# Injured Chicken



## Irina Penanen

My favorite not-so-runty girl died in what was probably a raccoon attack last night and another bird has an injury. So far iodine was put on the wound, I don't have Bluekote. She is still mobile and alert, and is walking and pecking around with her remaining flock members, though I'm preparing to set up a box for her inside if things get any worse. What else can I do before trying to call a vet tomorrow (It's christmas so places are closed)?


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## robin416

Do whatever you can to make sure that the racoon can't get at them again because it will be back. Put them in the garage or give them a room in the house if you can't do something to fortify their coop. 

I have some concerns about the iodine since it's red and can draw the others to investigate it. 

She is going to be sore and might slow down some. You can give her a 325mg aspirin dissolved in a gallon of water if she seems to be hurting. 

A pic is helpful in giving anymore than rudimentary ideas on how best to help her.


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## Irina Penanen

Oh, I forgot to attach it! Those two chickens were the exact ones you'd expect to fight, and they did. She was pretty dominant so I think the others will leave her alone, they have so far. I have some ideas to fortify the coop that will definitely be implemented.


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## Poultry Judge

Racoons can really do some damage, where there is one, there are at least several more and they will take turns trying to get your birds.


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## robin416

Exactly what PJ said. I had one get in my old Guinea coop once. I fortified the coop that day, that night I found signs it had been trying to get back in. The night after that I found where it had scaled the Silkie coop trying to get in at the soffits.

Seeing that puncture I'd try to flush that wound with saline then pack it with antibiotic ointment. Saline is hard to come by but using sensitive eyes saline for contact lenses works in a pinch.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> Exactly what PJ said. I had one get in my old Guinea coop once. I fortified the coop that day, that night I found signs it had been trying to get back in. The night after that I found where it had scaled the Silkie coop trying to get in at the soffits.
> 
> Seeing that puncture I'd try to flush that wound with saline then pack it with antibiotic ointment. Saline is hard to come by but using sensitive eyes saline for contact lenses works in a pinch.


Once it's fairly clean, the antibiotic ointment will help, and certainly do no harm.


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## robin416

I had a hen, a first time mom, scalp one of her newly hatched peeps all the way to the skull. I kept antibiotic ointment on it. It eventually granulated in and actually grew feathers on the head.


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## Irina Penanen

She has an antibiotic ointment/iodine combo on her now, I'm thinking I'll wash the wound with saline and put more iodine on it before she goes to bed. As for the raccoons, I'll reinforce the coop some more and set traps around it.


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## robin416

That's good. Danged ***** can be so determined.


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## Irina Penanen

I'm definitely putting the chooks up early tonight.


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## robin416

If it comes back it won't be until tonight probably early in the morning. 

One of the things that I have on my birds is hotwire. I've heard a couple of things hit the wire at night. One time I found where something was digging but when it got close to the wire stopped.


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## Irina Penanen

What is hotwire exactly? Electrical fence type thing?


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## robin416

Yes. It's really simple to set up. Mine is electric but you can get solar or battery operated.

PJ also uses one but I think his is more a perimeter set up where mine is specific to my bird pen/coop.


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## Irina Penanen

I'll definitely look into that, though I don't want to kill the lizards or other critters.


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## robin416

It won't. A wet nose touches the wire and sends them running. Or forgetting the wire is plugged in and a hand touches it. It's unpleasant but not deadly. 

I had a snake get caught in the welded wire in the Guinea pen. I thought it was dead until I plugged in my wire that evening and the snake started reacting to the wire zapping it. I had to unplug and go to work trying to free the snake without hurting it. Once I got it loose it slithered off to wherever it should have been to start with.


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## Irina Penanen

Oh, interesting! For now I treated my injured hen an hour or so before bedtime, put her into the coop (poor girl escaped and was sitting in a tree, probably decided the coop isn't safe), and made sure everything was locked up and blocked off.


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## robin416

Dang, that's not good if that **** figures out she's up there.


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## Irina Penanen

I got her down, put her in the coop and she hopped up onto the perch. Then immediately put her head down, she seemed exhausted. Everyone's locked up inside the coop and there are traps set nearby.


