Wellsummer hen blown up?!?!?

[roxyblue]

I am soo glad to hear that your hen is doing better!
At this point I would keep my eye on her and see if she starts to puff out again. That wound looks like it was pretty big, do youhave any predators that could attack them while they were free ranging (if you let you birds do so.) It is nicely scabed so I wouldn't do anything to it unless it got dirty, in which case I would get a slightly wet napkin or paper towel and gently dab, not scrape, the scab untill you have picked up most of the debree. It's great that there is no infection too! I'm glad that you are able to keep her seperated and warm. Good Job!!!!
-Roxy

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I see she's only two months old, but did you have a roo or cockerels penned with her? That scab on her back looks like she's been over mated. Usually my roos don't mess with the pullets, but I have seen them occasionally mount a submissive girl. And if you have a roo and cockerels in the same pen, the cockerels could be trying to mate her because they don't have access to mature hens. And if she's just two months old, she's probably still pretty small, right? Maybe that's what happened, and one of them hurt her. Or maybe the other ladies are pulling feathers from her back. Just a thought, obviously I have no idea if you even have a rooster. But that's what it looks like to me. Good luck, hope your girl gets better!

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

It would be a good idea to manually check her each day for wounds or signs of being picked on and for general health. All birds try to hide when they're not feeling well because they would be picked off if they showed any signs of illness or weakness. They will often look healthy then suddenly drop dead. One thing to look for, as you did, is a bird acting "dumpy" (sitting, all fluffed up, not interested in eating). You should immediately remove that bird not just for her well being but for that of the flock. Like I said earlier, setting up a pen with a heating pad (I put the heating pad at one end so the bird can seek it out--and they always do when they're not feeling good!) Put newspaper on top of the heating pad so it doesn't get too hot under them. I will also cover the pen at night with a little ventilation so it gets super toasty for them. I know this is all after the fact, but you said you were new at this so I wanted to explain not just what to do but Why I do it. Glad she's feeling better.

 

[chics n more]

I can't believe I am giving this advice twice in one day but if the others show interest in picking I'd would cover the area in Blue Kote. After the dog attack at our place I had several girls with purple feathers/skin who all healed nicely with no pecking from the others. However the pretty yellow BOs were not impressed with the additional pretty colors and started giving me the stink eye when they saw that bottle!

 

[silkymom1986]

Thanks again for all the advise, I will be checking on her daily to make sure there are no new wounds. She is in a coop with other hens and roos, I just think it's weird she just started acting like this yesterday, if she was being picked on that bad, I mean it's a big scab, I would think I would have noticed this behavior sooner. My husband it home with them all day and hasn't seen any pecking at her that would have caused that. My birds do free range in the afternoons, but never when we are not home to watch them. Guess all I can do now is like you all said keep a close eye on her.