4 week old scalped by hen- Photo is GRAPHIC. Advice please

[Bird friends]

She was pinned down and getting one heck of a beating. This was yesterday. Today she is bright and alert. I’m a vet tech so I did clavamox drops 50mg twice daily and triple antibiotic ointment to keep moist but- its awful to look at. Surprised she is eating and drinking and trying to escape her isolation cage. Anyone have this happen?!?! Should I put her down or will the wound heal? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

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[Painted Calls]

Hello and welcome to BYC!

There are a few members here that have had similar injuries occur. All recovered nicely. Chickens are very resilient.

 

[sourland]

Hello, and welcome to BYC. Such wounds heal from the 'outside inwards' and take time. Continue as you are with the antibiotic ointment, and she should be fine - it will take time.

 

[Tamdog]

My little baby chick Dancy had a very severe head pecking like that. I did not take her to the vet, I separated her- & put antibiotic ointment on her head. It took a long time to heal, and she did not grow a comb for years. - She is 6 years old now and she still has a scar around her head. Keep her isolated until she does not have any red left- the others love to peck at anything red. How is her eye?

 

[Sapphire Sebright]

Oh, goodness, the poor thing! I hope that she'll be all right. Good luck with her!

 

[Bird friends]

Thank you all for the warm welcome! We will just continue the treatments and fingers crossed she doesn’t get infected. Thanks for the vote of confidence- I wasn’t sure what was in her best interest at all.

 

[Bird friends]

My little baby chick Dancy had a very severe head pecking like that. I did not take her to the vet, I separated her- & put antibiotic ointment on her head. It took a long time to heal, and she did not grow a comb for years. - She is 6 years old now and she still has a scar around her head. Keep her isolated until she does not have any red left- the others love to peck at anything red. How is her eye?

The swelling is better today but I’m thinking there’s vision loss. Though, her eye itself looks pretty good all things considered

 

[21hens-incharge]

Hang in there. She is not the worst looking injury we have seen on here. Most recover well with the same treatment you are doing.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

It's a common type of injury.
Here's a hen with nearly the same injury and this chronicles her injury and recovery.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/hen-badly-injured.1347824/page-3

As you know de-gloving type injuries are gruesome to look at and hard to manage, but doable. And you already know how to treat it.
Your youngster can probably survive this.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

If she loses interest in regular food, or it seems painful to eat, you can try wetting her food, scrambling some eggs, a little fruit, and maybe some canned foods with proteins to keep her strength up. Maybe add some electrolytes or poultry vitamins to her water for stress.