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## robin416

That makes me feel better. I'm glad you could get her. 

BTW, one other time with my wire. This is to let you know how it's not going to electrocute anything. I went to unplug my wire one morning when I spotted a dead daddy longlegs on the lower wire. Thought he was just a dead spider. Once the power was off he wandered off.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> Yes. It's really simple to set up. Mine is electric but you can get solar or battery operated.
> 
> PJ also uses one but I think his is more a perimeter set up where mine is specific to my bird pen/coop.


Yes, I have about six thousand feet of wire total, it is not dangerous and all animals soon get accustomed to it. It was some of the only entertainment we had as kids, seeing which kid could hang on to a weed burner fence the longest. If you listened carefully you could hear the signal coming and pull your hands away. Of course there was always some idiot pushing you onto the fence regardless.


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## Irina Penanen

Do either of you have a link to the wire? I might look into it if my family is ok with it.


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## robin416

Mine is a Gallagher. It's larger than I need but it's all the store had when I had to replace my old charger. 

I might have 100 tied up in my setup with the posts, connectors, charger and wire.


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## robin416

Poultry Judge said:


> Yes, I have about six thousand feet of wire total, it is not dangerous and all animals soon get accustomed to it. It was some of the only entertainment we had as kids, seeing which kid could hang on to a weed burner fence the longest. If you listened carefully you could hear the signal coming and pull your hands away. Of course there was always some idiot pushing you onto the fence regardless.


Of course you did that. Even though I was a tomboy getting me to go hang on to a hotwire for kicks was not part of my tomboyness.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> Mine is a Gallagher. It's larger than I need but it's all the store had when I had to replace my old charger.
> 
> I might have 100 tied up in my setup with the posts, connectors, charger and wire.


You could look on the Tractor Supply website or Farm & Family. Get the smallest and least expensive one for a chicken perimeter.


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## robin416

Or so many other farm supplies sellers. I don't have Farm & Family down here. She might not have it either. 

Or a net search for fence chargers.


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## Irina Penanen

Depending on how cheap and easy to get they are, I think I might get one. The injured chicken made it through the night and the **** didn't manage to get any of them if it came back. A skunk visited the backyard which hopefully will help cover up the chickens' smell for a couple of days, though it's not near the coop. I'm going to sweep near the coop and spread some DE so any new animal tracks should be visible and as a bit of mite protection, since Ginger can't dust bathe until she grows her skin back.


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## robin416

They're very easy to install. And depending on what you get and how much area you have to protect it should be in the neighborhood of a hundred bucks. 

Do you have access to electricity? If not you'll have to do solar and those will be more expensive.


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## robin416

This is a couple of pics I had on my computer. It shows the little metal post, the isolators, the wire and the handles for passing through.


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## Irina Penanen

I'd only have to protect the coop so I wouldn't need that much, and I do have access to electricity. Another update on Ginger, we did another round of treatment, washing with diluted hydrogen peroxide and putting Neosporin on top. The worst of the wound looks like it closed up and it doesn't look infected.


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## robin416

Yay! That's because her human jumped on getting treatment started. They can be amazing when given the right care when it comes to healing. And the right treatment. 

She might be good to go as far as being with the flock if her feathers are covering the injury.


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## Irina Penanen

The strategy was pretty much "What would we do for a human?" and then making adjustments so it was more chicken friendly.


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## robin416

There is a lot that transfers over to our birds when it comes to treating. There's very little we need to not go near. And there are times a vet is the only option. 

I practiced the ABC's (airway, breathing, circulation) a lot with my birds. Many times I would take a wait and see when I'd see one off. Just stand back and observe to see what might be up. Taking the time saved doing things that were unnecessary.


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## Poultry Judge

Irina Penanen said:


> I'd only have to protect the coop so I wouldn't need that much, and I do have access to electricity. Another update on Ginger, we did another round of treatment, washing with diluted hydrogen peroxide and putting Neosporin on top. The worst of the wound looks like it closed up and it doesn't look infected.


That is good news!


