Should I even bother?Cockerel injured

Chickiemama1010

Songster
10 Years
Jan 16, 2010
217
2
109
Sullivan
I have put the "babies" in general population. they are 3mo old now, and all was well for the first 2weeks. but yesterday I noticed one of the young roos has been injured. He was out in the run with the rest of the birds, and he was standing, and walking, but slowly. And every few feet he would stop and close his eyes as if to take a break. I assume one of the bigger birds got him, and pulled out a good chunk of feathers around his neck/throat and a bit of skin possibly too. Its not actively bleeding, but it is bloody on the edges. he has several broken feathers surrounding a big bald spot maybe 2inches diameter, and I can see the bulge of his crop through the wound. It looks yellow (skin and fat? I assume-not looking like pus). He's been removed from the coop/run and isolated in a rubbermaid tub with chicken wire lid in the garage - the "sick room." He is eating chicken feed halfheartedly, but gobbled up the couple earthworms I tossed him this morning. He is drinking water, slowly and in small doses and poop looks normal. I think his lack of gusto for the food/h2o is due to where his boo-boo is,and its prob a little sore. He's not "talking" and in fact is silent. And these birds are generally grumbling and humming all day. Do I need to let him heal on his own? Is there something I need to put on this? Can I use neosporin or peroxide? Because, heres my dilema....

I have too many roos as it is. I have already decided which of the 7 gets to stay. This injured bird is not one. He is bound for the freezer in a few weeks. I dont want him to have prolonged suffering, and he IS a nice, gentle little fella. But I cannot have 7 roosters and 9 hens in a 400 sq ft run, and expect everyone to get along. It appears it has started already I really was hoping to let the little ones grow a bit more to a respectable table size. They were getting butchered at 5months old, or whenever the youngster pullets started to lay, whichever came first. So, that said, I dont want to spend a lot of $ on this bird and his boo boo. I also dont want to eat a sick bird, or one that has an infection. I also dont want to just let him die slowly of infection if I can help it. He really is a nice one, and of the 7 males total, he was in the top 3 of "keepers" but I can only pick one, and he didnt make the cut. So, whats the best course of action here? do I get him healed just in time to slaughter? Do I give him a week in isolation to get his strength back up a bit an then see how it goes putting him in the mix again? Or do I just go ahead and get him to the butchering block now? Hes prob only 3-4lbs alive. I was hoping to get roughly 3-4lbs each table ready out of these guys. I can take them all to slaughter today, but the prob with that is my Amish chicken slaughter guy wont do less than 5 at a time (for a BUCK a piece. Thats right , $1 each). Theyre just kinda puny at the moment, and in another few wks they should be bigger. If I take him, I have to take all of them.

Hes a black australorp by the way. Any advise is appreciated
 
Thanks. I hope I am not wasting my time on this guy. he is bound for the table at some point. I feel like I am a little sick/morbid to nurse him back to health just in time to slaughter him. Im having a bit of issue with doing that. But I as I said I dont want him to suffer or be further injured by the rest of the flock.
 
Yeah, I've been in that situation too. I would just clean his wounds very well with a bucket of water and dish soap every day and treat with the neosporin and keep him separated. On very bad dirty wounds, I use a spray hose to get it clean. It's all about cleaning the wound. He'll likely get better on his own in a few days. Also, you need to keep the flies out of the wound. I use a oinment that's meant for dogs ears that I use if the flies are a problem, because you don't want to get maggots in the wound. You can get that at Petland I think.
 
He doesnt seem to be terribly bad off. I think he got his butt kicked, and he was trying to be inconspicuous in the run when he was up against the wall closing his eyes. I had just thrown treats in there when I noticed he didnt come runnin with the rest and then saw his injury. All the commotion of scattering chickens and he didnt go out of his way to participate. When I picked him up to remove him, he did run from me, and put up a small protest about being lifted. I can pick up these chickens, they were hand raised but as chickens go, getting carried around is not their favorite thing and they dont always make it easy to catch them. I just separated him so the others wouldnt pick at it and aggravate the prob. Hes eating, drinking, pooping...but carefully. I know I said it was bloody and I could see crop bulging. Its not the bare crop I see...its the BULGE under the skin.Its like he got "scalped" in a spot. It isnt as bad as it sounds. Like a really bad skinned knee on a kid. I think it looks worse than it is cuz of the broken feathers sticking out in all directions that stick out more when his crop is fuller. If I get a min, I will try to get a pic. posted.

