Anything else I can do for her?

[Draconic]

I woke up this morning to see that one of my Aloha chicks had managed to get out of their safety pen outside, and, the big nasty chicken my mom insists on keeping had been pecking at her. I didn't realize until I got out there to put her back in with the others just how badly she was injured by that hen

I brought her in and washed the injury very gently, I used hydrogen peroxide to clean it after using fresh water, to get any dirt or bacteria out of the wound, and then I put some anti bacteria cream on it, for now, as I currently don't have any Blu-kote (I'm having someone pick it up for me today). She's eating and drinking, she doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain or distress at this point, she's just resting and relaxing in the brooder box I have in my house, but I noticed the injury seemed to be deep, like, under the skin itself.

Will the skin and feathers regrow over this, or will she always be left with a gaping hole in her head? Should I be using blu-kote on an injury like this? I've never had an incident like this happen before, I mean, I've seen chickens peck or bite at eachother's waddles or comb, I've even had a rooster that killed one of my hens by pecking her eyes out before, but I've never been left with a living chick with an open head injury like this before? She's doing okay right now, but I don't know how to handle what, seems to be, an open wound that goes beneath the skin like this.

I say I think it's beneath the skin because after I cleaned it up, I realized that she had like a clump of skin above the injury (I think this is down to the tissue or something?) and I don't know if I'm supposed to really be putting anything on an injury like that? Or if using peroxide to clean it out was even the right choice? I was in such a panic I didn't even consider what I was looking at at the time, I just wanted to prevent an infection from starting, and wanted to get the injury dressed and bandaged before anything else.

 

[sourland]

Such wounds take time to heal, but generally heal completely. I would continue applying antibiotic ointment. Not certain that I would bandage it, and no more use of hydrogen peroxide.

 

[Draconic]

Such wounds take time to heal, but generally heal completely. I would continue applying antibiotic ointment. Not certain that I would bandage it, and no more use of hydrogen peroxide.

Yeah, I figured the peroxide might cause the wound to dry out, which, probably isn't a good thing considering it may be down the the tissue... my immediate mindset was just to clean it out to prevent infection. Had I not been panicking that hard, I would've realized sooner that peroxide probably wasn't my best bet

Is Blu-kote something I can use for her? From my understanding, it's like an anti-bacterial spray that you apply to the wound directly. I've never used it before, but it's something a friend mentioned offhand while I was talking about it with her earlier right after it happened. Is there a reason to avoid bandaging her wound? I'm unsure of how to handle this situation, so any advice or information is helpful!

 

[alinas2010]

I’m really sorry about your chick. I agree, don’t bandage it. The risk is that the bandage can slip and choke her or cut off circulation. In some cases overly curious chickens can eat bandages or it can draw more attention to her to be picked on. Sometimes it’s just plain and simple not even worth the fight to keep it on.

Onto the wound itself. Agree, peroxide only once then rinse daily with a saline solution. After rinsing, keep the wound moist with a triple antibiotic ointment such as neosporin. It’s important not to use the ointment with any pain relief in it. Also important to keep that would slathered in ointment at all times.

Next, after assessing the wound, treat her for shock. Keep her somewhere inside away from flies and others who may pick on her. Put her somewhere warm, quiet and dim. Give her an electrolyte solution with a bit of sugar in it. Gatorade at room temp will work, also. So will a little nutridrench mixed in water with a bit of sugar in it. You may have to gently dip her beak in to get her interested. Shock can kill quicker than a wound itself, so work very quickly to assess the wound. If trying to treat the wound first causes more stress, treat for shock first and assess the wound a bit later.

Blu-kote can be okay in certain situations, such as when trying to put back into the flock and hide the wound, but it is very drying. Generally you will instead want to keep her separated from others who may pick at the wound until it is healed up. Short, supervised visits with her friends a bit later on in her healing journey will be okay without blu-kote.

 

[Draconic]

I’m really sorry about your chick. I agree, don’t bandage it. The risk is that the bandage can slip and choke her or cut off circulation. In some cases overly curious chickens can eat bandages or it can draw more attention to her to be picked on. Sometimes it’s just plain and simple not even worth the fight to keep it on.

Onto the wound itself. Agree, peroxide only once then rinse daily with a saline solution. After rinsing, keep the wound moist with a triple antibiotic ointment such as neosporin. It’s important not to use the ointment with any pain relief in it. Also important to keep that would slathered in ointment at all times.

Next, after assessing the wound, treat her for shock. Keep her somewhere inside away from flies and others who may pick on her. Put her somewhere warm, quiet and dim. Give her an electrolyte solution with a bit of sugar in it. Gatorade at room temp will work, also. So will a little nutridrench mixed in water with a bit of sugar in it. You may have to gently dip her beak in to get her interested. Shock can kill quicker than a wound itself, so work very quickly to assess the wound. If trying to treat the wound first causes more stress, treat for shock first and assess the wound a bit later.

Blu-kote can be okay in certain situations, such as when trying to put back into the flock and hide the wound, but it is very drying. Generally you will instead want to keep her separated from others who may pick at the wound until it is healed up. Short, supervised visits with her friends a bit later on in her healing journey will be okay without blu-kote.

