't very high to start with.

 

[chickenbythesea]

well, I went out to find her up on the roost and that's the first time she's been there in months.... lately she's been sleeping in the nest box (either cuz she wasn't allowed on the roost or so she'd have protection on 3 sides while in the coop), so that's an improvement already. Her wounds look a little better already. the biggest problem is catching her... she's increadably fast.

 

[chooks4life]

Sounds like she's on the mend and feeling frisky. All good signs. Best wishes.