Wing injury

[Pellants]

Hi I have a 12 week old hen that started screaming while I'm the coop. Found her under the ladder. She seems to have injured her wings, not sure how. The tops of both wings are all bloody. She seems to walk fine (although prefers to just sit still). I have cleaned her wings in a bath and separated her in a clean dry coop with water and food. Is there something I should do to treat it?

 

[Pellants]

This is what her wing looks like as of last night. We are looking at the underside plus note many missing feathers.

 

[Eggcessive]

Did a predator get into the coop? I would make sure they are locked in a secure coop at night. A hawk could have attacked her in the daytime outside. Vetericyn wound spray from a feed store or 10% betadine can be good for wound care. Plain antibiotic ointment also is good. Do her wings droop or do they seem to work? Keep flies away from her until her wounds are healing to prevent maggot infestation or flystrike. If her wings seem broken, her is a good link about wrapping the wings in a figure 8 splint (but don't wrap too tight
http://www.starlingtalk.com/fractures.htm

 

[WiddleChix]

When my pullet was scalped last year by my turkey I cleaned the wound with antibacterial dial soap to clean out the blood and dirt then applied neosporin atleast twice a day and her head fully recovered and she even starting growing the feathers back. You could see her skull through it was pretty bad, about the size of a quarter. Good luck

 

[Pellants]

No predator issues, we have a Barred owl in the tree behind the coop but all it does is watch the girls. We also keep our Aussie in the yard with the girls to keep a eye on them and he adores them and just leaves them alone. we have 8 other hens that live with this one. None of them have a issue at all. The interesting part is the same sores on both wing and been loosing's of feather for several days. Could this be related to the same types of sores that meat chickens suffer from? I was wondering if she laid in poo one night. even at 12 weeks all the girls still pile into the nesting boxes in 1 mass and not on the roosting bars.

 

[Eggcessive]

Maybe the others are pecking her wings during the night in the nest box. I would check her skin under the wings, around her neck, and under her vent area for signs of lice or mites. Sometimes I will block off the net boxes to encourage the pullets to start roosting at night. But then remove the barricade in the early morning if you have layers. A screen or baby gate hung on 2 tacks or nails can be useful for this.

 

[Pellants]

In the pics I posted above does that look infected? If so what should I do? I am temped to puncture the wound and drain it with a needle???

 

[WiddleChix]

The wounds don't look infected to me but I can't really see, make sure it doesn't have a greenish tinge to it and that it doesn't smell sour. Its also been some time since the picture was taken so make sure you watch it. Is she still acting ok?

 

[Pellants]

It's s all purple, looks like the time I crushed my thumb in a break. She is squaking and refusing to walk. The squaking is loud and with lots of flapping.

We have heard something about blood feathers?? It's the tip segment of the wing that is all purple.

 

[WiddleChix]

I assume the purple is bruising? I believe blood feathers are ones that are growing in that have a blood supply, but don't quote me on that I'm not 100% sure. If she seems to be in pain you could give her a crushed up 81mg aspirin over yogurt or something that she'll eat. You could get baby aspirin or aspirin for people with heart problems just make sure it's 81mg, I have some that are orange flavored because those are the only ones I could find at the time

But they do the same thing! Make sure she's eating and drinking and you're keeping her calm and her wounds clean. Don't give her the aspirin if she's still bleeding because that'll just thin her blood and make sure she's not been bleeding for a while as well, because you don't want her to start bleeding again. Try to stay ca and positive I know it's a stressful situation but I think she'll be fine as long as her wounds don't get infected.