I received a call this past Saturday from a fellow chicken
keeper that lives a few miles away from me. While she was out running errands somehow one of her chicken, Midnight,
had injured her comb. Unbeknownst to
her, the rest of the flock quickly spotted the injury and attacked
Midnight. Within no time, they had
created a large deep bleeding crater at the base of her comb. Thankfully, her husband heard the ruckus and
went outside to investigate. He
immediately separated Midnight into a cardboard box for safety. Unsure what to do, she called me.
I went over and helped. The wound was severe. It was
large, open, bloody and unable to be sutured. You could see the bone. The soft
tissues were swollen. She would need to
be separated from the flock for months to allow this wound to heal
properly. We were going to need to
create a chicken hospital. Without a
safe haven, the other chickens would continue to peck at Midnight’s injury. With various scraps of wood, we quickly
constructed a chicken hospital that could remain in the coop. It was advantageous to create something that
could stay in the coop for a few reasons including:
1. Familiar
surroundings allow Midnight to be comfortable and remain in her home.
2. She is still with her family and should be able to
reintegrate into the flock without a problem once her wounds heal.
3. She is safe in the
coop away from predators.
4. She still has
company as chickens have a flock mentality.
With a tape measure in hand, I quickly designed something
that would be incredibly versatile in the future. Not only could this be used as a hospital for
Midnight, but it could also be utilized as a way to slowly introduce new
members to the flock, a place for broody hens to hatch some eggs and also a
brooder. The best part is that it is
completely removable from the coop when it is not in use.
THE PLAN
It had to meet a few requirements:
-Fit inside the coop without taking up too much room.
-Allow for visibility to check on the hen’s condition
without any manipulation of the enclosure.
-The back should remain open. When pushed up against the wall, it would be
closed and just by sliding it forward from the wall it would be open.
-Once the rest of the flock goes out into the run first
thing in the morning, the large coop can be closed and the “hospital”
opened to allow the isolated chicken freedom in the coop for a bit of time.
SUPPLIES
Note: We split 3″ wide scraps of plywood to reach the
1.5″ width mentioned below. Also be sure to measure your coop door to
ensure that this will fit through once constructed.
Three~3’x1.5″ boards
Four~22″x1.5″ boards
Four~12″x1.5″ boards
1 piece of OSB cut to 15″x3’2″ to serve as a
removable roof.
Hardware cloth
Staple gun
Hammer and Nails
Saw
DIRECTIONS
Project time: 30
minutes
Create the sides by nailing together two of the 22″
boards and the 12 inch boards. Then staple
hardware cloth to each side.
Next nail the 3 foot boards between the sides as shown.
Finally, staple hardware cloth as shown to the front and top
leaving the bottom and the back open.
The unattached OSB board can be used as a roof to prevent chicken
droppings from entering the enclosure.
My friend’s coop just so happened to have a door that was
originally planned to access the nesting boxes. Her hens never cared for these nesting boxes so, we slid the hospital
right over this door. This door allows
my friend access to her hen without having to go into the coop or even slide
the enclosure away from the wall. A
temporary waterer was attached to the side of the enclosure while a miniature
shelf was created to hold the food dish near this door.
Midnight’s wounds are being treated with Vetericyn and
vitamins and electrolytes were added to her water to help her during this
stressful time. Her protein requirements are also being supplemented with Manna
Pro’s Poultry Conditioner and sunflower seeds.
Yesterday, I took a quick visit over to see how Midnight was
doing and I am happy to report that much of the swelling is down. The bleeding has stopped and the wound is
beginning to heal. There are no signs of
infection. Her comb is bright red and
she is eating, drinking and pooping normally. She is talking and perky. All of
these are good signs. I don’t suspect
that she will lay any eggs for a while, as her body is using its protein stores
to heal. However, when she does return
to laying eggs, it will be a very good sign. With a wound this large, Midnight will most likely be separated from the
others for months. We will have to wait
until the skin is fully healed and any feathers have grown back as we don’t
want to risk anyone harming her again out of chicken curiosity.
