Bad roo, poor hen, lightening strikes twice

[ShannonR]

If he were mine, he’d be in my instant pot tonight. Literally.

X2

 

[azygous]

The main reason I posted this was to show how hideous wounds look much more life threatening than they are. Chickens are remarkable at healing up from being literally half flayed. Her comb also suffered injuries upon previous recent injuries and bled much more than the scalping.

Also, Toots is darned lucky I don't eat much meat. I was seriously tempted, though.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

How is the poor hen doing today?

 

[azygous]

I thought it would be interesting to show Geobett's amazing healing progress with before and after pics. There was a narrow skin flap I nearly cut off but managed to squelch my neatness gene in this case. Glad I left it to do its own thing. The flap, though hanging on by a narrow piece of flesh, (that triangle just below the wet part of the wound) managed to swing itself over the deep wound and reattach. I'm just as surprised by her ability to regrow feathers in the wound.

 

[Kris5902]

View attachment 1807988 View attachment 1807989 I thought it would be interesting to show Geobett's amazing healing progress with before and after pics. There was a narrow skin flap I nearly cut off but managed to squelch my neatness gene in this case. Glad I left it to do its own thing. The flap, though hanging on by a narrow piece of flesh, (that triangle just below the wet part of the wound) managed to swing itself over the deep wound and reattach. I'm just as surprised by her ability to regrow feathers in the wound.

That is impressive! Excellent job with her, though you both (oddly) have the advantage of previous experience in this situation! It is odd that the feathers re-grow... most heavy scars don’t support hair/fur growth, so it would be interesting to understand what is so different about feathers vs hair or fur in this situation. Is Toots still around, and hopefully behaving a bit more civilly to his ladies?

 

[Matzwd]

She looks fantastic considering the damage. You've done a great job with her.

 

[azygous]

That is impressive! Excellent job with her, though you both (oddly) have the advantage of previous experience in this situation! It is odd that the feathers re-grow... most heavy scars don’t support hair/fur growth, so it would be interesting to understand what is so different about feathers vs hair or fur in this situation. Is Toots still around, and hopefully behaving a bit more civilly to his ladies?

I think the feather regrowth is due to leaving that hinged piece of flesh in place, even though it was just flapping loose.

It likely acted as a skin graft and it had feather follicles that probably were happy to colonize outward from it, eventually filling in the barren area. I had something similar on my face when I had to have a big area of my nose excavated due to cancer. The surgeon sliced a sliver of flesh from beside my nose, leaving it still hinged to my face as it was folded over the spot where the cancerous flesh had been removed.

So, the decision to stifle the urge to trim away that dangling flesh was fortuitous. Little did I realize at the time, I was providing my hen with a skin graft by leaving it alone. I fully expected it to dry up and fall off, but I guess there was enough blood supply going to the flap to let it graft itself to the wound.

 

[azygous]

Oh, by the way, no, Toots is still lusting after her and would snatch her out of my arms if he could figure out how to do it and get away without being grabbed and smashed.

 

[ShannonR]

Oh, by the way, no, Toots is still lusting after her and would snatch her out of my arms if he could figure out how to do it and get away without being grabbed and smashed.

Do you have any plans for this rooster, or are you keeping him around?

I don't mean to sound rude, but the things that folks will put up with in a rooster sometimes amazes me. At the very least, if you are keeping the rooster, maybe you could get rid of the poor hen instead of keeping her around this rooster so he can continue his harmful efforts.

 

[Eggcessive]

Wow, that is amazing before and after photos. Thanks for showing that. It is always good for people who go through this sort of injury to see how well it can heal. It is amazing what good nursing care can accomplish.