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## Overmountain1

Poultry Judge said:


> Yes, I have about six thousand feet of wire total, it is not dangerous and all animals soon get accustomed to it. It was some of the only entertainment we had as kids, seeing which kid could hang on to a weed burner fence the longest. If you listened carefully you could hear the signal coming and pull your hands away. Of course there was always some idiot pushing you onto the fence regardless.


This does explain a few things....


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## Overmountain1

robin416 said:


> Of course you did that. Even though I was a tomboy getting me to go hang on to a hotwire for kicks was not part of my tomboyness.


Yes. I was like you Robin- one of the boys except when it was doing stupid boy stuff. Then I just stood and laughed at how stupid they are/were.


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## robin416

Overmountain1 said:


> This does explain a few things....


I'm slow. It took me a little longer than it should have to follow that.


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## robin416

Overmountain1 said:


> Yes. I was like you Robin- one of the boys except when it was doing stupid boy stuff. Then I just stood and laughed at how stupid they are/were.


Did your mom put you in dresses during the Summer and expect you to come home all neat and clean? Mine did. She soon realized that wasn't working out.


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## Overmountain1

I'll bring you another cup of coffee. It'll be alright. 

No- I think they were grateful that my grandmother ran a successful consignment shop, though!!


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## Poultry Judge

Overmountain1 said:


> This does explain a few things....


Might explain a number of things!


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## Irina Penanen

To be fair those were the days before the internet! About Ginger, turns out the puncture wasn't as healed as we thought, it seems to be her esophagus. Bubbles showed up when she was getting her peroxide wash. We put superglue on that which should help keep it together while she's trying to heal. The treatment seems to be working ok though, it still doesn't look infected and the skin nearby looks decently healthy.


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## Poultry Judge

Irina Penanen said:


> To be fair those were the days before the internet! About Ginger, turns out the puncture wasn't as healed as we thought, it seems to be her esophagus. Bubbles showed up when she was getting her peroxide wash. We put superglue on that which should help keep it together while she's trying to heal. The treatment seems to be working ok though, it still doesn't look infected and the skin nearby looks decently healthy.


The bubbles may seem bad but Ginger may recover fine. I had a female Emu with a five inch gash on her esophagus from being attacked by another female Emu. It did become infected. The vet shrugged his shoulders but we kept treating it and she made a full recovery.


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## Irina Penanen

You had an _emu!_ I know people have peacocks and guineas and quails and the such but an emu seems like a project. Happy to hear about your bird's recovery anyway, both because I like everyone's birds being alive and maybe Ginger can pull off a decent recovery.


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## Overmountain1

Come on Ginger! We are all pulling for you!


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## robin416

I can tell you that after finding that involvement I would have turned to the vet. There could be even more you're unaware of since this went on for several days before you found the other issue. 

How sure are you it isn't a leaking air sac?


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## Poultry Judge

Irina Penanen said:


> You had an _emu!_ I know people have peacocks and guineas and quails and the such but an emu seems like a project. Happy to hear about your bird's recovery anyway, both because I like everyone's birds being alive and maybe Ginger can pull off a decent recovery.


I had a flock of Emus, I had to do all the treatment and vaccinations because the large animal vets wouldn't wrestle with them. I sold them two years ago because I am getting too old to handle and chase them.


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## Irina Penanen

You're saying I should ask a vet? We knew her esophagus was punctured but thought it had healed a bit. Bluekote will be arriving today so hopefully that will help as well.


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## robin416

Yeah, when it gets to discovering internal organs have been injured it's always best to have the input from someone who's trained for looking for other hidden issues.


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## Irina Penanen

It's getting pecked too... Bluekote ought to help but I don't think I can get her to a vet.


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## robin416

Remember I was worried about the red from the iodine. When is the Bluekote supposed to be there?


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## Irina Penanen

It's being shipped, as well as something else that's supposed to be similar. So far there doesn't seem to be too much damage at least.


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## robin416

Birds can be such a pain in the behind when we're trying to do the right things for them and they do everything in their power to make it more challenging.


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## Irina Penanen

We've managed to keep her uninfected but Ginger please don't peck the wound directly and don't let your sisters do it either! It's raining and the silly chickens insisted on hanging out under a tree or out in the open rather than taking shelter in/under their coop where we put their food and water.


