Ear infection or peck injury?

[blueticknc126]

I'm going to start off by saying I've been a lurker of this site for a little over 2 years just never joined! I've owned chickens for almost 2 years. I currently own 5 hens, 2 of which have started having a problem. I'm not exactly sure of what's going on. This past Saturday I noticed one the hens had a swollen almost bruised ear lobe, pictured below.

On Sunday I noticed another hen with the same symptom but noticed blood and what appeared to be a wound and both had scratch like wounds. Here's pictures of both hens on Sunday.

I started spraying them with vetericyn and applying neosporin. I'm not really seeing much change either way. Not really getting any better but not getting terribly worse. Both are eating drinking, and acting normal. They are about 5 months old and just started laying this week.
As of today this is what they look like, they're kinda gross looking because I just applied neosporin

Any ideas of what it could be? I've seen no drainage from the ears eyes or nose. The skin under the feathers in the area seem purplish blue which makes me think it's bruised and could be a peck injury but I don't want to assume if it's more serious. I work at a small animal vet and have access to some meds/antibiotics and I have a couple livestock supply type stores in my area. Thanks a bunch!

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. It looks like they have been bumped or pecked or both. Tick bites can also cause swelling and bruising. Scabs are most likely pecking, since they look a little big to be fowl pox scabs. I would probably use some Vetericyn or plain triple antibiotic ointment on the scabs. Hopefully the swelling will go down in a day or two. I'd watch the behavior a bit to make sure there is no bullying going on.

 

[blueticknc126]

Thanks a lot! I'll continue doing the same treatment. I'm only able to do it usually once a day and sometimes twice, should that be enough? Also I've noticed that my oldest hen has since taken over after losing our previous flock and getting rid of our rooster. She tends to be a bit of a bully sometimes especially when I offer treats, so my guess is it was her.

 

[Eggcessive]

That will probably be enough. Yes, pecking orders do sometimes get adjusted when chixkens are added or removed. Hopefully, they will all get it settled.

 

[Pips momma]

I'm going to start off by saying I've been a lurker of this site for a little over 2 years just never joined! I've owned chickens for almost 2 years. I currently own 5 hens, 2 of which have started having a problem. I'm not exactly sure of what's going on. This past Saturday I noticed one the hens had a swollen almost bruised ear lobe, pictured below.

On Sunday I noticed another hen with the same symptom but noticed blood and what appeared to be a wound and both had scratch like wounds. Here's pictures of both hens on Sunday.

I started spraying them with vetericyn and applying neosporin. I'm not really seeing much change either way. Not really getting any better but not getting terribly worse. Both are eating drinking, and acting normal. They are about 5 months old and just started laying this week.
As of today this is what they look like, they're kinda gross looking because I just applied neosporin

Any ideas of what it could be? I've seen no drainage from the ears eyes or nose. The skin under the feathers in the area seem purplish blue which makes me think it's bruised and could be a peck injury but I don't want to assume if it's more serious. I work at a small animal vet and have access to some meds/antibiotics and I have a couple livestock supply type stores in my area. Thanks a bunch!