Memorial Day weekend started with a nasty surprise this year when Ian discovered our favorite chicken was well on her way to making herself the featured dinner dish. Our mother hen, Mrs. Silkie, had a severe laceration under her wing where her skin and feathers had been pulled away from her body, leaving a three-inch long expanse of exposed, bloody muscle.

She was fine the night before when we put the chickens in the coop, so we can’t imagine what did so much damage to her beyond some overzealous mating behaviors from Big Daddy Rooster. Because Mrs. Silkie has been tending her flock of chicks for the past few months, it’s possible he has avoided mating with her, and his first reattempt startled them both enough to cause him to dig deeply into her side with his spurs.

Ian found her in the morning, a little dopey, with blood and feces encrusted into her gaping wound. Thankfully, a sight like this doesn’t turn his stomach nearly as much as it does mine and he sprung into action. Wilderness first responder classes in college came back to him and he took care of our poor hen to the best of his ability.

Below is a documentation of his process to save our favorite bird. Spoiler Alert: It has a happy ending. (So far at least!)

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