Brawl in the hen house.. hen down.. but not out..advice wanted ..

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Kerry heatherington said:
she seem to just want water
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Are you treating the wounds with anything? If not I would recommend cleaning and treating with Vetericyn Plus Poultry Care. I am no expert and but from my research in the past on emergency I would immediately give her some Nutri-Drench for Poultry straight up and then mix it in with her water along with Electrolyte and Vitamin Supplements. Both Vetericyn and Nutri-Drench are popular product and stocked by most farm and ranch supply stores if you don't have it on hand.

If you have not got one yet, now be a good time to put yourself together a Chicken First Aid Kit. After losing my first girl I realized the importance of having a Chicken First Aid kit on hand. When she got sick I was running all over the place trying to find and get things I needed, I was not going to be in that situation again. So here is what I have put together in my Chicken First Aid Kit
 
cant get a good pic of the rip it basically is her neck and shoulder have been peeled of skin. yah can see tendons and stuff as well as bare bone. and it sorta lookslike her one ear took a few pecks as well. i am pretty much in the boon docks so going to a store is not really an option. I do notice that there is no bad smells coming off her..
 
Michael Propst said:
Are you treating the wounds with anything? If not I would recommend cleaning and treating with Vetericyn Plus Poultry Care. I am no expert and but from my research in the past on emergency I would immediately give her some Nutri-Drench for Poultry straight up and then mix it in with her water along with Electrolyte and Vitamin Supplements. Both Vetericyn and Nutri-Drench are popular product and stocked by most farm and ranch supply stores if you don't have it on hand.

If you have not got one yet, now be a good time to put yourself together a Chicken First Aid Kit. After losing my first girl I realized the importance of having a Chicken First Aid kit on hand. When she got sick I was running all over the place trying to find and get things I needed, I was not going to be in that situation again. So here is what I have put together in my Chicken First Aid Kit
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I washed her as best as I could. she is in the kitchen for the duration. I have 2 roosters and 5 hens . they are kept seperated after the summers mating attempts by the roosteres. they mostly just ripped the hens sides off when they tried to mount. Thus this gal is named Zombie Ethel. Thats what she looked like for a while ..lol I have some powder I got fer the mites, worked great. I have a big bale of hay fer bedding. Will take that like when i go get feed and stuff. I give em poultry feed 17% layer ration. they also free range all over the place and eatthe dogs crunchies when they can. I dont see or smell infection , but the vitamin thing may be justthe ticket. she has only drank water fer about 4 days now. will try some mashed and watered down eggs and ration, see what happens.. :) Thank you very much..
 
Then I Will said:
It doesn't look like a pecking order issue to me. Could be a rodent or other predator attack.

Could also be that she was wounded by whatever attacked, and the other birds picked/pecked at her sores. They will sometimes cannibalize because they have a tendency to peck at red. And blood is red.
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Hmmm rodent ?? Ow that has me thinking, I know there are mice that go into the boyz hide out. I kinda suspect the birds would eat them or someting. my cat keeps going around there and just waits ..lol
 
Agree that looks like a predator injury rather than a pecking wound. Pecking injuries usually present as big gaping holes. A tearing injury is more indicative of a predator like a weasel/martin. All they need is a small hole to gain access to the coop.
If you have poultry vitamins on hand, mix some in her water. And it helps weak and in shock birds to eat if the feed is wetted down into a gruel. Keep her warm. Shock can last for a few days. If her present state persists for longer than 3 or 4 days, prognosis isn't great. If she starts eating and drinking more on her own, she'll likely make a full recovery.
 
My chicken care kit consists of local raw honey (heals all wounds, even horrific wounds like what you've described), epsom salts, oregano oil, turmeric, goldenseal, homeopathic remedies, and protein sources like canned unsalted salmon and cooked eggs.

That's it.

From what I can see, the wound seems pretty serious. It's shocking to me that teeny vicious creatures that look like the cutest Disney characters can squeeze in through the tiniest of openings and wreak havoc on chickens.

If you're able to keep her inside for a good long while, I would create a warm epsom salt bath and flush her neck wounds. You can put her in the kitchen sink and make the solution is a pot so you don't have to actually do a full bath.

You can epsom salts at most grocery stores. If you don't have any local stores, you can flush the wounds with a homemade saline solution. The directions are online. Just boil water for several minutes and then add some salt. Salt in wounds isn't comfy, but I've used it on myself as a saltine solution and never noticed any discomfort.

Make sure you don't hear any body cavity punctures. Chickens have weird air sac things and contraptions I still haven't figured out. You'll hear a soft sucking sound when she breathes if something air related has been punctured. If you do hear something, just use a washcloth as a compress and dip it in the salt solution.

Once you see the wounds, trim the feathers back to fully expose them. There are different approaches to healing her wounds, but one I've found to be exceptionally powerful is raw unpasteurized honey. It's sticky and drips, but honey is water soluble, so you'll be able to wash it off when you feel the need. Coat the wounds with a butter knife and make sure they stay coated and don't dry out.

I'm not sure she can survive this, but as long as you keep her warm and comfortable, give her two or three days for observation. And please keep us posted on any changes.
 
I agree. This isn't a pecking order problem, this is something else.
The reason we call people chicken, is because chickens run away.
They will fight, and ive seen them peck feathers off, and make lots of racket. I personally haven't seen them draw blood and ive been with chickens all my life. I know sometimes it happens from reading here, just have not experienced it myself.

Something else is going on. Chickens just aren't that vicious.
They aren't fighters because they are a little chicken. (HEHE)
 
@Kerry heatherington, I agree that a ripping injury like this would be a predator or some type of sharp hazard inside the coop. When you go out to close up any small openings that a predator could have made entry, Make sure to look for nails sticking out, broken wood/metal. I hope the advice you've been given here will help & your girl recovers.
 

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