Saturday, December 7, 2013

Brrrr...

We've had a unusually long cold snap here - it's been below freezing every night for a week. I leaned plywood against the open air coop for some insulation, and finally got a heat lamp. After working a 9hr day, I went to the hardware store on the way home, and began setting it up in the dark. When I finially turned it on, I discovered a gruesome bloody  mess in the coop.

The girls (mostly Henrietta I think), picked on little whitie while they were going up to roost- she was covered in blood - her entire head and neck. I brought her inside, wrapped her in a towel, and put her int he shower stall. I went back outside to finish setting up the heat lamp. When I came back in, I washed her off. It looked like she'd been pecked pretty badly around the comb. I dressed her wounds with neosporin, made up homemade electrolytes, and syringed them to her (she was in shock). She perked up after the electrolytes.  I left her inside for the night. The next morning made her eat/drink some. She was acting much better overall, even making normal chicken noises. Later that afternoon, I gave her another bath, as she was still covered in blood, and I couldn't put her in w/the others so bloody.  Here are her injuries after the 2nd bath. 

After she dried, I put her out w/the others and monitored them carefully - I even stayed outside for roosting time. No one picked on her going up to roost.  There are usually some scuffles for "prime" roost spots, but never resulting it injuries like this. 

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