Poorly chicken

[Pottage]

I've read loads on here and elsewhere online about using purple spray on hens if they have a cut, so when I got my feed this weekend I picked up a bottle.

 

The lady in the shop looked at me as if I was mental when I said it was for my chooks, and said that it was the worst thing I could use as all the other girls will think "Oooo what's this then?" and peck away at the other girl who it is on

 

Now I would have completely poo pooed this was it not for the fact that the place I get my feed has dozens of free ranging hens and guinea fowl, so I would have thought she knew what she was talking about. She said the best thing to use was neat washing up liquid, but surely that's going to irritate the hell out of an already sore area?

 

One of my girls has a dirty bottom (she came to us like that but we've not wanted to stress her out by trying to clean it for the first week we've had her), so I gave it a clean this evening and noticed a small raw circle of broken skin just under her wing. I've used savlon spray on it for the time being as I'm wary of the purple spray now.

 

I don't currently have anywhere I can separate her so my only choice is to have her in the run with the others. It's not in a noticeable place unless she lifts her wings, and it looks how a graze that's a few hours old would rather than openly bleeding. She's my favorite girl but is the littlest of all of them. I'm completely conflicted on what to use now :-/

[Beantree]

Do you mean Gentian Violet Pottage?

[Guest]

I have always used purple spray on wounds to mask redness and sterilise the wound, it has always worked for my girls.

 

Washing up liquid will not mask redness.

 

I have never herd a word against purple spray before, the only negative is that I end up with more spray on myself than on the chicken

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I've used it very successfully too .

[coco]

I have always used purple spray to treat wounds, only problem I have is that it takes ages to wash of my hands and don't get it on your clothes asit doesn't wash out.

[Beantree]

Washing up liquid has a very high salt content Pottage. So I think you are quite right that it will sting like hell and just make it worse. I don't think this person knows as much about chickens as you give credit for. Anyone can have chickens and guinea fowl running about. That is no indication of their level of knowledge.

 

We have used Gentian Violet for treatment many times. It has antiseptic and anti fungal properties.

[Egluntyne]

Gentian violet definitely has it's place in your chicken first aid kit. I always sling a deaf ear to overly dogmatic advice from self appointed experts.

[The Dogmother]

Same here.

 

Chickens are largely colour blind - they see colour in a muted, twilight sort of fashion. The only colour they can see with any clarity is red, mainly because they are designed to feed on small insects and mammals in the wild.

 

Purple spray (used to be Gentian Violet) is fine and works very well to disinfect and disguise bleeding; it's an old farm remedy, and is commonly used on lamb navels after birth, and shearing cuts.

[chuckmum6]

Purple spray fan here, I too usually end up purple when I use it though! I can't really see washing up liquid doing the skin much good.

[Dahato3]

Purple spray every time for me..... I can only echo what everybody else has said....

It's always worked for me, I do tend to end up with purple fingers for a while and the chook in question will have purple feathers for a good while but this has never caused a problem in my experience.

[The Dogmother]

my advice on usage is always as follows:

 

• Glove up
   
  Don't stand down-wind
   
  Never apply it when you're wearing your best work clothes

 

You'd be surprised how many people do............

[lillybettybabs]

I have to say that on a cleaned wound that is not bleeding purple spray is brilliant but it does stop you from

monitoring it to see if is is healing and not infected.

I have just rehabilitated a chicken with a server head wound that had been sprayed with purple spray. I couldn't

see the damage until i had washed it a few times (pecked tot he skull), fortunately it was a friendly chicken and

now lives with us.

[The Dogmother]

And she looks amazing now - I hardly recognised her the other week.

[lillybettybabs]

She's out with the others now, a little pecking to get in order but nothing compared to what she went through

with her previous owners.

[Chickabee]

I have to disagree dog mother, they can see bright green. That's the colour of my watering can and my girls love it

 

Big fan of purple spray. Used to have horses, was constantly getting covered in it. It's not bright so the other chooks won't be attracted to it. Utter hogwash !

[mojono1**]

I used the purple spray last night, when does the colour come off the hens? 

[Mrs_B]

Purple spray has been amazing for me in the past - especially as I had an issue with bullying some years ago.

As for when it comes off - eventually? I seem to remember a bit rubbed off but there was some feint staining to one of my chicken's feathers until she moulted. 

[Patricia W]

I always keep some in.  Just in case we have an open wound.  

[AndyRoo]

The thing about chickens not being able to see in colour or only see red is complete rubbish. They have the same colour receptors in their eyes that we do, and a couple of others that are theorised to allow them to see in an infra-red/violet spectrum and detect movement - which is what allows them to detect insects and grubs etc. Chickens can actually see more colours and shades than we can! There's some articles about it here: https://www.livescience.com/8099-chickens-color-humans.html and here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100216101159.htm - if anyone is interested.

That being said, if one of the girls gets bullied and ends up with a bald patch, I treat it with purple spray and anti-peck until the patch heals and new feathers come in. No idea which one has the most impact, but it seems to work.

Edited August 8, 2020 by AndyRoo

[Christine H.]

Which anti peck did you use ?

[The Dogmother]

Purple spray doesn't stop pecking, it just acts as an antiseptic and disguises the colour of blood to prevent the other birds being drawn to it. There are lots of anti-pecking sprays on the market, all with similar ingredients. I've found that the best solution is to isolate the bully, and pop a bumpa bit on her before introducing her again.

 

[Christine H.]

Thanks, will order a bumpa bit tomorrow.

[Jason Rowe]

Is the purple spray ok to use on a prolapsed vent before I try to poke it back in with a water based lubricant?

[Chickabee]

On 7/19/2021 at 3:23 AM, Jason Rowe said:

Is the purple spray ok to use on a prolapsed vent before I try to poke it back in with a water based lubricant?

Have you performed this procedure before ? I’ve done it on a quail, but wouldn’t fancy doing it on a chook. I suppose purple spray is a good disinfectant, but if you’re wearing gloves, that should be adequate. Plus a clean of the area with cooled boiled water

[Roberta]

I had a black hen ( not sure of breed) given to me to look after for the rest of her life. The owner had Parkinson’s and couldn’t look after her he also spoiled her with lots of treats! Her bottom was very dirty and sore. I cleaned her up with warm water and sensitive soap then sprayed her with violet spray. Her points of her feathers are now very slowly returning. And she looks much more comfortable ( I can tell 😂) she has less treats and I keep and eye on the area. Bless her. Her feathers are much more glossy too. The other girls didn’t take any notice of her “ purple “ vent she settled so calmly to the flock too. I just need the breed name. 

I do have a question for anyone though .. my friend has four chickens and unfortunately one started breaking the eggs now all of them do it. Do you have any advice?