Tail feathers bloody and plucked by other chickens

[Meezletons]

I need emergency help to save my chicken. She recently finished molting. I think the other chickens saw the blood feather and began pecking. They’ve plucked out her tail feathers and she’s a bloody mess. They have plenty of space, this isn’t due to over crowding.

my question is: are her injuries too far gone? I’ve never had an injury this serious in my 1.5 year old flock. do we have to cull her? Or can she be treated with blue-koate and isolation? Or would I be prolonging her suffering?

 

[MysteryChicken]

I need emergency help to save my chicken. She recently finished molting. I think the other chickens saw the blood feather and began pecking. They’ve plucked out her tail feathers and she’s a bloody mess. They have plenty of space, this isn’t due to over crowding.

my question is: are her injuries too far gone? I’ve never had an injury this serious in my 1.5 year old flock. do we have to cull her? Or can she be treated with blue-koate and isolation? Or would I be prolonging her suffering?
View attachment 1986223

I think the best coarse of action to do first is clean up the bloody area, & examine the extent of the injury first.
@Wyorp Rock, what do you think?

 

[Goats4life]

Clean the wound gently with water and a paper towel to remove the blood, put neosporin on some cotton pads and put the cotton pads on the wound and use some vet wrap to bandage the wound. Isolate the chicken until she is mostly healed, then carefully integrate her back into the flock, as you don’t want the pecking to start again.

 

[Goats4life]

Also, as mysterychicken said, examine the wound, and try to find out what the wound came from.

 

[Meezletons]

Thank you for the quick replies. I’m gonna take her inside and get her cleaned up. But I’m concerned about subjecting her to such a drastic change in temperature once she’s cleaned up and goes back into her isolation pen. It’s 30 degrees outside. Is that too much of a change? How do I reacclimate her to the cold temperature?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Thank you for the quick replies. I’m gonna take her inside and get her cleaned up. But I’m concerned about subjecting her to such a drastic change in temperature once she’s cleaned up and goes back into her isolation pen. It’s 30 degrees outside. Is that too much of a change? How do I reacclimate her to the cold temperature?

Keep her inside where it's warm for awhile, or a couple days.

 

[Meezletons]

Keep her inside where it's warm for awhile, or a couple days.

Yes, I have a dog crate that she can recuperate in but she’s gotta go back out eventually. Will the change in temperature put her in shock?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Yes, I have a dog crate that she can recuperate in but she’s gotta go back out eventually. Will the change in temperature put her in shock?

Not unless she's not given enough time to get her body heat back up. I recently gave two of my chickens baths a month ago, I blow dried them most of the way dry, mainly their downy feathers. I let them warm up in front of the woodstove for a few minutes, took them outside, & they were fine. It was in the high 20's those two days.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I am not sure wrapping this area is a good idea, where will her poop go? Wait to hear from @Wyorp Rock , or maybe @casportpony or @Eggcessive would like to weigh in. I would plan on isolating her a few days until she heals up and then worry about reintegrating her, the temps and so forth.

Do you have a wire dog crate? If so you don't need to remove her at all. Just keep her in the crate in the coop during isolation, with food and water of course. She will remain part of the flock and reintegration won't be necessary, and nor will reacclimation. Good luck!

 

[Eggcessive]

Just make sure that she is completely dry before placing her in the crate back outside. She could spend one night in the house or in a garage or basement without too much worry of temperature change. When you have her cleaned up, take another picture . If the damage is mostly to her tail, I would use some Vetericyn or chlorhexidene to clean the wound twice a day, followed by applying some plain Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic Ointment twice a day until the wound is healing. When she is ready to rejoin the flock outside of the crate, BluKote can be used to hide the red wound. Caution—it stains everything blue including hands and clothing.