10 wk pullet was scalped - HELP

[emvickrey]

I had a quail hen that got pecked so bad that she had a hole in her head and I could see her brain. It was a fresh injury and I brought her straight inside and put antibiotic cream on it and before the day was over it was infected. I just put her out of her misery. But that is a quail. She was also acting like nothing was wrong, eating and drinking just fine even with the infection.

I've noticed that with the quail they seem to get infections alot easier than chickens. I processed a bunch one time and when cutting the wings off I discovered one had gangrene in the joint and was spreading down the wing. I didn't even know it had been injured. There where no signs of injury anywhere. Of course that one didn't go to freezer camp.

I do wish somebody that does know what to do chimes in pretty soon.

 

[RhodeIslandRedFan]

Please let us know how your pullet is doing today.

 

[Miss Lydia]

 

[themagicash]

Sorry for not getting back sooner! Very busy with christmas prep. She is doing great!!! We are keeping triple antibiotic on her wound. She seems normal aside from looking really really bad.

 

[Miss Lydia]

Great to hear. also after a few days you might want to treat her with betadine I believe it was ddawn that said it helps to dry up and heal also. sounds like your doing a great job, keep us posted.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
Guess I happened along at the right moment.

Betadine is OK for the first cleaning of a dirty wound, as it does kill germs, although it needs to be diluted before use, and rinsed off with saline. Because it contains iodine, however, it also kills any new skin cells. It should not be used after the first cleaning for this reason, nor should peroxide for the same reason. I own neither. I use saline or soapy water and Neosporin ointment.

There have been cases where Betadine was used repeatedly and caused thyroid toxicity, because the iodine is absorbed into the system.

Miss Lydia, I make mistakes like this all the time!

 

[Judy]

By the way, I'm wondering if you perhaps saw skull rather than brain??? I hope so, anyway.

Good luck!

 

[tom e]

Quote:
I was thinking the same thing.. If the top of the skull is gone that would probably make it impossible for her to live amongst chickens again. Even a regular peck (not very aggressive) could be life threatening. Also if they are like us, there's no blood in the brain, just cerebrospinal fluid to feed it, and a thin sac keeps that all in and protects the brain from infection beneath the skull. If that sac is punctured as well, it would seem cruel to me to keep it alive, I'm sorry to say.

Can you post a picture?

 

[themagicash]

Yeah, we think it is the skull - probably. Its kinda hard to tell! At first, I thought I was seeing the sac covering the brain. I will get a picture when my DH comes home.

 

[Agape Builder]

Quote:
That chicken had MOST of its head cut off. It still had the brain stem and a little portion of brain left.

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For the person on the opening post, do not put any gauze or pad dressing on the wound. Instead, first make sure to disinfect the wound with either hydrogen peroxide and / or povidone iodine solution (even better). Then, use Blue Kote wound dressing (can be used by itself if wanted) or something else that will work in a similar coating manner such as Bickmore Pine Tar dressing. This is a 100% pure phenol containing pine tar that is a natural antimicrobial and germicidal treatment that not only protects against germs, but also provides a sealing coating that will stay on the chick until the wound heals. It was originally used for treating horse hooves, but is also great for treating poultry pecking wounds.