All of my girls are 25 weeks old. I also have a 1 year old rooster.
8 of my girls have lived with me since they were 4 weeks. Another pullet and the rooster came to live with me a couple months ago. Anyways, during the introduction period, the new girl, Vivi, was attacked by two of the original girls. She suffered a serious, very deep wound to the back of the head. Pictures below (the last photo is the morning she was found, the other two are after the cells began to swell after being exposed to air). This happened when she was around 17-18 weeks old.
Vivi healed very nicely and is now almost completely better. While healing, she was kept separated from all the other chickens in a 4 x 4 wooden crate in my garage. She had natural sunlight during the day from the open garage door and never inhaled any chemicals or carbon monoxide from a motor vehicle. After a few weeks, she went into severe depression. Her comb lightened and her face went white. She lost weight and she lost her confidence. She was miserable. The first picture below is the day I brought her home. The second is the week I began reintroducing her.
When she healed, I began reintroducing her. It took a week or two for them to not attack her on sight, but she now lives with them semi-peacefully with the occasional light peck to show her that they remain the boss.
Since her injury, Vivi has acted differently. Her face and comb are slowly returning to normal color, which I know is a good sign but she doesn't have very good balance and she has trouble getting up to the brooder. She also has no recognition of "predator" objects such a cars, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, dogs, and cats. For example, if she's in the driveway when a car is pulling in, the driver must get out and move her because she will just freeze. Same with a lawn mower. My dog can come up behind her and push her with her nose and she doesn't react. The other day it started pouring down. The rain was very heavy and puddles were forming on the ground. I went outside to make sure they had all made it into the coop and Vivi was standing in the middle of the yard, soaking wet. She was so wet in fact that her wings were too heavy and they were drooping down to the ground. She just stood there, looking very, very confused. I picked her up and put her in the coop so she could dry off.
Is this some sort of brain damage from her wounds? It doesn't matter either way to me, I would just like to know if the special care she gets (ex. me checking in on her constantly and making sure she's not confused) will be long-term. Also, will this affect her egg laying?
8 of my girls have lived with me since they were 4 weeks. Another pullet and the rooster came to live with me a couple months ago. Anyways, during the introduction period, the new girl, Vivi, was attacked by two of the original girls. She suffered a serious, very deep wound to the back of the head. Pictures below (the last photo is the morning she was found, the other two are after the cells began to swell after being exposed to air). This happened when she was around 17-18 weeks old.
Vivi healed very nicely and is now almost completely better. While healing, she was kept separated from all the other chickens in a 4 x 4 wooden crate in my garage. She had natural sunlight during the day from the open garage door and never inhaled any chemicals or carbon monoxide from a motor vehicle. After a few weeks, she went into severe depression. Her comb lightened and her face went white. She lost weight and she lost her confidence. She was miserable. The first picture below is the day I brought her home. The second is the week I began reintroducing her.
When she healed, I began reintroducing her. It took a week or two for them to not attack her on sight, but she now lives with them semi-peacefully with the occasional light peck to show her that they remain the boss.
Since her injury, Vivi has acted differently. Her face and comb are slowly returning to normal color, which I know is a good sign but she doesn't have very good balance and she has trouble getting up to the brooder. She also has no recognition of "predator" objects such a cars, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, dogs, and cats. For example, if she's in the driveway when a car is pulling in, the driver must get out and move her because she will just freeze. Same with a lawn mower. My dog can come up behind her and push her with her nose and she doesn't react. The other day it started pouring down. The rain was very heavy and puddles were forming on the ground. I went outside to make sure they had all made it into the coop and Vivi was standing in the middle of the yard, soaking wet. She was so wet in fact that her wings were too heavy and they were drooping down to the ground. She just stood there, looking very, very confused. I picked her up and put her in the coop so she could dry off.
Is this some sort of brain damage from her wounds? It doesn't matter either way to me, I would just like to know if the special care she gets (ex. me checking in on her constantly and making sure she's not confused) will be long-term. Also, will this affect her egg laying?