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## robin416

My Guineas would do that. Well, they still do it but most times they hide under my truck. If the Silkies were out with a sudden rain their poofs got wet and they couldn't see to go in. So I'd be out there getting soaked popping birds into their pens in the coop.

I'm sitting here wondering what kind of collar you could put on her to stop easy access. She'd love you to death for that. Actually she'd probably never forgive you.


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## Irina Penanen

I'm worried trying to do something like that would cause her to injure herself trying to take it off, as she probably already hates me for holding her in place while she's being treated. Some medication for her arrived today, a blue antimicrobial spray called Vetericyn. That will be applied tomorrow and I'm hoping it'll help with the pecking situation.


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## robin416

I don't think that will change the color like Blue Kote will.


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## Irina Penanen

It is bright blue, possibly not as much as Blue Kote but it's something until the Blue Kote arrives.


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## robin416

What the heck is going on that not even Blue Kote is easily available?


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> I don't think that will change the color like Blue Kote will.


Agreed, the Vetericyn is okay treatment for the wound though.


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## Irina Penanen

Blue Kote takes longer to ship apparently, I'll be using that once it arrives. For now, it's wash with diluted peroxide, then apply Veterecyn and Iodine.


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## robin416

Skip the iodine if you're leaving her with the others. It's just going to draw them to the area to investigate.


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## Irina Penanen

Maybe Neosporin can be used instead during the day, Iodine is nice because it'll find the deepest parts of the wound and help with those but the pecking is preventing her from making progress.


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## robin416

Antibiotic ointment was always my go to. But then I never had any with puncture wounds. 

If your are concerned about unseen infection you could either inject with a broad spectrum antibiotic or put her on oral antibiotics.


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## Irina Penanen

I don't have any injectable or oral antibiotics, I think I'll still do iodine at night but Neosporin during the day so it gets pecked less. I'm not too worried about unseen infections, but iodine spreading due to the body heat helps with coverage.


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## Irina Penanen

She's looking a bit better this morning, it doesn't look like it's been pecked much and the superglue is still there keeping the main puncture closed. We just used the Vetericyn for her treatment today.


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## robin416

No matter what anyone says, when one of them is hurt or sick it's stressful for the human. Especially when they hide what hurts from us.

I'm glad she's doing better.


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## Irina Penanen

She may lay the smallest eggs of the flock so far but she's a beauty. Nobody's bird is "just a chicken," that's for sure.


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## robin416

Not even a little bit are they ever just a chicken. At least not to those that actually have them in their lives and get to see how they each have their own personality.


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## Poultry Judge

I'm glad to hear she is doing somewhat better!


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## Irina Penanen

Yeah, it's possible that they got a bit pecky due to being cooped up in stormy weather. The rain's subsided and hopefully the Blue Kote will be here in time for the next rain. She's definitely improved a bit, and hopefully will be doing even better tomorrow after a good night's rest. Thank you all for helping me take care of her.


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## robin416

Do you have an outside run for them? If you do you can put a cover on it for bad weather. That way they can go out and still be out of the rain. Or snow.

I've always been a strong believer in having secure run for the birds. That way if a predator problem crops up they can be out but be protected until the threat ends.


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## Irina Penanen

We do have a run, we secured it a bit and added a proper top to it and we might be able to find a tarp to put on top. That'll give them a bit more room than under their coop.


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## robin416

I would have been lost without my runs. I raised mainly Silkies so they couldn't free range without me present. Then there were the Guineas. Guineas hate snow. If they see snow they fly straight into the trees. I could open their coop, leave their run door closed. No access to the trees.


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## Irina Penanen

I'm guessing they'll be happy as long as they have perches in the run.


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## danathome

I have nothing to add to the great advice already given, but to say, good luck!


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## Irina Penanen

It seems that danathome's good luck was received! Ginger's pecking wounds have healed and the wound overall seems to be closing up a little bit.


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## robin416

And that's the way to start the New Year. Congratulations to you and her.


