Back of hen's head degloved?

[Jmckinnc]

I went out this morning to find one of our hens in their enclosed run with the back of her head like this! It almost looks degloved. I can't find any other injuries and none of the other chickens are injured or missing. The back of our rooster's legs do have dried blood on them so my suspicion is that he was the cause. I don't know if there is anything I can do for her, the area is pretty large.

 

[Eggcessive]

How are her eyes? Have you witnessed the rooster trying to mate her, and her refusing or not being old enough? Separate her, in a wire dog crate with food and water, and bedding is best. Keeping her near the other hens will make reintegration easier. Spray her wounds twice a day with saline or a wound spray. Then apply plain triple antibiotic ointment twice daily, so it doesn’t dry out. It will take weeks for this to heal. Let us know how she gets along.

Watch the rooster for aggressive behavior with the others. He may need to be separated for awhile. Is he young? I don’t tolerate a rooster who harms any hens. Trim and dull his spurs if they are sharp.

 

[sourland]

Upon occasion a dominant hen will resist/fight a cockerel. As they mature and become stronger the cockerels sometimes regard such a hen as competition and attack them. If this is the case with your birds it is unlikely that he will allow her to be part of the flock. Apply antibiotic ointment to the scalped area. Healing will take time as it occurs from the outside of the wound inwards, but birds do recover from such damage.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I haven't had a hen get this injury, but I have had pullets and chicks get it from older birds (or in one instance, who knows what she did to herself) and they usually heal up just fine, apart from a line where it finished stitching together with no feathering.

It honestly usually looks much worse than it is. I don't see any nerves or brain matter, so odds are its just the skin that was removed.

 

[Jmckinnc]

Why would you assume that the spurs are the issue?

He is actually still fairly young and his spurs have not even developed yet.

I haven't had a hen get this injury, but I have had pullets and chicks get it from older birds (or in one instance, who knows what she did to herself) and they usually heal up just fine, apart from a line where it finished stitching together with no feathering.

It honestly usually looks much worse than it is. I don't see any nerves or brain matter, so odds are its just the skin that was removed.

I've seen other pictures of similar injuries, but this just looks horrible. The rooster is still pretty young and his spurs haven't even developed yet. I just saw dried blood on the back of his legs.

 

[nuthatched]

Rooster grab hens heads while mating, she likely wouldn't submit.
Apply any neosporin and let it scap over before re introducing her.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

He is actually still fairly young and his spurs have not even developed yet.

I've seen other pictures of similar injuries, but this just looks horrible. The rooster is still pretty young and his spurs haven't even developed yet. I just saw dried blood on the back of his legs.

I know, it's a shock every time I see it with my birds. You'd be amazed what they can pull through though if they can ward off infection. I agree with Eggsessive, check her eyes and make sure they don't seem injured or dull.

 

[coach723]

I had a hen have this happen, she was attacked by other hens when she got tangled in a hen saddle. It happens. Or your cockerel may have made a smaller wound, it bled, and others pecked and did more damage.
I will post a picture below of how it looked about 5-6 weeks in. It was as bad or worse than yours when it happened, I could see her skull. I flushed it out well, and applied a thick layer of neosporin several times a day to keep it covered in ointment. I never gave pain meds, and aspirin can thin the blood, so when there is bleeding it's not always the best thing to do. I crated her in a wire crate in the run to keep her safe, and help keep it clean, and to keep her with the flock so she was less stressed. It also makes it much easier to reintegrate after. Once it was healed completely I put her back with the flock, no issues. It had a very thick scab which slowly flaked off from the edges in. I kept ointment on it until it was completely scabbed over and strong enough that the scab wouldn't split from her moving around. The pictures shows it all healed and feathers just starting to come in. Once it was all feathered out you couldn't tell it ever happened. As long as there is no infection, she can heal up just fine.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

cause it says the rooster had blood on his legs

Spurs leave puncture wounds, typically on the sides where hes mounting, this is almost always from a bird continuing to peck and eventually pull. He easily could have just brushed his leg against her head at some point.

Either way, you can't just desperate a rooster. Dull them, yes, but you can't actually remove the spurs entirely

 

[Jmckinnc]

How are her eyes? Have you witnessed the rooster trying to mate her, and her refusing or not being old enough? Separate her, and a wore dog crate with food and water, and bedding is best. Keeping her near the other hens will make reintegration easier. Spray her wounds twice a day with saline or a wound spray. Then apply plain triple antibiotic ointment twice daily, so it doesn’t dry out. It will take weeks for this to heal. Let us know how she gets along.

Watch the rooster for aggressive behavior with the others. He may need to be separated for awhile. Is he young? I don’t tolerate a rooster who harms any hens. Trim and dull his spurs if they are sharp.

Thankfully her eyes seem fine. She can open them both, but the tissue around the left one is a bit swollen and that eye was closed when I initially found her. The rooster is a fairly young Welsummer, and his spurs haven't even developed yet. I have seen him mount the other hens, but not her. I haven't observed any aggressive behavior, so I was shocked to find the blood on the back of his legs. Of course I wasn't there when the incident happened, so I can't say for sure it was him, but I'm not sure what else could have happened.