I know I'm prob being overly analytical of this situation.Maybe I am giving this chicken more credit than what is due, trying to fabricate a thought-process of his actions. he isnt really quite big enuf to eat. And neither are his hatch mates. But if I dispatch one, I have to do them all. I cannot do it here myself, I dont have the proper equipment (mostly the stomach, honestly) or a pot big enough to scald them, or an outdoor source of keeping h2o simmering either. Theres Amish guys across the street kinda, and theyll do it as I said for a buck. But not just him- min. of 5.

So if I want to wait I either have to fix him up, or just cull him and count it as a loss. I can shoot him. I'm OK with it. I could prob even pluck him. What I cant do it gut him or bleed him out. Guts really gross me out, and blood in quantity just might make me faint. A little scrape or cut is one thing. Blood pouring out is not OK with me.

Perhaps I will give it a day or 2 just to see if there is improvement or decline in his status. He seems to be happy in the box, and quiet.

You may laugh at me, but the unspoken rule at my house is I dont touch dead things that are bigger than a sparrow. I got a new .22 with a night vision scope for Mothers day. I will shoot groundhogs, rabbits, coyotes, raccoons etc. Any pest that is not welcome here. It stays in the yard where it dies, i wont touch it. Eventually my husband comes home. When he sees me in the driveway holding the shovel he knows theres a carcass to remove.
 
The flies getting in it had crossed my mind. I cant deal with maggots. I would rather have that pouring blood I cant stand, than maggots.

I did take a soapy washcloth to it last night, but no ointment. Didnt know if it was safe to put neosporin on a chicken. Tonite when DH comes home we will tag team him and get some medicine on him. I will look for the no-fly stuff at the pet store. I gotta go to the farm exchg real soon for chicken feed anyway. Maybe they'll have some there. I know they make some kinda stuff for horses/large livestock to keep flies off. Maybe it will work? Oh, and Meyer hatchery is less than 5miles from my house (thats where I got these chickens) I know they have a store thats along w/hatchery that sells all kinds of supplies. They may have something too.
 
I called Meyer, they said blu-kote would help with infection but not flies. They recommended something called screwworm spray or balm, and they dont carry it. Anyone hear of this? I called tsc and the farmers ex. and neither of them have ever heard of it. Where can I get some? The vet said katron? spray was the same thing but they didnt have any in stock...said they could get some in 7-10 biz days, but in that amt of time there is the potential to have serious maggot issues. It only takes a day or 2 for fly eggs to hatch.
 
There is a horse ointment called Swat - it is for wounds and is also a fly repellent. It would work well on your rooster, but as with any ointment, you want to keep debris out of it so I'd put him on wire, paper or somewhere he's not going to get it filthy. I would first flush it well with betadine, (a syringe works well for this) then apply the swat. You may have to do this for a few days while the wound heals over. Karen
 
hes in a large plastic storage tote at the moment. Newspaper on the bottom. No wood shavings or straw etc in there. Just newspaper and food/h2o so debris wont be an issue while hes in quarantine. But I want to get him back in the coop with everyone else asap, as the longer hes gone the better his chances of getting picked on as the re-intro'd newbie. He's sitting low on the pecking order as it is, so I think if I can get him back in there tomorrow nite or the next nite after everyone else goes to bed he will just be there when all wake up and maybe they wont notice he's been gone and is now back. I hate to fix him up just for himto get his little butt kicked again for being "new." Its bad enough that hes already destined for the table. I would like to think he will be able to enjoy his remaining days. Ive got DH stopping at TSC on his way home for blu-kote and I will have him pick up some fly stuff too. I think my little dinner roo will be fine in a few days.
 

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