She didn't have shock, she's doing much better today, I've been keeping her injury clean and moist, but, I can't get her to eat or drink much. She's upset about being alone... is there anything I can really do in this situation to help her with this? I don't want to put her back outside, and, all the same, I don't want to bring any of the other chickens inside (they're all six to seventeen weeks old at this point, they're much too big and risk the potential of harming her further)

Is there any solution to make her feel less alone? I'm trying to spend as much time with her as I personally can, but, being a chicken, she wants to jump and run around, and, I have other pets in the house that could kill her. So that's a no-go for letting her hang out and wander around freely. She's just confined to the brooder box, which, is big, but, she's alone... and she's unhappy with this. I do not feel safe about taking the brooder box outside, since we live in Arizona and she has a giant bald spot on her head as of now.

There's too much dirt and dust outside to keep it clean if I leave her out there anywhere, and too much heat, not to mention she has the potential of getting sun burn or worse on that injury, so, I really don't want her outside while she has open skin and no feathering to protect that area. Buying smaller chicks is an option, but, I don't know if that would be recommended.

 

[alinas2010]

She didn't have shock, she's doing much better today, I've been keeping her injury clean and moist, but, I can't get her to eat or drink much. She's upset about being alone... is there anything I can really do in this situation to help her with this? I don't want to put her back outside, and, all the same, I don't want to bring any of the other chickens inside (they're all six to seventeen weeks old at this point, they're much too big and risk the potential of harming her further)

Is there any solution to make her feel less alone? I'm trying to spend as much time with her as I personally can, but, being a chicken, she wants to jump and run around, and, I have other pets in the house that could kill her. So that's a no-go for letting her hang out and wander around freely. She's just confined to the brooder box, which, is big, but, she's alone... and she's unhappy with this. I do not feel safe about taking the brooder box outside, since we live in Arizona and she has a giant bald spot on her head as of now.

There's too much dirt and dust outside to keep it clean if I leave her out there anywhere, and too much heat, not to mention she has the potential of getting sun burn or worse on that injury, so, I really don't want her outside while she has open skin and no feathering to protect that area. Buying smaller chicks is an option, but, I don't know if that would be recommended.

Aw poor girl. I am glad to hear she is doing better, though. If you have something like Vetericyn or hibiclens that would be good to cleanse with daily in place of the saline now. Sorry I didn’t say that before.

Do you think you could take her outside a few times a day for supervised visits with the other chicks? That way you could watch and be sure no one hurts her and that no flies get on her.

 

[Draconic]

Aw poor girl. I am glad to hear she is doing better, though. If you have something like Vetericyn or hibiclens that would be good to cleanse with daily in place of the saline now. Sorry I didn’t say that before.

Do you think you could take her outside a few times a day for supervised visits with the other chicks? That way you could watch and be sure no one hurts her and that no flies get on her.

I can try to, but I don't think that's an extremely viable option, unfortunately.

 

[alinas2010]

I can try to, but I don't think that's an extremely viable option, unfortunately.

What about bringing just one chick in for short supervised visits once a day with her? I know you said you’re pretty opposed to bringing them in, but maybe just one other one for a short visit would cheer her up. Another idea is to get a wire dog crate and put it in a shady spot near her friends so that she could be in it for a short visit once a day or so. That makes it so that at least they couldn’t hurt her and you wouldn’t have to watch her quite as closely, but she would still be at risk for flies, so you’d probably have to be very vigilant about that.

 

[Draconic]

What about bringing just one chick in for short supervised visits once a day with her? I know you said you’re pretty opposed to bringing them in, but maybe just one other one for a short visit would cheer her up. Another idea is to get a wire dog crate and put it in a shady spot near her friends so that she could be in it for a short visit once a day or so. That makes it so that at least they couldn’t hurt her and you wouldn’t have to watch her quite as closely, but she would still be at risk for flies, so you’d probably have to be very vigilant about that.

I may just go for some new chicks, if you think it wouldn't be much of a problem. Being only six weeks old she herself is still very much a chick, I planned to get more chicks anyway, just not under these circumstances. If she ends up being mean, I can just put a large divider in there to keep her off of them.

Not that she's usually cruel, she's very gentle

 

[alinas2010]

I may just go for some new chicks, if you think it wouldn't be much of a problem. Being only six weeks old she herself is still very much a chick, I planned to get more chicks anyway, just not under these circumstances. If she ends up being mean, I can just put a large divider in there to keep her off of them.

Not that she's usually cruel, she's very gentle

I’m sorry I don’t have a lot of experience with chicks and how new ones would behave towards an injured one. You may want to wait on someone else to chime in with their experience. Maybe you could post another thread asking for opinions on it? I know sometimes there can be a gang mentality where when there is a weak or injured chick, the others all beat up on it. Of course with her being larger idk if that would be an issue or not. Like you said though, you do have a back up plan if things go badly. Monitor very closely if you go that route.

For now maybe she’d like a mirror or stuffed animal or even some music or tv to keep her company?