Chick pecked to skull

[GreenJay]

Um! Well unfortunate update everyone.
I just replied to someone saying how I’m considering putting her down because I don’t know what her future looks like, and then I came out to the shed and she’s unfortunately passed. She’s in a position that makes me think she was sitting under the heat lamp and just kind of… died.
She was doing a lot better a few hours ago, and I kind of had hope, but I think maybe it was too much on her.
She was in a shed (in a separate pen) with her sisters, and they’ve been peeping and playing, so I hope they made her feel not alone.
Her name was Princess Dieggna and I feel like her name was probably a bit of a curse lol!! But she had the most personality and was the first to interact with me when she was younger.
Hoping this thread helps someone else out if they’re in a similar situation. I have had dogs, cats, geckos, fish, rabbits & guinea pigs, and chickens are by far the most stressful and complicated animal lol!! Gotta love them though

so sorry! RIP Princess Dieggna!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Do you recall how long the entire process took between identifying the damage and her healing completely?

I've never heard of a hen scalping themselves! My goodness, I can't even picture how that could be self inflicted?

How did the damage compare to the images and description that Ospiee has posted here?

Thanks for sharing your experience!

She was only about a week old at the time, maybe 2. She must have been spooked or something and squeezed through two corner panels of a rabbit cage, and the wire scraped off pretty much her entire scalp, and closed around her neck. I honestly thought she was dead when I saw it and was taking her out of the corner when I saw some signs of life. Cue me rushing to bring her inside and warmed up all the while truly debating if she should just be put down because surely she wasn't going to make it. But I make it a point to try and provide each of my birds comfort if they're injured, and a way to die warm and with dignity. To stop the bleeding, which I figured would be what killed her if the shock didn't, I used a cotton make up swatc and just pressed it against her wound. The blood held it in place.

She spent a couple hours in a Tupperware bowl, sandwiched between two washcloths and directly on a lil hotties heat pack (let me tell you, absolutely the best way for me at least to bring birds back other than a hairdryer) before she was alert enough to be cooing and back from the brink.

That night, I gave her to a foster hen with a single chick a few days younger than her, who thankfully took her happily and that was that. Took about a month in all before the last of the scab was gone, and after a few days of quiet and dizziness, she was able to explore the area her foster family was kept in. Once the scab was gone, the 3 were released in the main flock and no issues since then.

I'll see if I still have any images, I didn't take any of her in the cage or when it was touch and go because I really didn't think it was worth posting because of the graphicness.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Do you recall how long the entire process took between identifying the damage and her healing completely?

I've never heard of a hen scalping themselves! My goodness, I can't even picture how that could be self inflicted?

How did the damage compare to the images and description that Ospiee has posted here?

Thanks for sharing your experience!

I think the major wound was pretty similar. I couldn't tell the condition of OPs eyes, amd mine didn't have any visible tendrils. But both (and every scalping I've experienced) were down to the skull plate. Mine had both eyes swollen from the trauma(I figured she would likely lose one just due to swelling trauma, but that didn't happen) but intact and unaffected themselves

 

[The Welch Chickens]

Um! Well unfortunate update everyone.
I just replied to someone saying how I’m considering putting her down because I don’t know what her future looks like, and then I came out to the shed and she’s unfortunately passed. She’s in a position that makes me think she was sitting under the heat lamp and just kind of… died.
She was doing a lot better a few hours ago, and I kind of had hope, but I think maybe it was too much on her.
She was in a shed (in a separate pen) with her sisters, and they’ve been peeping and playing, so I hope they made her feel not alone.
Her name was Princess Dieggna and I feel like her name was probably a bit of a curse lol!! But she had the most personality and was the first to interact with me when she was younger.
Hoping this thread helps someone else out if they’re in a similar situation. I have had dogs, cats, geckos, fish, rabbits & guinea pigs, and chickens are by far the most stressful and complicated animal lol!! Gotta love them though

Sorry for your loss

 

[twobuckchuckfarm]

Um! Well unfortunate update everyone.
I just replied to someone saying how I’m considering putting her down because I don’t know what her future looks like, and then I came out to the shed and she’s unfortunately passed. She’s in a position that makes me think she was sitting under the heat lamp and just kind of… died.
She was doing a lot better a few hours ago, and I kind of had hope, but I think maybe it was too much on her.
She was in a shed (in a separate pen) with her sisters, and they’ve been peeping and playing, so I hope they made her feel not alone.
Her name was Princess Dieggna and I feel like her name was probably a bit of a curse lol!! But she had the most personality and was the first to interact with me when she was younger.
Hoping this thread helps someone else out if they’re in a similar situation. I have had dogs, cats, geckos, fish, rabbits & guinea pigs, and chickens are by far the most stressful and complicated animal lol!! Gotta love them though

I'm sorry for your loss and distress. Thank you for sharing your experience so we can all learn from it as well.