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## Poultry Judge

Irina Penanen said:


> It seems that danathome's good luck was received! Ginger's pecking wounds have healed and the wound overall seems to be closing up a little bit.


That's good news!


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## danathome

YYYYEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!


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## Irina Penanen

It certainly was better than Christmas. I'm looking forward to her healing up more fully.


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## Poultry Judge

Irina Penanen said:


> It certainly was better than Christmas. I'm looking forward to her healing up more fully.


Yes!


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## Irina Penanen

More good news! the Blue Kote is here. Should I use that along with the Veterycin or just use the Blue Kote?


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## robin416

Just use the Blue Kote, it has antibacterial properties too and you don't want to irritate her healing skin by over doing it. 

And now with the Blue Kote the others should not notice her wound any more.


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## Irina Penanen

I used just vetericyn today as it seems to be working well, I'll use the Blue Kote for days and times when the chickens are confined to the coop/run.


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## robin416

She just might heal up enough you won't need it.


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## Poultry Judge

Keep us posted.


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## Irina Penanen

I took her away from the flock while they were starting to perch for the night, and after two squirts of Blue Kote I put her back in the coop. Well, there was already another bird in her favorite perching spot (There are usually 5 on the slightly higher perch and two on the lower one). The higher perch already had five. So, of course, this chicken just jumps up to her usual spot by the window despite having to move her flockmate out of the way. Poor Blue is by herself on the lower perch.


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## robin416

They'll get it worked out. My Guineas are still shoving each other around well after dark.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> They'll get it worked out. My Guineas are still shoving each other around well after dark.


We have had lots of rain and flooding, so most everyone is in the coop at night currently. There are six roosts and two that are very preferred. The jockeying for position is comical, it starts about 4:30 and goes until it's totally dark. Each species and breed has its' preference.


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## robin416

Poultry Judge said:


> We have had lots of rain and flooding, so most everyone is in the coop at night currently. There are six roosts and two that are very preferred. The jockeying for position is comical, it starts about 4:30 and goes until it's totally dark. Each species and breed has its' preference.


Isn't that the truth? I can stand in the breezeway listening and it sounds like an all out gang riot going on.

While I still had the two Hamburg sisters the mean sister, she didn't like anybody, wouldn't let her sister roost with her. So a roost was put up for the other and low and behold they were both on it. Then they switched places.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> Isn't that the truth? I can stand in the breezeway listening and it sounds like an all out gang riot going on.
> 
> While I still had the two Hamburg sisters the mean sister, she didn't like anybody, wouldn't let her sister roost with her. So a roost was put up for the other and low and behold they were both on it. Then they switched places.


Roost of the day/week/month.


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## robin416

About like the nests they use.


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## Irina Penanen

Birds, birds...

It looks like Ginger's wound has healed up to the point where infection is unlikely. I still want to take a look at the would daily and I'm not sure if and how the cartilage and skin is going to grow back, but she's looking pretty good for now.


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## robin416

That's part of why I liked the antibiotic ointment. It kept the margins moist so that the wound could granulate in. It could still happen for her I think. It's far too late for stitches.


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## Irina Penanen

Trying to do stitches would likely not go well, I have no idea how to do anesthesia for a chicken, going to a vet would be risky with covid, and I wouldn't want her to go through that pain. Would ointment be a good idea to help the new skin grow in or will she likely be fine on her own?


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## robin416

It's too late now. The margins have healed. I don't know what it's going to do.


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## Irina Penanen

As in whether or not she'll have skin again?


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## robin416

If she actually has a hole still open there I can't imagine after all this time that it is going to close completely. It might. But it would take a long time. 

But I could be thinking hole because you said puncture and air leakage, etc. She might have something totally different from what I'm imagining since I can't see it.


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## Irina Penanen

Here's a photo from the first day. The chickens are asleep now but I can take an update photo in the morning.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> If she actually has a hole still open there I can't imagine after all this time that it is going to close completely. It might. But it would take a long time.
> 
> But I could be thinking hole because you said puncture and air leakage, etc. She might have something totally different from what I'm imagining since I can't see it.


When my Emu had the esophagus gash, it healed completely, I never expected that.


