cocothemurderchicken Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 On 6/28/2014 at 4:03 PM, The Dogmother said: 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. It appears they see colours better then humans. https://www.livescience.com/8099-chickens-color-humans.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingeA Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 I too have used purple spray in the past but after reading similar criticisms of it (it’s even banned in some countries!) I have recently purchased Alfasilver which is an antiseptic spray with silver ions to aid healing, it leaves a white powder coating over the top of the wound that is breathable and allows it to heal and also negating the red skin that may attract other chickens to peck ..including during a hard moult which is the issue I’ve been having with one of mine who has dropped almost all of her feathers! The fact it is white and also that she white is even more of an attractive prospect than a purple-bum white hen until her next moult 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 On 8/10/2023 at 2:10 AM, cocothemurderchicken said: It appears they see colours better then humans. https://www.livescience.com/8099-chickens-color-humans.html Every article I read on this offers a differing opinion - the answer that I gave (many years ago) came from my poultry vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 10, 2023 Share Posted August 10, 2023 On 8/10/2023 at 10:00 AM, GingeA said: I too have used purple spray in the past but after reading similar criticisms of it (it’s even banned in some countries!) I have recently purchased Alfasilver which is an antiseptic spray with silver ions to aid healing, it leaves a white powder coating over the top of the wound that is breathable and allows it to heal and also negating the red skin that may attract other chickens to peck ..including during a hard moult which is the issue I’ve been having with one of mine who has dropped almost all of her feathers! The fact it is white and also that she white is even more of an attractive prospect than a purple-bum white hen until her next moult 😂 The original version of Gentian Violet has been banned in some countries for various reasons. The modern version, without the toxic element, continues to be used widely though, but only for smaller wounds. It is an antiseptic spray with a colour to hide the colour of the blood so that avians and some flies aren't so attracted to it. Generally speaking, any wound that measures over 1cm, or is gaping needs vet attention rather than being treated at home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GingeA Posted August 11, 2023 Share Posted August 11, 2023 I’ve used it for minor wounds and still have it in my first aid kit (Nettex wound spray) but must admit after using the alfasilver I much prefer it and am not washing it off myself for days as an added bonus 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
