1/18/13

Chickens--aka pig snacks

On the farm I am at right now, we've got a chicken coop next to one of the pig pens (not a good idea in the first place, but space is limited). And one day, Cinnamon the hen decided to go into the pig pen. Luckily I found her in time. She was stuck in a corner just laying there while three young pigs were munching on her side. First of all, animals are so tough. She had a hole around the size of my thumb going in from just above her vent (so lucky) and into her back (so lucky again). The pigs didn't get any organs or any other critical parts of her body. So that was really helpful in her recovery.
Right away I rinse the wound with room temp water and squirt a bunch of iodine on it. Iodine is great for preventing or curing infection. (I've used it on calves and myself too.) It doesn't hurt. Then I pet her in a big box, in the bathroom, which was the warmest place in the house at the time. Just like treating an ill chicken, make sure she is in a clean and dry area, is very warm, in a lighted room, has lots of water, and lots of yummy treats so she will keep her appetite. One of the problems I had was flies, which will lay their eggs in the wound because it's wet and dark, and smells good to them. You can read another person's experience with this at http://shilala.homestead.com/woundcare.html . But we were able to keep them down with the fly swatter and cleaning out her box everyday. Light and keeping the wound dry is crucial. Bacteria (or flies) don't like dryness or light. Every day I would check the wound and every couple days I would squirt it with iodine. I knew the wound was healing because it didn't smell (yes I smelled a chicken's butt, don't laugh :) and it was dry and dark and scabby. I didn't see any white/yellow/green goo, or fresh cuts (like if she was pecking at it, which would mean it's irritating her). And within a few weeks she even started laying again! But I kept her inside until the wound was really hard and was covered by her feathers so the other chickens wouldn't peck at it.
Cinnamon is back to normal now. Except half of her tail feathers grew back straight up, so her tail looks like really bad bed head.
Chickens are fragile, but tough. And if properly taken care of, can heal quickly and become (almost) back to normal. Always ask other experienced poultry people's advice if doing anything risky with your chicken. Each wound is different, and might need a different type of treatment than this.

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