One thing I
didn’t realize about chickens is that they should be fully healed before
putting them back with the flock. That means separation for around 2 weeks.
Those two days inside weren’t enough.
After a few
days of not spraying Blu-Kote on her wounds, she wasn’t doing as well. I don’t
think it’s because she didn’t have the spray to help her heal so much as to
mask the wounds and bare area from the other hens. She was getting picked on a
lot, and we had to separate her again. Her wounds were looking in poor shape
again, her comb was darkening, and she was limping if we got her to move. All
in all, not so hot.
Our weather
has been dipping back into some winter habits, and we’ve had a couple snows and
quite chilly temps the week this happened to her, and part of it is quite
likely the featherless areas making her get too cold. The rest would be the
wounds being visible to the other hens and they started picking at them.
I wasn’t in
town for a couple days, but my friend was going to check on them and noticed
her looking quite poorly, so she took her home with her to keep her separated
from the other girls. My spoiled little hen was getting to sleep indoors again
and offered fresh berries. At first she wasn’t interested in food or water, but
as she warmed up her comb started turning red and she started taking food.
I do regret
not leaving the Blu-Kote out for her to get sprayed while we were gone, but
that wouldn’t have fixed the really cold temperatures. She’ll just have to be a
house bird for a while. I’m sure she won’t mind that too much… as long as the
cats stay away!
TO BE CONTINUED
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