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## Irina Penanen

Ginger seems to be growing in new quills for feathers in the area. They're little white stubs at the moment and I was confused for a bit because I thought she might have flystrike or something, but the wound is still mostly blue from the Blue Kote treatment a couple of days back.


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## robin416

So she doesn't have a hole where you can look inside of her body? That area has begun to fill in, or what? I'm so confused now on just what her injury was.


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## Poultry Judge

Irina Penanen said:


> Ginger seems to be growing in new quills for feathers in the area. They're little white stubs at the moment and I was confused for a bit because I thought she might have flystrike or something, but the wound is still mostly blue from the Blue Kote treatment a couple of days back.
> 
> It's good to hear she is on the mend.


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## Irina Penanen

It looks like the feathers are growing in from the top of the wound where there is some skin or cartilage. Sorry the picture might not be great, she doesn't trust me as much after a week of picking her up and holding her in place so she could be treated. There was definitely a hole in her skin and we could see her esophagus.







i


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## robin416

Then that's her breast? All this time I thought the hole was more on her side. Yeah, it'll scar in. She probably won't grow feathers in that one spot but the rest should be invisible once the other feathers grow in.


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## Irina Penanen

This is a photo of her from the first day that's not a closeup. It's on her breast, but sort of to the side of it. Thank you for all the advice and support.


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## robin416

She's a tough girl. Keep the treats close by. Bet she forgives you real quick.


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## Poultry Judge

Irina Penanen said:


> This is a photo of her from the first day that's not a closeup. It's on her breast, but sort of to the side of it. Thank you for all the advice and support.
> View attachment 37368


Thanks for the pics.


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## Irina Penanen

She'll definitely be getting lots of treats and love.


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## Poultry Judge

Irina Penanen said:


> She'll definitely be getting lots of treats and love.


That's good!


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## Overmountain1

Thanks for keeping us updated! Truly- I always wonder how they do if I don’t hear anything. Of course, that either means they got better (yay!) or, well.... they didn’t. Which I understand. But I think we do learn so much from each other’s trials it is important. So glad to see she’s healing up better now! She’s a pretty girl.


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## Irina Penanen

Thank you, it definitely is good to know whether people's birds make it through some of these things. I'm lucky that Ginger survived this. If her wound had been any worse or if she decided not to push through, I might have lost two of my favorite birds to that attack.


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## robin416

One of the really hard things to get over is the attack itself for the human part of this. It hurts and it feels so devastating.


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## Irina Penanen

Being able to reinforce the coop, treat Ginger, and keep an eye on the remaining chickens (a coyote got into the yard a couple of days later and was promptly chased away) was something to do about the whole thing. But I'll always hate that none of it can bring my chicken back.


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## robin416

Exactly. The "event" will hit you at odd times. I know it did for me for a while.


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## Irina Penanen

There's a lot that will definitely remind me of her. If only she didn't have to die in order for me to secure the coop better. At least I know that her flock and any new chicks that are added will be safer.


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## robin416

I don't think we ever get done reinforcing our coops or pens to keep our birds safe. I've been messing with mine again the past couple of days. The one thing I don't regret is the hotwire I have going around the outside.


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## Irina Penanen

I'm sure there's more stuff for me to patch up, and always maintenance to be done. $100 feels like a lot for hotwire but if I can find something for 50-100 feet that costs less than $50, I'll definitely buy it and set it up at night.


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## robin416

That would be about the right cost when you add in the charger and the rest of the small stuff. 

Chicken coops are like houses, there is always something. They might not have running water or drains but they still take a knock like our houses do when they're inhabited.


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## Poultry Judge

There's always something.


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## Irina Penanen

The current project is automating the coop. It'll warn me if the chickens aren't all on the perch at night.


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## robin416

OK, you can't get away with saying that and not explaining what it is, Irina. I've not heard of anything like that.


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## Irina Penanen

Pretty much we set up sensors to measure the weight of the perches, and I wrote a program that uses that to find how many of the chickens are perched. I still need to add a display and possibly a noise alarm that will be able to tell us home many chickens are on the perches and sound an alarm if any of them are not on the perch at night. It'll eventually also put up the ramp at night, though we need to set up the gears and motor for that.


