pullet injured about 3 days ago, gaping wound on neck, looking for reassurance!

Dianneg · Dec 6, 2016

The 1st picture is how we found her on Saturday afternoon, I'm not sure who did this to her. She was in their house and the other 3 pullets and 1 cockerel were all out in the pen when I went to let them out to run the yard for a bit before it got dark. The pen is fully enclosed with half inch mesh so we know that it was not a predator. The 'why' is probably a question for the behavior forum, we're still trying to sort out what happened. She had a roughly 1 1/2 - 2 inch diameter ragged hole in the skin on the back of her neck, clearly she was pecked by 1 or more of the others quite aggressively. We separated her, and started by spraying the area with poultry protector 2-3 times a day, and neosporin on her comb which is pretty scabby. The 2nd picture is today. I know it's not real clear but the open wound is gray and dry, there is no smell or redness around the edges. Will the skin close over this eventually? How long should we expect it to take? Is there anything else we should be doing?

Isaac 0 · Dec 6, 2016

To be honest looks like your cockerel wanted to mount her and grabbed her neck feathers and pulled them off.Keep spraying.To get them pain away use one baby aspirin tablet(81mg)happened to one of my hens before she recovered in a week or 2.

boskelli1571 · Dec 6, 2016

Dianneg said:
The 1st picture is how we found her on Saturday afternoon, I'm not sure who did this to her. She was in their house and the other 3 pullets and 1 cockerel were all out in the pen when I went to let them out to run the yard for a bit before it got dark. The pen is fully enclosed with half inch mesh so we know that it was not a predator. The 'why' is probably a question for the behavior forum, we're still trying to sort out what happened. She had a roughly 1 1/2 - 2 inch diameter ragged hole in the skin on the back of her neck, clearly she was pecked by 1 or more of the others quite aggressively. We separated her, and started by spraying the area with poultry protector 2-3 times a day, and neosporin on her comb which is pretty scabby. The 2nd picture is today. I know it's not real clear but the open wound is gray and dry, there is no smell or redness around the edges. Will the skin close over this eventually? How long should we expect it to take? Is there anything else we should be doing?

I agree with MasterofClucker, seems like your roo was feeling amorous. Keep an eye on him in case he damages your other pullets. Keep her separate for a few more days. If the wound is well covered with feathers and not visible to the other hens try for early integration if you can - keep the roo away from her. Watch her carefully for a couple of days to make sure all is well.
Sounds like the wound is healing well and fast - all good. The skin will granulate into the wound so it may be scabby looking for a while yet. If the others pick at it, remove her

Dianneg · Dec 6, 2016

Could he really have done that much damage on his own?! The skin was literally gone. The girls are 7 1/2 months and he is 3 weeks younger. We introduced him about 2 months ago after his whole flock (my sister's) was wiped out in one night, he was the lone survivor. She was the leader of the girls until he came along and she has always stood up to him. By the way, he is an OEGB, tiny little guy and the girls are Speckled Sussex. The other 3 accept him and she got used to him but she wouldn't let him boss her. Today I took her out in the yard for a supervised visit and she was happy scratching around with one of her sisters for about five minutes but as soon as they (Goldie, the injured and Meho the cockerel) spotted each other I knew something was very wrong. She flattened out and cowered. He did his rooster dance around her and then pecked her on the back of the head. I hissed at him and he jumped and then started his dance again, after the 3rd time around and the third peck I stomped my foot at him and she saw her opportunity for escape and flew up and landed on my head. She was making awful terrified sounds and stayed on top of my head until we got in the garage and I pulled her off and put her up with a treat. I am wondering if he needs to go?

Isaac 0 · Dec 6, 2016

My roo did it before and he is a sweety.You would be surprised what they can do.Ive heard that a rooster will kick the butt out of a cat.Its normal rooster behavior.

boskelli1571 · Dec 7, 2016

Dianneg said:
Could he really have done that much damage on his own?! The skin was literally gone. The girls are 7 1/2 months and he is 3 weeks younger. We introduced him about 2 months ago after his whole flock (my sister's) was wiped out in one night, he was the lone survivor. She was the leader of the girls until he came along and she has always stood up to him. By the way, he is an OEGB, tiny little guy and the girls are Speckled Sussex. The other 3 accept him and she got used to him but she wouldn't let him boss her. Today I took her out in the yard for a supervised visit and she was happy scratching around with one of her sisters for about five minutes but as soon as they (Goldie, the injured and Meho the cockerel) spotted each other I knew something was very wrong. She flattened out and cowered. He did his rooster dance around her and then pecked her on the back of the head. I hissed at him and he jumped and then started his dance again, after the 3rd time around and the third peck I stomped my foot at him and she saw her opportunity for escape and flew up and landed on my head. She was making awful terrified sounds and stayed on top of my head until we got in the garage and I pulled her off and put her up with a treat. I am wondering if he needs to go?

Perhaps caging him for a while might work. He would have to re-integrate himself. They do get rambunctious when they are younger, he may settle down as he matures.

PeckPal · Feb 4, 2017

I hope your hen is healed by now. I am having the same issue with my flock! The rooster was hatched here 8 months ago and has grown to manhood with my mixed-breed flock of 9 hens. He is a black Australorp named Willy. Over the past 3 months, he "trained" the girls and all was going well until he ripped open the back of a hen's neck during rough mating. Her name is Olive, and she is healing well, but to keep the peace I have to split the flock in two during the day, rotating them between a large pen and free ranging. It's a lot of work, but I'm hoping things will balance out in time—once Olive regrows neck feathers and Willy calms his butt down. Fingers crossed that this will work out and I won't have to remove Willy from the flock. ... I did separate him for 5 days to see if he would reset, but there was no change. He still mounted Olive aggressively and pulled out more neck feathers (but at least he didn't reopen the skin). I think I need to be patient and ride this one out, keep Olive protected, but also help Willy and Olive bond however I might be able to do that. If anyone here has any feedback on my situation, feel free to offer it up. Thanks.

Dianneg · Feb 4, 2017

Goldie has healed nicely, we are amazed at how resilient chickens are! Since we had the option we decided to separate them permanently. I now have Goldie and two of her sisters and Mijo went to my sister along with his main squeeze, Mrs. Brown. We were concerned that he may be too aggressive with only one hen but everything seems to be going well in both coops. We will probably both add chicks in the spring, ladies only!

boskelli1571 · Feb 4, 2017

glad to hear the happy ending! Chickens are very resilient - almost bomb proof

pullet injured about 3 days ago, gaping wound on neck, looking for reassurance!

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