Head balded and pecked to skull. How do I treat??

[Judy]

Don't clean it anymore, just reapply the neosporin. She doesn't need the gentian vilet or BluKote until she is out with the other chickens again. The neosporin will do the job. Cleaning with peroxide and betadine will tend to keep it from healing. you want a scab to form over top of it.

Yup.

 

[ChickenBurn]

Is twice a day (once in the morning, once at night) enough Neosporin applications? Is once a day enough?

 

[Eggcessive]

Once a day is probably enough since it has a vaseline base, but twice a day won't hurt. With some chickens it is hard to catch them. When I have used eye ointments, I usually apply those twice a day. Actually after my hen was injured, I stopped the neosporin, and just used the BluKote after day 3 because I wanted it to dry up and scab over. The scab eventually fell off on it's own when the feathers started coming in.

 

[ChickenBurn]

Lucy is healing very nicely! It's been almost 3 weeks since we intervened and began treating her. The first sign of healing was her comb's little scabs falling away and revealing fresh, new, pretty comb underneath. Her feathers are still coming back in and her scalp might be a bit mis-formed for the rest of her days, but this little lady has hardly skipped a day laying. What a trooper, I say!

I guess I feel as though surviving a trauma or life-threatening injury would be plenty reason for the body to reject the idea of creating and passing eggs, but darn if these birds aren't resilient! She's still waiting to be reintroduced to the coop, but they've had visitation through wire for almost a week now. Still keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[Dee5385]

I'm so glad I saw this post....I'm going through the same thing and I was so worried my little one won't be able to heal! Just started the neosporin yesturday so I have a way to go but I'm still happy to know she'll be ok!

 

[ChickenBurn]

Good luck!

My lady made a full recovery!
A week after she reintegrated fully with the flock, she got messed up again. We repurposed her a couple days later. First chicken to own, first fresh eggs, first repurpose! I was not involved in the process for this one. Maybe next time, I dunno... Was really pulling for that sweet gal. The flock is happy and healthy now, though. Whatever it was about that hen that upset the balance is removed now. And we have plenty of eggs from the other 5 hens.

 

[Dee5385]

I'm so glad I saw this post....I'm going through the same thing and I was so worried my little one won't be able to heal! Just started the neosporin yesturday so I have a way to go but I'm still happy to know she'll be ok!

UPDATE: It's been a week and she's healing nicely! She's still kept in a seperate cage in the coop so she's safe but still near the others. I'm hoping to let her out for a little while with the other this weekend so I can be home to keep an eye on them.

I've also purchased pick-no-more lotion....anybody used this? I haven't started using it yet....I wanted to wait a little bit longer so her head can heal a little more with the neosporin; then when I let her go back with the other I was going to try it. Just looking for feedback if other have used it.

 

[ChickenBurn]

Be sure any old blood has been cleaned off of her. Chickens go a little murderous when they see blood, whether they were the original cause or not.
Something else to be aware of: if she's roaming with an open wound you'll possibly need to clean it again. Don't want anything worse to happen to her little head!

 

[Dee5385]

Ok, now I'm getting mad! I had a chick that was pecked to the skull and she was all healed and I was about to re-introduce her back to the others when another chick got pecked; worse then the first one. I'm not there 24/7 so I don't know who did it but my chicks are seperate from the older laying hens. What can I do here?! I don't want to keep seeing these little ladies get hurt. Are the chicks doing it to each other? If so, is it because their bored?

I know once they see the blood they will all peck but I didn't think they would do it to each other. I just fell so bad for the little thing. I'm doing the same thing I did with the last one; she's in a seperate cage in the coop so she can heal but the other know she's still there.

 

[ChickenBurn]

How old are these chicks?

At some point they start establishing pecking order, which is called that for a reason. Since the chicks are separate from the rest of the flock, they are forming their own flock. They may be duking it out here and there, but like I said, if blood is drawn then it's fair game for all. Really brutal!