Help... Chicken attacked and bloodied by another

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scooby074

scooby074

In the Brooder
6 Years
Jun 24, 2013
12
0
22
Need a bit of help here. Our big girl, Pancake, has a bit of a mess on her head. We have 3 chickens
I did a search and read Betadine might be the best remedy for this. Please see pictures. I beleive she was attacked by our black Americana. She had blood on her beak. She has also picked on her in the past, picking her comb but never like this.
I can tell she's in pain. She's calling out in a weird call.
Can I treat her pain? Is Betadine the best solution. Is there something else I can do? Should I cull the Americana? We just now have all three laying. The third, we believe its the troublemaker Americauna, just began laying in the last 2 weeks.
Heres the pics, What do you suggest? Thanks for any suggestions! My kids are pretty upset right now, Pancake was the runt of the litter and the kids favorite. All these chickens are the same age.
I should add one thing Pancake had a black ring around one of her toes behind the claw. Perhaps it was frostbite? Maybe she's sick and thats what brought the attack?







 
Poor Pancake. Betadine is good for cleaning the wound. You can also put triple antibiotic ointment on it like neosporine, and apply it every day until it scabs over. You will need to separate her from the other hens because chickens are very attracted to pecking at blood. You may want to separate the main aggressor to try to take her down a notch in the pecking order (in a different spot from Pancake of course). I know it can seem like a lot of trouble, but even a big cardboard box or dog kennel can provide a temporary place to keep the chicken for a couple of days.

The pain relief ingredient in Neosporine is okay for birds, but do not use anything with benzocaine or other " caine" ingredients because they are dangerous for birds.

Pullets can get kind of mean when they start laying, so it is possible that things will calm down. Pancake may have a touch of frostbite, but I don't know if that is the reason she is being picked on. You will have a chance to watch her as she heals to see how her health is.

Chickens can heal very well from woulds like that. I have had chickens recover from much worse wounds from predator attacks.
 
Thanks for the response Scratch.

Betadene is not available here. I went to all the local pharmacys.

The local Co-Op farm store had some 10% iodine and isopropal alcohol solution so I bought that. They had none of the other remedies Ive seen mentioned here.

I bought some Saline and washed Pancakes wound and then applied the Iodine solution. It looks much better now. I will apply some polysporn later on once the iodine drys.

When she first came into the house, and for over an hour, she was scared to move. She wasnt clucking. I think shes a bit tramatized. She seems to be coming out of it now. Moving around and talking.

The other "good" girl, Willow, is in the house with her to make her feel better. It seems to be working.

Pancake will be living in the house for a few days for sure.

Now what to do with the black Americana cross. Im a bit worried that she has a taste for blood now and will attack Willow if I put her back into the coop tonite.

I might put the Americana (Brownie) in a box for a few days. Not sure. She's always been ill tempered. Might be easier to get rid of her. She is a layer however, and I dont want to do that unless I have to, but I will to protect the others.
 
Last edited:
I'm glad Pancake has calmed down some. I guess you will have to wait and watch with Brownie. A helpful pointer that I learned on BYC: it is easier to reintroduce chickens in the evening after the flock has gone to roost and it is too dark for them to want to get off the roost, it reduces the confrontation, and in the morning they are more likely to wake up and go about their normal chicken business.
 
Thanks for the tip re: reintroduction.

Brownie (the bad one) seems to be being taken down a notch by being segregated in a box. She seems a bit more timid.. Hard to say.

I think we're going to keep brownie in the box when Pancake is re-introduced. It might make her recognize her place in the flock? I dont know if thats how chickens think ??

Pancake will be in the house for several more days I think. She has no feathers on the top of her head, and its pretty cold here (-10*C) over night and I dont want her to get frostbite or something.. She's already pretty stressed from the attack and I dont want to add any more stress that may cause her to get sicker.
 

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