Chick’s comb dangling off her face and her beak is chipped.

[Rose the Legbar]

Exactly what the title says. I came home today to my favorite Favorelle chick’s comb being completely ripped off her head and the top of her beak being chipped. I think it was like that for about and hour and a half from the amount of dead tissue the comb had (photo below of when I just found her). I called a friend that was much more versed in chicken injuries and she told me to cut off the rest of the comb and put cornstarch on it. I did and the bleeding stopped and it has now scabbed over in most of the spots. She isn’t eating any of her mash (chick starter and water) I’ve made her as her beak hurts her a lot.

Now here’s my questions: Should I be putting her back with her siblings at night and taking her away before they wake up? Or keep her in her kennel (I’ll let her walk around multiple times a day) until it heals fully. How long will her beak hurt her and until she can eat mash comfortably? The last question and one that I think is the most important: Will she have a hard time cooling off now? Will I have to bring her inside when it sometimes hits 90s and 100s degrees in the summer? Her run is shaded but it still gets horribly hot sometimes in the summer and I am worried.

 

[Kearaaaa23]

Looks like she got into a fight with the other chickens. Please try and forcefeed her. Put an antibiotic cream on the beak such as neosporin (easily available) how many chickens and cockerels do you have in one place?

 

[NatJ]

Now here’s my questions: Should I be putting her back with her siblings at night and taking her away before they wake up? Or keep her in her kennel (I’ll let her walk around multiple times a day) until it heals fully.

I would probably keep her entirely separated until the comb area heals up, to make sure the other chickens cannot peck at it. Combs do heal pretty fast, because there is so much blood flow to that area.

How long will her beak hurt her and until she can eat mash comfortably?

I would guess a big improvement by tomorrow, but I don't know for sure. I would make sure she has water, wet feed, and dry feed available. Sometimes an animal that feels bad will eat a treat (like wet mash for a chicken), but sometimes they will only eat familiar things (like the dry feed.) So offering both is a good way to cover it either way.

If she does not start eating by partway through tomorrow, or at least drinking, you may need to look into force feeding. But I strongly suspect that a good night's sleep will make a big difference in how she feels, and she will probably eat well enough tomorrow. That beak really doesn't look too bad to me.

The last question and one that I think is the most important: Will she have a hard time cooling off now? Will I have to bring her inside when it sometimes hits 90s and 100s degrees in the summer? Her run is shaded but it still gets horribly hot sometimes in the summer and I am worried.

Unfortunately, I do not know for sure. You can probably figure it out by watching how she does: if she seems more distressed than before, or more distressed than your other chickens, try bringing her in for a bit of a break on those afternoons.

But some people do keep chickens with very small combs in hot places (like some Easter Eggers), and some people in hot places do dub the combs on their gamefowl roosters, so it appears that chickens can keep cool even without a big comb to help.

 

[Ch1cken Tender]

I highly suggest buying Blu-Kote from Amazon, it will dye anything it touches purpleish blue thus preventing any of your other chickens being too interested in the scab. I believe it also has some painkillers and “anti infection” stuff in it! Good luck with her!!

 

[Kearaaaa23]

I highly suggest buying Blu-Kote from Amazon, it will dye anything it touches purpleish blue thus preventing any of your other chickens being too interested in the scab. I believe it also has some painkillers and “anti infection” stuff in it! Good luck with her!!

I'd advice against that especially if it has pain killers in it. Damaged combs heal fairly quickly and isn't a major problem to deal with since this wound is severe this product would cause more harm than good especially if your applying it to an open wound. It'd also stain everything and burn the chicken a bit,I'd only suggest blu kote for only minor injuries like scratches etc.. Plus she'd always get picked on if she's at the bottom of the pecking order. Applying neosporin or any antibiotic cream to the wound would be great along with fresh food,electrolyte water and good rest. Hope this helps

 

[Ch1cken Tender]

I'd advice against that especially if it has pain killers in it. Damaged combs heal fairly quickly and isn't a major problem to deal with since this wound is severe this product would cause more harm than good especially if your applying it to an open wound. It'd also stain everything and burn the chicken a bit,I'd only suggest blu kote for only minor injuries like scratches etc.. Plus she'd always get picked on if she's at the bottom of the pecking order. Applying neosporin or any antibiotic cream to the wound would be great along with fresh food,electrolyte water and good rest. Hope this helps

Huh, interesting… I haven’t ever used this on a comb injury before. So you’re probably right about that. But I do think it helps on *some* major injuries. At least, it helped when a wild animal bit the back end off of one of my ducklings a few years back. And I could be wrong about the painkillers… but it for sure dyes EVERYTHING it touches . Like clothes, grass, feathers, hands, and just about anything. If nothing else it helps prevent cannibalistic tendencies! Which is very important with chickens.

 

[Ch1cken Tender]

@Kearaaaa23
So… I created a thread about a sneezing problem my chicks have. Could you please take a look at my post to see if you recognize anything about and/or have any suggestions? You seem to know a good bit about injury and disease stuff relating to chickens.
I entitled the thread “Sneezing”.

 

[Rose the Legbar]

Looks like she got into a fight with the other chickens. Please try and forcefeed her. Put an antibiotic cream on the beak such as neosporin (easily available) how many chickens and cockerels do you have in one place?

I ended up making scrambled eggs for her and she ate a lot of it. She is with 2 other 13 week old chicks, both 100% pullets, although one does peck at her feet feathers and makes those bleed. That chick is the same breed as her though. The other chick is a Easter Egger that’s the sweetest soul.

I would probably keep her entirely separated until the comb area heals up, to make sure the other chickens cannot peck at it. Combs do heal pretty fast, because there is so much blood flow to that area.


I would guess a big improvement by tomorrow, but I don't know for sure. I would make sure she has water, wet feed, and dry feed available. Sometimes an animal that feels bad will eat a treat (like wet mash for a chicken), but sometimes they will only eat familiar things (like the dry feed.) So offering both is a good way to cover it either way.

If she does not start eating by partway through tomorrow, or at least drinking, you may need to look into force feeding. But I strongly suspect that a good night's sleep will make a big difference in how she feels, and she will probably eat well enough tomorrow. That beak really doesn't look too bad to me.


Unfortunately, I do not know for sure. You can probably figure it out by watching how she does: if she seems more distressed than before, or more distressed than your other chickens, try bringing her in for a bit of a break on those afternoons.

But some people do keep chickens with very small combs in hot places (like some Easter Eggers), and some people in hot places do dub the combs on their gamefowl roosters, so it appears that chickens can keep cool even without a big comb to help.

I gave her some scrambled egg and she ate it all up thankfully. I hope the comb heals fast so I can put her with her sisters again.
Thank you both for the help

 

[NatJ]

I ended up making scrambled eggs for her and she ate a lot of it. She is with 2 other 13 week old chicks, both 100% pullets, although one does peck at her feet feathers and makes those bleed. That chick is the same breed as her though. The other chick is a Easter Egger that’s the sweetest soul.

I gave her some scrambled egg and she ate it all up thankfully. I hope the comb heals fast so I can put her with her sisters again.
Thank you both for the help

That is very good news! Yes, I do hope she recovers quickly.

 

[Ch1cken Tender]

I ended up making scrambled eggs for her and she ate a lot of it. She is with 2 other 13 week old chicks, both 100% pullets, although one does peck at her feet feathers and makes those bleed. That chick is the same breed as her though. The other chick is a Easter Egger that’s the sweetest soul.

I gave her some scrambled egg and she ate it all up thankfully. I hope the comb heals fast so I can put her with her sisters again.
Thank you both for the help

Yay! I’m glad to hear she’s doing better.