I've seen lots of threads on the immediate treading but because I went ahead and made a decision before reading up I think it's easier to just confirm that what I've done is enough, and get advice for what to do now. I have one hen-hatched chick that is around a week old that three days ago I let into the run with all the other chickens and her momma hen. Momma is the only bantam in my flock though and I guess she wasn't able to keep her safe. Yesterday she got bloodied up a bit. She is missing about a dime sized spot of skin on her rump right above her tail and another small spot on her shoulder at the wing joint. As soon as we noticed, we put her and her mom back into the secure brood area of the coop with their own food and water. I didn't have anything to clean her up with so I just smeared on neosporin and covered the big spot with some corn starch. Now I'm wondering how often I need to reapply the ointment and how long I should keep her and mom separate. I have a brood box indoors set up with 6 incubator chicks that hatched a tad too late to give to momma hen so I could remove her from the outdoor brooder and her mom and add her to the safer indoor brooder, but her and mom are so bonded that I worry about the stress of separation. Advice would be appreciated.
Is momma pecking at the spot? If she is, they need to be separated. She can and will kill the chick. Not to be mean to her chick, chickens are just attracted to red things.
The Mother and chick should be separate from the main flock for at least 6-8 weeks before the gradual introduction to the main flock...if you have any blue kote...apply that to the bloody wounds...if not do you have any gentian violet or blue food dye that you can put on the blood spot(s) to disguise it/them..? Normally the Mother will do her utmost to protect a chick but she cannot fend off multiple attacks...keep them safely away from the main flock for now..
Mom is not pecking at her. It's the lowest hen in the flock order that is. They are separated for now. Just seems harsh to lock up a hen and chick in a 2x4ft area that doesn't get proper light for long. As for covering the injury, I don't have bluekote, or nopick, but I used corn starch over the neosporin to mask the color. It needs to be reapplied daily but I'm a nervous nelly so checking on them frequently is reassuring.
