When can I reintroduce an injured bird?

[tellynpeep]

One of my 7 month old Speckled Sussex hens was grabbed by a dog last week (neighbors are going to court, again, over this dog) but I was able to chase off the dog and save her. It now looks like she will live, but has extensive wounds and feather loss on her back.
Should I wait till all her feathers have regrown before I reintroduce her to the other birds? I guess I have to wait that long anyway since she will have no insulation till then! Just wondering what others' experiences are.
Thanks!

 

[CK Chickadilly]

I have one recovering from 2 roosters that tried killling her. They ripped her feathers & skin off from the back of her comb down about an inch or more. She has been in a cage for about 2 weeks now. She looks horrible yet! I won't let her back in there until the scab has fallen off otherwise the others will just pick her to death again.

I keep putting some MTG on it so it stays moist & it is actually for horses to make their fur grow back faster so I was hoping that her feathers would grow back faster too. She thinks she is ready to come out but I say no, not yet.

Keep yours locked up until the scab falls off. Keep the area clean & use some neosporin or something like that for a while. Some vitamins would be good too. When you do re-introduce her to the others, be watchful. It sometimes doesn't work well but sometimes it can be fine.

My girl wouldn't eat for about 5 days, I think she was kind of in shock & very sore. She eats like crazy now.

Good luck! I hope she heals fast!

 

[tellynpeep]

Well she's eating (started eating dog food of all things!) and feeling much better. She still has 4 gaping wounds, but her feathers have started regrowing and are growing in fast.

I've decided I should wait till spring and let her out while they are all free ranging. They will be less bored and more distracted then.

On the good side, one of my girls laid a first egg today! (Freezing cold snowy day too!)

 

[CovenantCreek]

When I had a wounded hen, I separated her until she wanted out (I was keeping her in a stall with a dog kennel to sleep in). Once she was moving around and acting almost normal I opened the door and let her decide when she was ready to face the others. The first day or two, she stayed away from the flock as a whole, but still wanted to be outside -- then would go back to the stall for the night. I think it was her third night out that she chose to sleep in the coop with the others. After that she was pretty much back in where she started.