Rooster bloody tail, being pecked, feathers broken off

[minaayindra]

I came out this morning and noticed my large Black Copper Marans rooster, who was acting fine the night before, had a hen chasing him around who was pecking at the base of his tail. When I separated him, he has a large number of tail feathers broken off with active bleeding. I read through old posts and all I see is treating with surgical wash. I don't have that and wouldn't even know where to get it- I live in the middle of nowhere so my only option for anything is usually to get it from Amazon (which takes at least 2 days). I do have tiny packets of antibiotic I can squeeze on it and another little container called Green Goo says it is for wound care. I'm really not sure what to do, how often to do it, and how I can get the bleeding to disappear so he can rejoin everyone. The hens are having a fit because I put their rooster in another section of the coop where they can't see him-I had to lock him in the coop's inside area and left them out in the run. We recently had a badly injured chicken where we had to put a kennel in the coop, it was a disaster since the cage is far too big for the space they have in there. What do I do to treat his injuries and keep them from continuing to attack him?

 

[ValerieJ]

I came out this morning and noticed my large Black Copper Marans rooster, who was acting fine the night before, had a hen chasing him around who was pecking at the base of his tail. When I separated him, he has a large number of tail feathers, broken off with active bleeding. I read through old posts and all I see is treating with surgical wash. I don't have that and wouldn't even know where to get it- I live in the middle of nowhere so my only option for anything is usually to get it from Amazon (which takes at least 2 days). I do have tiny packets of antibiotic I can squeeze on it and another little container called Green Goo says it is for wound care. I'm really not sure what to do, how often to do it, and how I can get the bleeding to disappear so he can rejoin everyone. The hens are having a fit because I put their rooster in another section of the coop where they can't see him-I had to lock him in the coop's inside area and left them out in the run. We recently had a badly injured chicken where we had to put a kennel in the coop, it was a disaster since the cage is far too big for the space they have in there. What do I do to treat his injuries and keep them from continuing to attack him?

To stop bleeding, you can put a little baking soda on it. To clean it with something you have on hand, try putting a teaspoon of salt in a couple cups of warm water. A good ointment you may have on hand is Neosporin, without pain killer, or any triple antibiotic ointment. The pain killer would be very bad for your rooster, so be sure it doesn't have that.

So sorry about your rooster. Hope he is well soon! When you can get it, pick up or order some Blu-Kote. That will turn the red to blue or purple, and this keeps the hens from picking at it. They are naturally attracted to red and will pick at all things red.

 

[Raymber]

My rooster this past year constantly had broken tail feathers. Right around his preening gland (the uropygial gland), and would bleed pretty bad. I always just brought him in and washed it out and removed the broken feathers.

 

[minaayindra]

To stop bleeding, you can put a little baking soda on it. To clean it with something you have on hand, try putting a teaspoon of salt in a couple cups of warm water. A good ointment you may have on hand is Neosporin, without pain killer, or any triple antibiotic ointment. The pain killer would be very bad for your rooster, so be sure it doesn't have that.

So sorry about your rooster. Hope he is well soon! When you can get it, pick up or order some Blu-Kote. That will turn the red to blue or purple, and this keeps the hens from picking at it. They are naturally attracted to red and will pick at all things red.

I hate to be a moron but are you saying put baking soda on it, THEN rinse it and apply antibiotics? I just want to be sure I have the order right. I am making my own saline solution now. I will have to wish myself good luck with the rooster. He has apparently became emasculated by a hen/hens (Barred Rocks) so I have a feeling he won’t let me get to him without a fight.

I am ordering the Blue Kote but it won’t be here for 3 days? Is there anything else that would get rid of the red so he won’t get attacked? I feel bad because I saw this particular hen peck at him a few times and his tail feathers were starting to look a little weird on his back- I never put that together because I guess I assumed no rooster would let a hen get away with that!

 

[minaayindra]

My rooster this past year constantly had broken tail feathers. Right around his preening gland (the uropygial gland), and would bleed pretty bad. I always just brought him in and washed it out and removed the broken feathers.