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## Poultry Judge

Irina Penanen said:


> The current project is automating the coop. It'll warn me if the chickens aren't all on the perch at night.


That's cool, keep us posted!


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## robin416

Same here and seeing it completed would satisfy my curiosity about how it works.


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## Poultry Judge

Irina Penanen said:


> Pretty much we set up sensors to measure the weight of the perches, and I wrote a program that uses that to find how many of the chickens are perched. I still need to add a display and possibly a noise alarm that will be able to tell us home many chickens are on the perches and sound an alarm if any of them are not on the perch at night. It'll eventually also put up the ramp at night, though we need to set up the gears and motor for that.


All I can say is Wow! I have an electric coop door and you can set them up in a variety of ways.


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## Irina Penanen

I'll definitely keep you updated! It'll be a while before everything is set up though.


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## robin416

We'll be here when you decide to share it with us. 

I'm patient. FYI, that's a lie.


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## Irina Penanen

Update on Ginger. The scar tissue that formed dried up and peeled off, she now has new skin there. The feathers are growing in nicely from above, and have tips of her red color.


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## robin416

Good reads like this one always makes the day a little brighter. 

Have you seen any signs of the predator coming back?


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## Irina Penanen

Nothing too obvious, I haven't seen any scratches or prints on the ground, the coop seems undamaged, and all of my other girls are alive and laying.


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## robin416

I had a **** get in my Guinea coop and it was awful. I secured the coop even more. It came back the next night and tried to get in but couldn't. I could tell by the busted wire where it was ranking on it but there was another layer under that. And it gave up.

Then the next night it tried to get in my Silkie coop by scaling the outside of the building to come in through the soffits. 

The only reason I knew it tried were the paw prints on the side of the building.


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## Irina Penanen

Oh my, that must have been difficult. I'm glad it wasn't able to get back into the coop.


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## robin416

They can be determined. And we're always tweaking when they show us another weakness in our setups. 

You'd think there'd be enough other wild life out there that they would leave our birds alone.


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## Irina Penanen

I suppose they can't really tell what creatures humans are attached to. The houses nearby and gates/fencing should be something of a hint though.


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## robin416

Or they know where there are easy handouts like trash cans, cat food left out and our birds.


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## Irina Penanen

If only they chose compost over chickens.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> Or they know where there are easy handouts like trash cans, cat food left out and our birds.


You know darned well that if you leave cat food out, the turkeys will come!


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## robin416

There is no cat food out here. Never will be. And not because the turkeys would show up on my doorstep, either.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> There is no cat food out here. Never will be. And not because the turkeys would show up on my doorstep, either.


But they had their hearts set on it.


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## robin416

So set it out. Save them the long trip.


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## Poultry Judge

Half the peafowl are out this morning.


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## robin416

Since I don't know how many you actually have it's hard to know how many that is.

Which ones have decided they like indoors better? The younger or the older wiser birds?


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> Since I don't know how many you actually have it's hard to know how many that is.
> 
> Which ones have decided they like indoors better? The younger or the older wiser birds?


Since they all got their start either on the front porch or the rear foyer room, they are unafraid as adults to walk in if they get the chance. They also associate the house with grubbies and other treats. Right now some are on the roof. Baby 1 now makes the adult half goose honk half turkey gobble call.


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## robin416

Poultry Judge said:


> Baby 1 now makes the adult half goose honk half turkey gobble call.


I wish you could record that and post it. I'll bet it's riot to hear.


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## Irina Penanen

I'd love to see a video of the peafowl as well! They must be a lot of fun. Ginger seems to have recovered to the point where the wound is covered in skin, though not all of it is covered in feathers.


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## robin416

I'll let you ask him Irina. I'm not sure he's as technologically advanced as some people. 

She may never have feathers in that spot. It will be more like a scar like we humans get where the healed skin is different.


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## Irina Penanen

I'm mostly glad her skin has grown in nicely and she's pretty much healed, feathers would be a nice bonus but it is a scar so I'm not counting on it. I'm pleasantly surprised that even the skin/scar was able to grow in so quickly.


