Bad head injury

[Fraoch21]

One of my 13 week old suspected pullets has been attacked by a cockerel (posted in the behaviour section). Basically the back of her skull is exposed and I wont be able to get a vet for another week. S/hes eating and drinking but shakes and sleeps most of the time. Ive put some teramycin (spelling?) on it but its still very exposed and im worried about infection and if the skin will grow back at all?

 

[Eggcessive]

If you can post a picture it always helps. Neosporin ointment is good (the terramycin is probably fine (since it contains an antibiotic) but I would get some BluKote an antiseptic/antifungal that coats wounds blue so they aren't pecked. It sounds pretty serious, but if she makes it the next day or two, she may heal up just fine. I would keep her in a quiet cage to rest.

 

[Fraoch21]

Shes in a small pen by herself and she does seem ok so far, if a little lonely. Its really hard to get a good picture of it without harrassing her so I will try to describe it as best as i can as well.




I can see the edges of the skin around the wound but not much blood at all. In the wound I can see a flat yellowish coloured bit which i assume is the skull but on the bone theres a darker patch that I can't see properly which I thought might be some dead skin or a bit where the skull has been damaged or just a dark patch on the bone? Theres also a lot of clear/yellowish coloured liquid coming out of it, which is just the bodys natural response right?

 

[Eggcessive]

She looks pretty alert which is good. She might develop an infection later on, but for now I think you are doing everything okay. Having it open to heal is good, and yes I think that is serum that is weeping from the wound. She is pretty. What breed is she? I loved seeing the western isles and the highlands last year when I was in Scotland. We want to go back. You live in a beautiful country.

 

[realsis]

I just wanted to say I hope your bird heals up quickly. They can be pretty strong and I've seen some on this forum with exposed skull heal up nicely. Its good your going to take her to the vet perhaps they can prescribe some medicine to help her heal. I wish you the best and hope everything works out well. God bless

 

[Fraoch21]

Thank you, its good to know that some do heal from this type of thing

She is a lavender araucana, but not the rumpless kind. Shes my first one, shes lovely! It is really beautiful here, though the weather isnt always the best!

 

[Eggcessive]

I have some lavender ameraucanas which are similar, but your girl has much fluffier head feathers. Maybe that is why she was attacked--my Polish hens have been attacked and de-feathered on the tops of their heads. Hoping she gets better soon!

 

[Fraoch21]

Yeah I thought she was quite fluffly around her head which made me think at first she was a cockerel but I'll have to wait and see!
They do seem to attack anything thats unusual about another bird, its a shame!
shes still looking very alert today, clucking, eating and drinking and walking around so fingers crossed!

 

[Fraoch21]

A couple of months down the line and she has almost fully recovered! But she seems to have been left traumatised and not very sound mentally :/ She has an odd attachment to me and is scared of other chickens. She seems to now lack some co ordination and judgement of distance. But i hope to get her back to interacting with the other hens soon and hopfully the rest will sort itself out!