This is horrible.
As suggested, you will need to keep her protected from the rest of the birds and keep the wound coated in antibiotic ointment or Manuka honey until it heals. I've read dozens of posts regarding horrific injuries of just this nature that healed perfectly well without any type of suturing.
However, if you keep her in the house the entire time during the healing process you're going to have a difficult time reintegrating her back into the flock. The fact that she was so violently attacked, by I'm assuming the Leghorn, means that your Leghorn may have an aberrant level of aggression. I would purchase some pinless peepers to put on her to stop this. She should wear them for at least a month before taking them off to see how she behaves without them.
I would keep the injured youngster in the house for one week in the coolest space you can find. I would support her with extra protein (tuna, sardines , meat scraps) added to her food and a second waterer that contains electrolytes and probiotics to help boost her during the early stages of healing. You want to keep her in the coldest area possible so that you can move her out into the coop and finish her healing out there in a wire dog crate without shocking her system with an extreme temperature drop. I would also get a radiant heat panel that you can attached to the side of the crate to help give her extra warmth while she heals. You just don't want it to be so warm or so cold that she stresses out from the temperature gradients.
By finishing up her healing out in the coop where the other birds can still see her she will heal quicker because she won't feel so lonely and stressed by being without her flock. During this time having the pinless peepers on the attacker will also give her a little bit more confidence that she's not going to get a repeat episode because the pinless peepers will prevent the attacker from being successfully aggressive.
It is too small. It is especially too small with your current flock dynamics. I never suggest a 10 sq ft minimum per bird in the run.
I've seen it.
I've dealt with it.
It's too small.
Your run is also very narrow. It doesn't give a bird enough space to get away quickly enough from a bird that doesn't want it near. They basically have to run the gauntlet to get away. If there's any way you can put even a temporary pen to open up the run so they have more space it's going to help with your current integration issue.
I always recommend 15 sq ft per bird. I currently have about 17 sq ft of run plus coop space for each of my birds but they also get to come out into a 1/3 acre electrified pen. I've never had aggressive behavior in any of my flock members in over 7 years. My run has a lot of stumps, branches, chairs, crates and a thick layer of wood chips for the birds to interact with. So they're never bored. When you have a small run, it's extremely difficult to put anything in there for them to interact with.
I can't think of anybody on this site that would suggest such a horrible thing.
Culling does not mean killing. It means removing from the flock.
I hatch every year and have to rehome the boys that come from those hatches. Only one time did I knowingly and willingly permit one of those boys to end up on the dinner table. But the condition I made with the person that took him was to dispatch him quickly and humanely. I don't see anything wrong with that. But that was the only time. All the other boys (over 30) have gone on to be flock leaders or breeders. It often does take a long time to find homes. But eventually somebody comes along that wants to add a rooster to their flock either because they've never had one or because theirs died. You also need to be willing to drive a bit to meet someone. I have attended many poultry swaps and had success there. I advertise on local Facebook poultry groups. I advertise on my local Craigslist. But I give it many months to find the right home.
Best of luck with everything.
Thanks, I did start a separate thread, but a couple of clarifications:
• Temperature isn’t the issue.
Inside the house it stays around 78–80°F. Outside, we’re in the tropics—no cold shock, no winters, and it never drops below 75°F year-round. Right now it’s about 85°F outside.
• They’re currently in strict “see-no-touch” housing.
Separate enclosurea side-by-side. Ouzo can’t be placed with the other youngsters at all right now—they immediately peck at her.
• Treatment has already started.
She’s on topical ointment and oral antibiotics, plus meloxicam. She’s eating and drinking well so far.
• Our coop setup is not typical.
The birds don’t
live in the coop/run. They free-range from dawn to dusk, and the coop
door stays open 24/7.
The conflict happened when we
tried to close them in. When they’re free-ranging, there’s no problem. Even short periods locked in (like an hour) were fine. The issues only erupted during a longer confinement—always during the day but slept at night in a group setting.
• The “why” behind the aggression (theory).
My husband didn’t want to keep rounding the peeps up and bringing them back into the house at night, so we tried acclimating them the same way we did with the previous two batches. I told him I thought it was too early, but we have done as young as 5 weeks from my hatched eggs.
But our two laying hens were furious about not being able to follow their usual routine, even though we have multiple feeding stations outside the coop fence (the fenced area is 51 ft x 31 ft- but it is a fence they jump- we dont care because they can play in the acres of jungle all they want). We even have stations all over the property—some 100 ft away—because Roo (our leghorn) loves her cuddles by the front door.
The hens hated the isolation (never stopped screaming) but kept laying. Meanwhile, the littles think Roo is their queen bee. Out free-ranging, there are downed trees, grasses, bushes, and plenty of fun places to forage. They follow her everywhere, and she normally doesn’t mind.
• The plan moving forward.
I’m keeping all the chicks inside (in kennels next to each other) for another two weeks. After that, I’ll send two outside, and then monitor Ouzo specifically with Stoli—her best buddy, though admittedly a bit slow. They’ve been inseparable since the beginning. Ill bring them out for supervised playtime. But im not locking them in, im going to let them make that call and if it means that the other two want to sleep in the house in 'see no touch', fine.
Lastly: the culture here- is not like others. There is no 'finding a home for a rooster'. Here it is 'kill rooster on site'. We have feral chickens every 20 ft. There are companies that specifically specialize in rooster extermination (and they are booked solid).
There s no 'drive a bit' as our island is 20,000 people, only a couple miles wide on each side. Its is just not a thing here. We dont have poultry swaps, poultry shows, sell poultry here- nor do we have a
tractor supply- or anything of that sort. I live in the carribean- there chickens are either very valuable (because you have to ship them in- fill out customs forms, try to find feed, etc and not to mention they have to travel 3,500 miles), or they are pests that are poisoned and trapped like rats. Period.
Edit: I cant spell.
