badly injured head

[mkearsley]

Any ideas on the best way to handle the head injury? We got it drinking & will feed her yogurt tomorrow. One eye is barely open & is oozy like conjuctivitis. It does smell nasty, but no obvious signs of infection. Letting her rest & will clean the head off tomorrow.

 

[mkearsley]

I have no idea what happened to her. My sister-in-law found it this afternoon. She also has a broken foot, but I found information for a shoe to help with the broken foot that was on another thread.

 

[mightymax]

Can't tell much from the picture. Like whether it's bleeding or an open wound or ???
If it were me, I'd go ahead and clean it up tonight with some warm water and antibacterial ointment. If you're already smelling something like rotten meat or decay she might already have an infection but it won't hurt her and may help to take care of it tonight. Be sure to dry her really well (a hairdryer on low works for me) and keep her nice and warm. Maybe add a heat lamp if it's particularly cold. For her eyes you can use Terramycin ointment. It can be put directly into the eye. Larger feed stores usually carry it. Can't offer more without more information.
Good luck.
-kim-

 

[mkearsley]

Its not bleeding, but as she was drinking, she'd dip her whole head in the water. The dripping water was coming off red. We're still debating on what happened. The injury is just around her head, perfectly around her head. Nothing on her neck or chest, her feathers are messed up, though (which could've happened as she was struggling around before or after she was hurt). The back & top of her head is missing its feathers. We're thinking that she either got burned or stuck her head in something caustic. One idea is that she broke her foot & was hiding under a hot car or something & that caused the injury. The other idea is that she was intentionally burned & hurt.
Thanks for the advice on the terramycin, I might still have some here. I think the infection is in her eyes (I'm not sure the other eye will recover). I'll make sure we treat the rest of her head with antibiotics. I do have WoundKote & WonderDust. Would either of those work better than an ointment? I want to do what will be best for her.
Any other suggestions for easy-to-eat food? I just fed my birds yogurt, and regular food, but they've never been hurt around the head & throat. I think that her jaw is damaged, her beak doesn't meet fully on both sides. I also think that her throat may also be hurt/infected. Any ideas for an antibiotic she can eat?

 

[mightymax]

Whenever my chickens are hurt or under the weather I make them some scrambled eggs !!! I thought it sounded inhumane when I first heard of people doing it, but if you stop and think about it, eggs are very nutrient dense and easy to eat. Apparently even for chickens because mine go absolutely bonkers whenever they see me coming with the frying pan...lol !!! The yogurt is good too. Maybe add some vitamins and electrolytes to her water since you don't really know how long she's been in that condition. When the water ran off her head red and she wasn't bleeding, I'd have to guess that the color came from some residual blood that had since dried in her feathers and so when they got wet it turned back to a liquid and ran down her head like blood would of if it were fresh. As far as antibiotics go, some good oral ones that work on flesh wounds in chickens are...Baytril and Clavamox (which is nice because they make it in a liquid that you administer with an included eye dropper. One squirt and you're done!) If you don't mind giving injections Penicillin G procaine is always a good broad spectrum antibiotic that readily available at most feed stores.

I sure hope that someone didn't do this to her on purpose !!! That would just be sick! I know we have a lot of 'sick' people in this world, in my field I deal with some of the sickest ones on a daily basis, but that still doesn't keep my blood from boiling when I hear about the abuses to innocent animals that have happened at the hands of some people we might even be calling our neighbors. Well, I'll get off my soapbox...for now !!! I hope she's doing better tonight. Please keep us informed of her progress, okay...

-kim-

 

[mkearsley]

She didn't make it. I think she'd been injured, dehydrated, & starved too long. thanks for all the advice. This community is My one-stop-shop for all things chicken. I'm glad you experts are here.

 

[mightymax]

I'm sorry your little bird didn't make it. You should take comfort in knowing that, no matter how she got injured or what her life was like in the beginning, that when it was ending, you gave her all you could and she was loved !!!

-kim-