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## robin416

You really had me confused for a long time. You said you could see bubbles from her esophagus but the pic you posted looked like her side. So, OK, she's got an open wound through her side all that way to her esophagus. Being her breast it was way different from what I though.


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## Irina Penanen

I'm sorry the pic was confusing! You must have thought it was way worse than it actually was.


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## robin416

Oh yeah. I sure did. I wish you could see what I was seeing in my brain. LOL


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> I'm not sure he's as technologically advanced as some people.


That might be an understatement! I was raised Plain Quaker and then worked for the government for thirty years which might make anyone an anti-technology crank!


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## robin416

As expected. But reading some of your older posts we know you're downplaying just a wee bit.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> As expected. But reading some of your older posts we know you're downplaying just a wee bit.


I'm still an old crank.


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## robin416

Well, yeah. But I wouldn't say I suffer fools easily and get cranky having to deal with them. And it gets easier and easier to be cranky everyday.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> Well, yeah. But I wouldn't say I suffer fools easily and get cranky having to deal with them. And it gets easier and easier to be cranky everyday.


Indeed, it does.


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## Irina Penanen

None of you seem terribly cranky to me. It is quite the world these days though.


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## robin416

It's chickens, Irina. It's why so many people are hooked on them, they have a calming effect that even chronic crankiness can't make an appearance.


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## Poultry Judge

robin416 said:


> It's chickens, Irina. It's why so many people are hooked on them, they have a calming effect that even chronic crankiness can't make an appearance.


I feel calmer already!


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## Irina Penanen

Nothing helps you forget about the world's problems like a silly bird going Treats? Treats? Treats?


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## Poultry Judge

Absol


Irina Penanen said:


> Nothing helps you forget about the world's problems like a silly bird going Treats? Treats? Treats?
> 
> Absolutely!


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## robin416

Then why am I so hooked on my Guineas? They don't come anywhere near the sweetness of chickens.


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## Overmountain1

robin416 said:


> Then why am I so hooked on my Guineas? They don't come anywhere near the sweetness of chickens.


Inexplicable! I have two beautiful poofy boys who would LOOOOVE to come roost with you! 

Yes indeed the world is insanity, and it's always easier to be cranky than nice. I've been struggling with that lately for sure!! 
I am not preaching, promise. I'm not even deeply religious myself. But, nonetheless, the Bible does tell us to love those who persecute us, and forgive them their ignorance. 
Really really dang hard to do sometimes. Truly. That's really all I'm saying. But I try. Because a smile can make someone else's day brighter.

And chickens always make the day brighter!! Since ours won't come out in snow, even with a shoveled path  I've been grabbing them one at a time and they come in to visit for a minute. Crazies! 
But, it's hard to worry about the world when you've got a chicken as sweet as my Chip. He's the best rooster ever.  they're a bit fuzzy but hey. You can see how sweet he is anyway.


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## robin416

Believe me, I've been tempted more than once. But my 9 year old Hamburg has a different opinion on bringing in new chickens. She likes her quail just fine though. 

Put straw down on their shoveled paths, if it's not windy I bet they'll venture out more.


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## Overmountain1

Yes! Thank you for reminding me. That was on my to do list before I got stuck at home- I'll have hubbs get some ASAP! We need it in the runs too anyway.


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## robin416

Truthfully? I forgot about it too but that's more because I don't have to deal with snow.


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## Irina Penanen

Update on Ginger! This is her with her feathers fully grown back. You can see where we cut the crusty feathers around the wound that were irritating her but the new skin all grew feathers that are now grown in. Unfortunately,














she and a couple of flockmates have weirdly loose feathers and I'm worried it could be mites, maybe they're molting but I don't see any other signs of that and it's only their first winter at seven months old.


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## Overmountain1

Yay Ginger! What a pretty lady she is.


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## robin416

Too weird, I know I responded to this post but it's not there. At least I can't see it.

I said something along the lines, congratulations on her full recovery.


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## Irina Penanen

She's an amazing bird. Thank you for helping me make sure she recovered.


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## robin416

You did the hard work, we just cheered you on.


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