Head injury!

[Nkonarske]

I'm not sure what happened! Looks like it could be a peck wound? I'm a first time chicken owner and I've not ever seen anything like this before....

I'm concerned because the skin around the wound is pocketed.....like I can pick up a flap and there's significant space and movement between the skin and her skull......

I've trimmed back the feathers around the wound, cleaned it out, and applied antibiotic ointment. I've isolated her in a smaller coop, inside my main coop.

I made her a little bandaid helmet (she looks like Thor to me!) Until I can get some spray on....

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Oh my gosh! I'm sure that was a shock to find. She is so beautiful. I'll be thinking about both of you and hoping for a full recovery! Looks like you're on top of treating her

 

[Nkonarske]

I never asked a question! Ha!
Will she get better? Do chickens recover from this? Is it a peck wound? Should I be doing anything else to treat her? Help!

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I've read about chickens that have recovered from some wounds that were just horrific. Wound care/infection management (if applicable) is one of the most important factors.

I'll tag some folks that are good with things like this, among many other areas
@aart
@Overo Mare
@NatJ
@Eggcessive
@azygous

 

[Hannahnic14]

I have 4 chicks that are recovering from a dog attack. One of them has just the muscle exposed on one whole side. Everyone is recovering great! Chickens are much tougher than we think!


Make sure you keep the wound clean and moist. Don't let it dry out. I use antibiotic ointment (no pain relief, just plain) and poultry wound spray. She will have to be separated until she heals up. Keep a watch for flies because they can cause maggots in the wound. I gave mine some nutridrench by mouth for the first 3 days just because they were in shock from the trauma.. She should heal up like a trooper!!

 

[azygous]

I've had two chickens with scalping wounds like that. One was a five-week old chick and the other was an eight-year old hen. Both were injured by roosters. Both recovered just fine. As @Hannahnic14 said, clean it every day to remove bacteria, and keep it moist with an antibiotic topical ointment. No need to cover it.

I painted the wound with Blu-kote, let dry, then spread the ointment on. That way, the patient may be returned to the flock and the wound shouldn't be noticed.

It's a normal feature of chicken skin to sort of "float" like that. You will see ridges of new tissue form from the outer edges of the wound, called granulation, and it gradually grows toward the center until there's a tiny pin hole left. That will be the last to close up, usually overnight. Then the wound is healed. Keep it moist until that last little bit closes up.

 

[Eggcessive]

Just clean it and keep antibiotic ointment on it and hopefully she will heal.Do you know who was responsible for the pecking wound? Keeping her inside wire dog crate with food and water near the others after a couple of days away from flies would be a good way to keep her safe but still part of the flock.

 

[Nkonarske]

Just clean it and keep antibiotic ointment on it and hopefully she will heal.Do you know who was responsible for the pecking wound? Keeping her inside wire dog crate with food and water near the others after a couple of days away from flies would be a good way to keep her safe but still part of the flock.

I'm not even certain it's a pecking wound, I only noticed after she had been injured. I went through some photos on here and it *looks* similar to some of the other pecking wounds that are pictured.

 

[Nkonarske]

Hey! My girl healed up nicely! I was distraught because I had to go out of town about 5 days after the incident occurred and I just *knew* it wasn't going to heal properly, but it did really well while I was gone, and healed up quite well. Her feathers are a little wonky, sort of like a helmet imo, but I'll take it!