Large open sore

I have some 17 day old black stars. They've been doing fine, but I moved them out of the brooder yesterday and today for a bit of exercise. One out of 27 has a giant sore on the back of her neck and the other chicks peck at it. I should add that it developed in just a couple of hours. Was it caused by pecking in the first place or are her "sisters" simply pecking because the sore is there?

If I separate her will the sore heal? It is very large and open. I will go out later and try to get a pic.

1. Has anyone heard of such a thing? Are the other chicks ganging up on her?
2. Is there anything I can do about it other than separating her?
3. Will separating her even make a difference?

Get her separated right away. The others will continue canabalizing her otherwise. Clean the area and spray with vetracin spray from the feed syore or put neosporin with out pain killer in it. Keep her out of where flies can get at tye wound. Keep an eye on it. Chickebs heal very fast. Good luck. Do a BYC search on wound care.

Chickens like to peck at wounds. I had one chick break a pin feather when they were coming in and the pecking began. I was lucky to have some Blue Kote laying around from my horses. I sprayed it on the bleeding pin feathers and they quit. It dyes the skin/wound blue. Chickens like to peck at red/bloody things. Separate her if you can, until you get that wound healed up.

Thanks to both of you, Brookliner and ChickenRehab. Getting on it right now. I have some neosporin but I may have to wait until Monday to get vetracin.

Balloonjuice said:

Thanks to both of you, Brookliner and ChickenRehab. Getting on it right now. I have some neosporin but I may have to wait until Monday to get vetracin.

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You can always do as chicken Rehab advised blue cote will disguisethe wound so the others won't see it as a wound.

Good luck

I had some neosporin ointment that I daubed on with a que-tip. I have her isolated from the rest of the flock. I'll stop by my feed store on Monday and get vetericyn or whatever equivalent they have. Main thing is keeping it clean and dry I guess. I won't worry too much if I don't see infection starting.

Your chick's wound is identical to the one a chick of mine had several years ago after the rooster scalped her. I wrote the entire thing up and posted it in the comments section under my photo album on my personal page. https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/a/5992343/default/ Scroll down and you'll see it below the photos.

It chronicles the treatment and healing progress my chick went through, and the mistakes I made along the way so you don't have to make them. It's worth reading if you aren't sure how to care for a serious wound like this.

Your chick has a much too large a wound for Blu-kote, and it will dry out the wound when it's imperative you keep it moist. It will not heal and infection is much more likely to set in if the wound is allowed to dry out.

Infection is your biggest danger, therefore, it's very important to clean the wound twice a day, morning and before she goes to sleep. I describe how I did it.

Keep the wound moist with any anti-bacterial ointment.You can use Vetericyn along with the ointment, spraying the Vetericyn on the wound first, following with the ointment. I happened to have some Silvadene, a burn ointment, on hand so I used that. It tasted bad so the other chicks left her alone once they had sampled what she was wearing on her head. It was a blessing she didn't need to be segregated. You might be able to return your chick with the others and see what happens after it begins to heal.

Your chick's wound is going to heal from the outer edges inward toward the center. It took about six weeks for my chicks to grow new skin and there was a tiny pinhole left finally. I faithfully continued to treat her wound until the morning I finally saw that the pinhole had closed.

At one point, I got lazy about caring for the wound, and I noticed that the healing progress had stopped. The wound had been allowed to dry out, and new skin wasn't able to be formed because of my neglect. I urge you to take this very seriously, or you could lose your chick. It's a very serious wound, and I doubt the chicks did this to her. Either a larger animal got a hold of her or she got herself stuck in something and lost her scalp. You need to investigate how this happened and not simply assume the other chicks did it, which I think is unlikely.

Thank you for your note and for the link to your previous experience. There are more similarities than differences. I did have the chicks' "playpen" (1x2 mesh) in a place where the roosters had access and the chick's head, but not her body, was small enough that she might have stuck her head through.

The pecking I saw from the other chicks was not necessarily what caused the wound, but they were dead-set on getting their licks in.

I've separated her and given her a "brooder" all to herself. She is big enough to hop and flap her wings out of a box, so I've put together a "six-sided" cube for her. Lots of room, but small enough I can still regulate temperature.


Thanks again for your help, azygous.

The sore is just about gone. I should be able to get her back in with the other chicks late this week or early next. I've kept Blue Kote on the sore daily. It has healed right up, as one might expect, from the outside toward the center. There is just a very small spot left now that is not healed.

Thanks again for the help, Azygous.