It is exactly where the preening gland is but he has multiple feathers broken off and large broken quills sticking out of his skin there. You are not saying to remove the quills, are you? Did you keep him isolated after you washed it out?

 

[minaayindra]

The only thing I have until Wednesday is first aid medicated spray for people. It says it is Benzocaine 20%, Triclosan .13% and also contains SD alcohol 40, propylene glycol, disopropyl adipate and tocopheryl acetate. Is this safe for him or will it hurt him?

 

[minaayindra]

I guess I didn't realize your post said no pain killer ingredients or it would hurt him. I'm back to square 1.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I came out this morning and noticed my large Black Copper Marans rooster, who was acting fine the night before, had a hen chasing him around who was pecking at the base of his tail. When I separated him, he has a large number of tail feathers broken off with active bleeding. I read through old posts and all I see is treating with surgical wash. I don't have that and wouldn't even know where to get it- I live in the middle of nowhere so my only option for anything is usually to get it from Amazon (which takes at least 2 days). I do have tiny packets of antibiotic I can squeeze on it and another little container called Green Goo says it is for wound care. I'm really not sure what to do, how often to do it, and how I can get the bleeding to disappear so he can rejoin everyone. The hens are having a fit because I put their rooster in another section of the coop where they can't see him-I had to lock him in the coop's inside area and left them out in the run. We recently had a badly injured chicken where we had to put a kennel in the coop, it was a disaster since the cage is far too big for the space they have in there. What do I do to treat his injuries and keep them from continuing to attack him?

How is he doing?
Can you post some photos of the wounds/broken tail feathers?

Hard to say, but from your description, he may have some broken blood feathers that will bleed or continue to bleed if bumped - those may need to be pulled out with pliers (photos are always helpful).

Saline can be used to flush wounds, if you have nothing to flush with, since it's the tail, you can always use warm soapy water for cleaning, rinse generously with plain warm water. Hibiclens (Chlorhexidine) or Betadine can be found at drugs stores or
Walmart.
Plain triple antibiotic ointment can be used on wounds too.

Depending on the damage, you may need to keep him separated until he heals fully. Blood is attractive to chickens, if a blood feather was bleeding, it may have caused the frenzy, but hens remember things too So putting him back too early, they likely will pick and investigate - roosters are known to let them too.

 

[ValerieJ]

I hate to be a moron but are you saying put baking soda on it, THEN rinse it and apply antibiotics? I just want to be sure I have the order right. I am making my own saline solution now. I will have to wish myself good luck with the rooster. He has apparently became emasculated by a hen/hens (Barred Rocks) so I have a feeling he won’t let me get to him without a fight.

I am ordering the Blue Kote but it won’t be here for 3 days? Is there anything else that would get rid of the red so he won’t get attacked? I feel bad because I saw this particular hen peck at him a few times and his tail feathers were starting to look a little weird on his back- I never put that together because I guess I assumed no rooster would let a hen get away with that!

Actually yes. I thought stopping the bleeding first and then cleaning and medicating. Do you have coconut oil? You could try that as an ointment until you can get something. You must have some sort of store around that will have Neosporin or triple antibiotic ointment. You have gotten a lot of good advice from others here too. I agree with isolating him until you can get this under control.

 

[minaayindra]

I am trying to come up with an alternative method of isolating him so the hens aren't stuck in the outside run. My husband will just have to squeeze the dog kennel into the roost and the hens will have to crawl over it- it's too cold to leave them outside.

He was VERY uncooperative with my irrigating it with saline. I am going to wait until my neighbor can get over here and catch him in a towel, then it shouldn't be a problem doing that temporarily. I will then try rubbing triple antibiotic on there.

I do want to post a picture since I haven't seen anything like it before (but that's not surprising). As soon as my neighbor can wrap him up, I'll get some.

Thank you everyone- you are REALLY helping us out!