Thinkin' we have to do "The Deed" today....very sad but any advice?

[GA_Gypsy]

Not sure if any of you remember this, but we acquired a chicken that fell off a chicken truck and has always had a problem with "battery butt."

Seemed like she was starting to heal up and was even starting to lay eggs. Well, it appears the others went after her in full force last nite She was pouring blood when I let them out this morning. One hen in particular was covered in blood from where she was pecking at this poor thing.

I cleaned everything up, sprayed her down with peroxide, then washed the wound again and put wound spray on it. But she has skin hanging off her butt has quite an infection.

I can't get it to stop bleeding now and it looks like she is cut up on the inside. I have seperated her from the others to stop the pecking but I fear I cant do much more for her.

The old girl is still healthy. She is the size of a small bowling ball. But I don't think she is going to make it through this one unless you guys give me some magic technique...

I am willing to try, but a vet is just going to rake me over the coals. Is there anything I can do here? I just hope that I gave her a happy few months of retirement. At least she got to play in fresh grass and see sunshine.

Thanks for any help.

Henny Penny:

 

[scratch'n'peck]

That is nice of you to try to give her some quality of life, too bad your other chickens don't have the same idea. They see bare skin or blood and just want to peck. Is that photo of her tail after you cleaner her up, because you description sounds like she has an open wound with shin hanging off. What are the signs of infection- smell, pus? I gave my hen a Penicillin G shot after a serious hawk attack and she healed up well. I had another hen who was practically scalped and she just got neosporin on the wound and healed well. I have a hen with a bare belly who got pecked, and I put blu kote on it which disinfects and covers the bare skin with blue to dissuade the others from pecking.

 

[GA_Gypsy]

Thanks for the reply! I haven't tried neosporin, but where could I get the shot? Does Tractor Supply carry that? The last guy I went to told me that the spray I got ( Wound Care) was better than Blue Kote...it just has tea tree oil and some other natural ingredients in it. He's been around chickens all his life so I trusted him. I guess you never know who to trust anymore

Anyways, that pic was before the slaugher. She's still leaking puss, blood, green stuff & smells from her butt. Not sure that anything much can save her unless someone has a quick remedy

 

[flowerchicks]

what is battery butt?

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Yikes that does sound like a bad infection, poor thing. Blu kote and neosporin won't cure that. I got my pen g from tractor supply, but you might want to call ahead to make sure they have it in stock. I can understand why you are at the point of considering putting her out of her misery. We have though about culling for one of our chickens too (an internal layer who still seems to be doing okay), but haven't figured out the most humane way to go about it considering our lack of skill.

 

[the3ofus+oursixchicks]

i am new to chicken raising so i cant give any advice. but i am so sad over this. my heart breaks everytime i see a chicken truck full of chickens. i have said i would love to set them all free. they are pitiful. just living to be slaughtered and have no life so sad. i would give a few days if it were me just because she could be ok.

 

[chkn]

Yeah, get the Blue Coat on that butt.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

If she has all that stuff leaking from her vent, I would assume the infection is INSIDE her; I would try injectable antibiotics, but if it's as bad as you make it sound she probably won't make it. Sorry about your girl.

 

[the3ofus+oursixchicks]

any news on the sick little hen?

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I too wonder what was decided for this hen. I know some folks who have had good results with an aerosol wound-care product called Alu-Shield. But it wouldn't do much for an internal infection.

I think this is an issue that every one of us must consider, and have our own answer well BEFORE it's ever needed by an injured or ailing chicken of ours. We can hope that we never have to face this decision, but the fact that we keep chickens means it's inevitable at some time or other, at least once. And it helps to know what you'd do if you ever have to be the one to help some chicken Cross The Road, if you cannot get to a vet or have someone else do it for you.

There are many other threads where different techniques have been discussed. The important thing is to find the method that would work best for you, to swiftly end the suffering of a chicken in need.