Sweetie Needs Help

[FlockParty]

My Sweetie has an injury. Two days ago a fox was in the yard. All the birds seemed OK after, but today she was avoiding the rooster again and he was chasing her. So I went to check on her and lifted her wings and found a GIANT CUT!! It looked days old. I think this is from the rooster's aggressive behavior with her. Is this something she can come back from?

So far I've separated her from the group and washed if off with a mixture of warm water and hydrogen peroxide. She didn't show signs of pain or shock or any change in eating behavior. She tried to go back to flock and seems OK. I can't believe it though... see photo below.

 

[dawg53]

I believe it. I had it happen to two Buff Orpingtons long ago by a very aggressive rooster.
Unfortunately I had to cull the two hens. The rooster went bye bye.

Apply neosporin to the wound and it'll heal in time, also watch out for flies. Just observe her and as long as she's eating and drinking normally, she'll be fine.

 

[FlockParty]

I think after considering the egg flock we intended, the roo is going away. We're aiming to trade him with the seller for hens... that or he's din-din.

I can't lie, I was growing fond of that dude. But he's hurting the girls. BADLY

 

[dawg53]

I think after considering the egg flock we intended, the roo is going away. We're aiming to trade him with the seller for hens... that or he's din-din.

I can't lie, I was growing fond of that dude. But he's hurting the girls. BADLY

I like roosters that are over 2 years old, the older the better. Those young roosters instinctively want to breed hens constantly.
How old is your roo?

 

[FlockParty]

I like roosters that are over 2 years old, the older the better. Those young roosters instinctively want to breed hens constantly.
How old is your roo?

Not even a year yet. May makes 1. I feel terrible that I let this happen. I wanted a rooster... especially after he chased a fox out of our yard two days ago. What a champ... meanwhile... my hens is all torn up. I literally went of singing his praise to accepting he's dinner, possibly as soon as tomorrow.

We put antibiotic on her before bed. Poor baby. Mr Roos fate will be determined in the morning. But I'll be looking for guidance here no doubt on healing Sweetie now.

 

[dawg53]

Folks who own roosters go through this all the time. Dont feel terrible about it. Lesson learned for future reference and time to move forward.

Sweetie will be healed in no time.

 

[dawg53]

You might consider putting chicken saddles on your hens. Or put pinless peepers on your rooster. I've used chicken saddles before and they work. Hens dont like them at first, but get used to wearing them after pitching a fit lol.

 

[FlockParty]

I did order a saddle to try to protect the hen, but little did I know the damage was done already. Hidden under her wing. We don't need the rooster for breeding... or waking up in the morning! Keeping him was just a newbie mistake. We wanted 6 hens and only got 2 out of a batch of 6 chicks. We traded all the roosters for hens but one.... why? I don't even know anymore. Just seemed like that's what you do. Hindsight.

 

[dawg53]

It sounds like you free range your birds. What about the fox, he'll be back. Probably has relatives too?

 

[FlockParty]

Definitely stressing over the fox indecent. That's for sure. We just started free ranging a little over a week ago. We've seen many hawks and there was the one fox attack around 9 in the morning. We think it might be better to limit the free range time because of the predators or worse case, they stay in the coop and we feed and spoil them as much as possible.