How can I find my old pictures?

[AndyRoo]

Hi all,

Today when I was doing the bi-annual Ivermectin treatment and the usual delousing dusting etc., I noticed that one of my girls had been picked clean by the other girls and she had a very red, very bloody bum with an open wound!! I cleaned her up and disinfected her and tried dabbing her dry - but noticed after an hour she was bleeding again. It looks like some of her skin was slightly torn. I'm a bit worried about fly strike too as a consequence. Is there anything I can do to help her? Is there an astringent or something I could use to stop the bleeding?

I think the problem is that they've been cooped up inside for so long that they're starting to get frustrated and are plucking out their own feathers and each others!! I've a feeling it's getting to the point where this has gone on for so long, the ban is affecting their health too.

Also, when trying to catch the girls, my little legbar somehow managed to rip one of her nails in half. It was bleeding very badly, and I can see the nerve/quick is completely exposed. I brought her in, washed her thoroughly, disinfected the wound - and then I found a mouse-sized plaster which I used to dress it. And I'll keep an eye on it and change it again tomorrow if it's still bleeding. She looked a bit like she was limping a little afterwards - although went back to normal walking any hour or so later. Is there anything I can do for her?

I feel absolutely terrible because I imagine both of them must be in quite a bit of pain!!

Cheers,

Andy

[Beantree]

We use arrowroot powder to stop bleeding, but in the case of a bleeding bottom you will have to separate her until it heals I think? Broken nails do bleed a lot, particularly because they keep getting moved so won't heal. We use gauze with some antibacterial cream on it to cover the end of the toe and then wrap it in microporous tape to form a hard tube. It will drop off on its own, by which time the nail should have healed. Of course you do get the odd one that gets pulled off and has to be replaced. They mend very quickly, so a couple of days will see the broken end fall off and new nail growing.

My opinion is if their welfare has been compromised long enough they need to be let out. They are getting very stressed and that quickly leads to illness and you are far more likely to lose them to that than bird flu.

[AndyRoo]

Unfortunately, we have literally nowhere to separate the other hen too because I don't have a spare run / hutch. What a mess.

[Cat tails]

On 4/25/2022 at 12:03 PM, AndyRoo said:

Unfortunately, we have literally nowhere to separate the other hen too because I don't have a spare run / hutch. What a mess.

If you have some spare mesh, maybe you can section of a bit of run. I seem to remember you have that very luxe wooden run in your garden. It doesn’t have to be sturdy, if it’s still in the run, as she would be perfectly safe in the run itself.

[Beantree]

We have on occasions used 'Stockholm tar', which is as it sounds, a tar like substance. Coated over an open wound, like a pecked cockerel comb, with a cotton bud. It seals the area, tastes horrible to a pecker and the skin grows back underneath. Needs to be applied every day and don't get it on your hands or clothes. Problem is a tub (horsey stuff) lasts a lifetime and it's a bit thin, so best decanted to an open tray and allowed to evaporate a bit.

Have you a cage that she can come into the house in? Then in daytime section the run as Cattails describes. We have two dog cages in the bathroom for this kind of emergency, but any room will do.

 

[AndyRoo]

Unfortunately, with work, I couldn't get to her in time and those b*****s had torn the poor girl apart by the time I got home, so I had to take her to the vet to be euthanised this evening.

And the poor girl only had to make it to next Monday and then they'd have all been allowed back out and could have had other things to take out their frustrations on than each other!!  

[Beantree]

That's sad Andy, but not surprising. Problem is when they get a taste for blood nothing will stop them. What worries me now is who will be attacked next? I think you should let them out early to try and prevent a reoccurrence. We have a hen that pecked all the new feathers on the cockerel so she could suck the blood out and took the scabs off his comb (he arrived injured) and the tar didn't work, so she now wears a beak bit permanently.

[AndyRoo]

They're all fine so far. Feather pecking has been constant for the last few months, I guess because they're going insane! They've never attacked a bird like this before - even when bleeding. I feel so bad for the poor girl.

I've bought them some outdoor 'gym' bits, and will be moving one of the fruit trees into the centre of their paddock, so hopefully that will all give them some kind of distraction, save for each other too.

I forget how mean hens can be with each other!!