I got a phone call last night that one of our chickens had been beat up by the others. I told them to seperate her and I'd take a look. She is missing all her feather on one side. No broken skin that I can see. It looks pretty bruised. But the base of her tail is pretty chewed up and bloody. She won't stand on her own yet but I i hold her up she will use her legs to walk around. Does anyone have any helpful tips on cleaning her up and making her bettter? And no I don't want to kill her and eat her. I want to give a fair shot. the other forum I asked at wasn't very helpful...all I got was to eat her and that I was strange for wanting to fix her.
-T
Injured Chicken...any ideas on how to help?...
I am not a chicken healing expert, two roos of mine had an awful fight. I seperated them into plastic dog kennels, washed the wounds with warm water and applied neosporin. I would put a heat lampon her if she's cold. They both healed so quickly, they are still missing feathers on their heads but no scabs are left at all.
From what I understand if a chicken gets weak for any reason they all turn on them and peck them to death. I still don't understand why, maybe the whole weakest link thing?????
Others use raw honey. I would go with triple antibotic ointment. Good luck and I am sure someone else will try to help you out too. We have all kinds of chicken lovers here, some of will bring them to the vet, some are home healers and some are cullers.
i wouldnt do ointment cause germs tend to stick to it, but they do make a antibiotic spray called Bactine, its availible at drug stores and wal-mart ive used it before and it works great and you dont have to fight the chicken to apply it (and trust me thats always a plus!) i would clean her wound with hydrogen peroxide (only use peroxide once on fresh wounds). we had a chicken that was attacked by a possum once and it ripped her skin of her brest so we used panty hose as a pressure dandage and it worked so maybe that could be a possibility. rightn now i would be more concerened on keeping the wounds clean and dry and keeping her away from the rest.
keep us posted!
As of tonite her wounds look ok. She seems to support herself a little bit more...I'm just worried because she won't stand on her own yet. If I hold her she will walk. But if I let her go she will fall over. But it seems as though she is trying more to walk. Could she just be sore and not want to hold herself? I'm worried I'm investing my self in heartbreak. lol. Some people think I'm crazy for getting so attached to her.
-Tina
Naw, they're very easy to get attached to. THEY, have just never known a chicken.
Tina,
A man found a long stretch of beach upon which hundreds of starfish had been stranded by a great storm. He saw a boy cupping the starfish in his hands one by one and gently placing them back into the sea. The man asked the boy: "What does it matter? You'll never save them all." The boy smiled. "It matters to the ones I save."
Last friday we were getting ready to take a very pregnant horse to the vet to have the baby checked. Upon our stud getting loose the mare started bucking in her stall. 'Bob' the duck was in the garage near the stall and didnt know what to do. For some reason he ran into the stall and with the bucking mare he couldnt miss being stepped on. Needless to say he was badly injured. He went into shock and although neither myself, nor my other half thought he would live...we figured we were already going to the vet. He literally RAN him into the office and yelled for someone to come help Bob. When the vets found out it was a young mascovy duck they werent sure they could help. I told them that he was not 'just s duck', but that he was 'Bob' a member of our family.
They took an x-ray to check for internal bleeding...and broken bones. Luckily he had neither. Although we still have to worry about infection because he was skinned on one side of his body. Now he is missing most of his wing feathers (he still thinks he can fly in the living room). since he is missing so much he cant keep himself warm. Now Bob gets the luxery of living in the house...until next spring! I dont look at my animals as livestock. Each one of them have a special meaning, and they are very well taken care of.
Tina...you are NOT strange for wanting to fix your animal. It shows how wonderful and caring a person you are.
Melissa
i have a 4 month old guinea with twisted leg syndrom and she cant walk and never will, i have literaly been there every day of her life starting from when she was she was still in the egg. I have spent hundereds of dollars and unpteen hours sewing a slings for her to sit in. if they think you are crazy then what does that make me?
we love our animals and thats all there is to it
