fantasticjudyann Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 About two and a half weeks ago I bought three new POL s from the same breeder to go with my two, two year old gingernuts. I have kept them separate, in a different Eglu and run, inside the WIR. This morning I went out to mix them all together and was horrified to find that one of the newbies (speckled star ) had been badly pecked by another of the newbies (white star ) She had a large bloody wound around her tail and looked very sorry for herself. It must have happened during the night as she was fine yesterday. I bathed the wound with savlon and warm water and applied lots of sudocrem, put her in the cat basket and brought her inside. I then mixed the other four together, thinking that I might need the other Eglu and run to quarantine the poorly one. Have I done the right thing? Do I need to take Mabel to the vet or just quarantine her? If so for how long? What can I use for a bed because the other four will need the second Eglu at night as they won't all fit in one. What shall I do with the aggressive white star( Bramble ) Any help will be gratefully received . Thanks Omleteers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 Firstly, how bad is the wound - if it looks as if it will heal up and she seems ok, then I'd just keep her apart but if it is still bleeding or you think it might have gone deeper than just the skin, she might need a vet ... sorry to be so woolly, but you're going to have to make a judgment based on how it looks and how she is behaving. Don't put her back in while there's any blood showing as she'll get pecked again, I would get hold of some purple spray to disguise it, but in any case wait until it's healing up a bit. Secondly, if the other four are getting on ok, I'd leave them to it for now - four hens will easily fit into an Eglu, don't worry about that. Once the Speckled star is recovering, you may need to reintroduce her gradually to the others - I would be inclined to take out the bully hen and keep her separated for a bit, as this will lower her status in the pecking order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fantasticjudyann Posted September 27, 2011 Author Share Posted September 27, 2011 Thanks for that Olly. I kept her indoors last night with water and fed her this morning. She was making a real racket and I discovered she had laid an egg, albeit a broken one, bless her. I have just put her into the quarantine area and she seems a lot happier this morning so I am going to observe her and take her to the vet later if she relapses. The white star is being bullied a bit by the two gingernuts ( but no blood drawn so far) so that will serve her right. All four of them were together last night but I don't know if they shared the same Eglu. I have ordered some purple spray which should arrive tomorrow so I will put that on Mabel's wound Thanks for your helpful advice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
