One of my girls got sandwiched between two pieces of wire fencing. I can't figure out how she got there. I had to cut a hole in the fence to get her out. Unfortunetly, the dog was on the one side. He, obviously, was able to get to her. He pulled out just about all of her tail feathers. (I'm glad she turned her tail to him and not her head.) I gently washed her with a mild soap and water, rinsed her well, dried her, and applied Neosporin. She spent the night in a small cage by herself. She is eating and drinking and making unhappy noises at me. She even laid an egg overnight. (I can only imagine how much that had to hurt.) There is no bleeding but her rear looks like hamburger. I'm worried what the others will do to her if I put her back with the flock. She seems very upset about being in the garage in a small cage. How long should I wait? What should I do?
You sure the dog did that? Looks like she has been pecked bad. I had an Ameracuana that had hamberger butt, but it was from bullying. And of course, they would not let up on her once she was raw. We got a chicken apron,(you can find em on this site). and we took a strip of cloth,(a shirt cuff from a old chamoise shirt(, and pinned it to the wing tips of the back of the apron to cover her butt. It worked till she healed up, and they leave her alone now. If you put her in now, watch for a while, they may start pecker her butt due to the rawness. Good luck
I'm positive the dog did it. I saw him doing it and all the feathers are on his side of the fence. And the rest of the flock was on the far side of the field (as far away as they could get) making a huge ruckus.
I would not put her back until she is healed up better and then you could try it with an apron of some type of covering. The others may still pick at her new feathers growing back in etc. You will have to watch her closely. If you have a mellow docile hen that you could give her for a friend and keep those two separate she might be happier but I still wouldn't put her with anybody until she is healed up better.
