Attacked

[RobC123]

I keep 3 chickens isolated from my older chickens and one of the smaller ones somehow snuck out and got attacked really bad. He’s not lifting his head up but he’s walking . Here’s a picture but it doesn’t show it’s justice at all. Please let me know what I should do

 

[Isaac 0]

Isolate the chicken and move him into a dimly/dark lit, calm quiet, area, usually with sick/injured birds we recommend keeping them in a warm area, but since chickens tend to peck at the head, he may have some edema going on, in which case a warmer environment may promote the swelling, so just keep him at room temp.

Is there any bleeding?

 

[coach723]

Flush any wounds out well with sterile saline, chlorhexidine (hibiclens), or mild soapy water. If you need to trim back any feathers to keep the area's clear and clean, then you can do that with a small pair of scissors. Apply plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment to any wounds. If you can get better pictures of any specific wounds it might help. Go over the bird really well to make sure you haven't missed any. He's probably in shock, so make sure he's drinking, keep him in a quite, warm place for a while and give him time to recover from that. Depending on what happened he may be sore and bruised, but he will probably be OK with some time.

 

[RobC123]

Isolate the chicken and move him into a dimly/dark lit, calm quiet, area, usually with sick/injured birds we recommend keeping them in a warm area, but since chickens tend to peck at the head, he may have some edema going on, in which case a warmer environment may promote the swelling, so just keep him at room temp.

Is there any bleeding?

It’s raining so idk if that played a factor in it not showing blood or not but he has red spots but I don’t see any blood. thank you for your help I appreciate it

 

[Isaac 0]

It’s raining so idk if that played a factor in it not showing blood or not but he has red spots but I don’t see any blood. thank you for your help I appreciate it

Could you post a picture of the red spots?

 

[RobC123]

Could you post a picture of the red spots?

 

[RobC123]

I can’t get good pictures but you can see it a lot better when he moves.

 

[RobC123]

Flush any wounds out well with sterile saline, chlorhexidine (hibiclens), or mild soapy water. If you need to trim back any feathers to keep the area's clear and clean, then you can do that with a small pair of scissors. Apply plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment to any wounds. If you can get better pictures of any specific wounds it might help. Go over the bird really well to make sure you haven't missed any. He's probably in shock, so make sure he's drinking, keep him in a quite, warm place for a while and give him time to recover from that. Depending on what happened he may be sore and bruised, but he will probably be OK with some time.

So I have 7 older chickens that are 4 months old and I have 3 3 month old chickens, they’re significantly smaller than the 4 month ones. I’m bringing him to a place right and she’s going to check him out cus I have no idea what to do. Sorry this is a confusing story lol but 2 are polish crested and 1 is a black sex link , we’ve been isolating the one that I did not post because his head got attacked and the sex link keeps picking at his cut one but I live near a funny farm and was thinking maybe just send all three to them because I don’t see how I can isolate all 3 from pecking each others wounds. But let me know what you would do, Hope the story made sense.

 

[coach723]

It's hard to tell from your pictures if there are wounds, or maybe plucked feathers. Polish are often targets of pecking to their crests, it just somehow seems to attract attention from other birds. Not knowing what kind of set up you have and what possible options there are makes it hard to make suggestions. If it's possible I think I would separate the polish if they are getting picked on, or separate the three smallest if the sexlink isn't the one causing the trouble. When the groups are isolated from one another, then if one gets in the other pen it's going to be considered an intruder. If you want to try to integrate them then you need to make it so they can see each other, but not touch each other, like divide your space with a temporary fence or screen. Feed each group next to the divider on their side. After a period of time, when they are pretty much ignoring each other, then let them loose together while you supervise. That way you can intervene if an actual attack happens and prevent bloodshed. Pecking order spats will happen, but it should be quick and over. If you have more than one cockerel, those may fight. If you have 7 birds then you really only have enough hens for one cockerel, you will need to separate others.