Elvie got scalped... Harvest passed away

[Saveria]

So the yellow stuff is just a normal part of wound healing, so you don't need to clean it off. Helping the feathers through should be fine if you see them getting stuck under it.

Maybe you can keep a mirror in there with her. I am afraid she'll get lonely.

 

[tnctx]

Hey everyone. I am not new here, I just got locked out of my og email and can't access my account. I'll see if I can find one of my old posts and link it.
I'm having issues with my girls, specially my mille fluer Elvira.
Elvie was injured on Tuesdays I believe. I went to let the birds out to free-range and one of my old girls had her pinned between the feeder and the wall and was pecking her non stop.
After I got her out I saw that she had been scalped. A part of her skull was exposed and the "meat" under the skin of her neck. If I lifted the skin I could see clear under her neck, like sausage skin if that makes any sense.
She is doing very well, once she got over the initial shock it was like nothing happened. I irrigated the wound with peroxide initially, because I am out of betadine, and have been applying antibiotic ointment twice daily. She is living in a crate on my screened in porch with daily trips outside.

I have been so busy caring for her, I only just found out today that her only sister, Harvest, passed away Sunday, and my family hid it from me. They were a pair, they never left each other's side, and they protected one another from the others. Until now there have been no serious issues, and Elvie actually held a position around the middle of the pecking order.

I believe her recent issues are due to Harvests death. I tried giving her some supervised time free-ranging with the flock, but they all immediately surrounded her.
Currently the plan is to get her a separate coop and run, and get her some bantam chicks to raise with her.

I don't have any questions really, she is doing well and healing okay and I have a plan to keep her safe moving forward. But I wanted to post about it anyway in case someone has some advice for me.
Here are a couple pictures of her wound the day after it happened. I don't have any current pictures but it is all scabbed over and seems to be healing alright.

Poor girl! I hope she heals quickly and recovers fully. I’m sorry she lost her sister. Best wishes.

 

[SmiYa0126]

She looks good! No sign of infection too, good job!

 

[Nellie Rose]

So the yellow stuff is just a normal part of wound healing, so you don't need to clean it off. Helping the feathers through should be fine if you see them getting stuck under it.

Maybe you can keep a mirror in there with her. I am afraid she'll get lonely.

Yeah I usually wouldn't have cleaned it but all of her feathers were trapped. I left it for a day but when I saw a cyst starting to form I rubbed it off gently.

I ordered her some toys last night, including a mirror, and her new Bantam babies will be coming September 25th. I am planning on raising them in close proximity to her, so they get used to each other young to make integration easier. I am hoping her head is mostly healed by the end of the month so I can get her outside, right now I fear the risk of infection is too high.

Poor girl! I hope she heals quickly and recovers fully. I’m sorry she lost her sister. Best wishes.

Thank you, she's doing great so far, acts like nothing happened.

She looks good! No sign of infection too, good job!

Thanks. Good! I can never tell with wounds like this, I worry. But I've been religiously covering her with ointment, the poor girl is so greasy.

She has started perching on the branch I added every night as well.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Yeah I usually wouldn't have cleaned it but all of her feathers were trapped. I left it for a day but when I saw a cyst starting to form I rubbed it off gently.

I ordered her some toys last night, including a mirror, and her new Bantam babies will be coming September 25th. I am planning on raising them in close proximity to her, so they get used to each other young to make integration easier. I am hoping her head is mostly healed by the end of the month so I can get her outside, right now I fear the risk of infection is too high.

Thank you, she's doing great so far, acts like nothing happened.

Thanks. Good! I can never tell with wounds like this, I worry. But I've been religiously covering her with ointment, the poor girl is so greasy.

She has started perching on the branch I added every night as well.

Yes, they get so greasy, it will come off once she starts dust bathing.

 

[Nellie Rose]

Yes, they get so greasy, it will come off once she starts dust bathing.

Yeah I know, I feel bad for the poor thing though. She is so small, always has been. Her and her sister were sick as chicks, the thread is floating around here somewhere. They lived inside with me until they were almost fully feathered. Their three broodmates died in the mail on their way to me.
Harvest, a buff silky, had severe pasting as the package got lost in the mail. It was during the mail in ballot fiasco of 2020. They lost them for a week, so I was sure they were all dead.
Harvest took a lot of time but she got stronger with force feeding and watering, but I suspect she had some sort of brain damage as she grew to have some very odd behaviors.
Elvira arrives healthy seeming. But I was stupid, and I let her climb onto my shoulder to perch while I was sitting on the floor beside the broader, and she fell. For a few days I believed she was going to die, she stood with her eyes closed listlessly, and would randomly fall over. She also lost her voice.

But she also recovered, and they lived together three years. Now Elvie is all alone.
I got her a silky friend again, and bantam EE, porcelain dÚccle, frizzle cochin, and one more I can't remember.
They'll live separately from the others.

 

[Nellie Rose]

Hey guys. Some good news about Elvira but sad news about another bird.
Elvie is back outside separate of the rest of the flock, and looking great. She still has scabby buildup in the spot where her skull was exposed, but otherwise she is well. She is where the rest of the flock can see her, in a blocked off part of the run. She has her own small coop, lots of outdoor roosts to climb on, and food and water.

I have 6 bantam chicks I am raising to join her, I'll be moving them out in a separate but in sight area near Elvie in a week to get them started with her young.

The sad news is about a guinea keet I am raising. She is listless and refusing to eat or drink. I am thinking she is failing to thrive but I've never had a keet before so I don't know if I am doing something wrong or what.

In any case you can check out the thread I started for her here-
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/guinea-keet-listless-wont-eat-or-drink.1600244/