Badly injured hen, need advice

[roodle2]

For some reason in the middle of the night 4 of our hens turned on the 5th one and almost killed her. When I found her the next morning she was standing in the corner of the coop with blood all over her head. I picked her up and she did not fight me so I knew she was in bad shape. On examination it looks like they pecked through the skin on her head and it was a bloody mess, they also pecked her neck and pulled out a lot of feathers on her back. I cleaned her head and while it was very bloody I think I was looking at bone so I put neosporin in a thick layer on it and wrapped her in a towel. The first day I did not think she would last another hour, she would not drink or eat and stayed wrapped in the towel. The 2nd day she stood but was unsteady, she would dip her head and kind of walk backwards but she was still breathing and her eyes were open. Last evening she pecked at food a little and stood on a perch about 3 inches off the ground. This morning she ate a little and pecked at some spinach and tomato then she took a drink of water (happy day). I cleaned her wound and it only bled a little. She is only 5 months old so I gave her some oatmeal and medicated chick starter to eat. I really want her to make it but don't know how to help her more. We named her Milagro (miracle) and are getting really attached to her. I know she will need to be separate from the other until she is completely healed so I put her cage next to a 4 week old chick who was rescued from the rooster so they are talking and keeping each other company. If anyone can think of something else I can do to help her heal I would appreciate it.

 

[carrlr]

Besides what your already doing. The important thing is to keep the wound clean. There's a product called Blu-kote, or in some cases listed as Blue Kote. Its an aerosol antiseptic wound dressing designed for horses and dogs. It works great on chicken's wounds too.

 

[ChickLover98]

Oh, poor hen! I would suggest keeping her separated from the other hens until she heals fully. Do you have a rooster? When my rooster first came, my hens and him fought and drew blood around the comb, but definately not that bad. Keep putting on neosporin and give her plenty of food and water. Maybe giving her a treat (Bread, tomato, scrambled eggs etc.) now and then will make her happy. Let the chick keep her company and keep a watchful eye on her. Good luck! Sorry to hear.

 

[roodle2]

She stood up this afternoon and started pecking at some watermelon, I'm optomistic for her but now watching for infection. Her wounds are so bad I can't believe she is alive, all we can do at this point is wait and see. Thanks for your suggestions.