Head injury

[Bejep714]

I have a hen who has been through alot. Shes gotten head injuries from roosters that we had to get rid of, and now recently it's been a hen that she hatched with that's attacking her. Her whole head is bloody and one eye is swollen. She looked like that before and has recovered, but it looks really bad this time. This Is the last time were trying to keep her with the flock, so shes going to stay away from them from now on but shes really messed up right now and I'm worried about her. Shes resting her head and has her eyes closed. She doesnt look comfy though and keeps moving around and shaking her head. Is there anything to do about this?

 

[azygous]

Have you washed and treated her injuries? Does she have eye damage? Can you post photos so we can assess the seriousness?

If she's been bullied, chances are she's starving. Give her a cup of warm water with one teaspoon brown sugar stirred in. Give her soft boiled egg to get nourishment into her.

Work on those photos.

 

[Eggcessive]

Here is your previous thread about the same hen, I assume. I just posted a bit about her eye. New pictures of the wounds and eyes could help. Does she seem to see okay?
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-happened.1561273/

 

[Bejep714]

Sorry I forgot I already asked about her on this website. It is the same hen, and it's probably 10 times worse than the photos from that incident. I'll make sure to send some pictures tomorrow morning. I couldn't get her to eat or drink anything today. She might have when I wasnt around though. Shes very alert still. If you come over she stands up and looks around with the eye that can see. I tried to wipe the blood away but nothing really wiped away. She was bloody, and it wasnt dry, but it was really hard to clean anything off. I dont know if she has eye damage. Her right eye is swollen shut. Shes been injured that way before, so badly I assumed she had lost her eye. But it always seems to open up again. I do think she does have vision problems, from this and from before too. Shes always seemed shakey and not really sure where she is. Right now though her left eye is open and the other one is swollen shut so I dont know the seriousness of it. I did just attempt the hot water suggestion and she wouldnt drink anything. I'm hoping tomorrow she will be more up for it. I'll send pictures then too. Thank you

 

[Bejep714]

Here are the photos

 

[Eggcessive]

Poor thing. I would keep her separated inside a wire dog crate or basket with food and water. She needs to be hand fed and watered for awhile. I would apply a warm wet compress, such as a washcloth, to her eye, and hold it there for about 10 minutes to soften the blood. The use eye wash or saline to rinse the eye, and dry that. Apply either Terramycin eye ointment or plain Neosporin twice a day. The swelling may take days to go down.

Her wounds can be cleaned and the Neosporin applied to her neck and head wounds. I don’t think that I would place her back with the bullies. Pinless peepers for a bully sometimes can help. But it could be that she is not going to be accepted by her flock.

 

[Bejep714]

We have her inside right now and are hand feeding her, even though it's hard to get her to take anything. I'll do the washcloth suggestion and probably get some neosporin and do that too. The hen who attacked her grew up with her, but ever since this hen was attacked and hurt by the roosters we used to have she has seemed to be bullied. I think were going to set up another coop and put her in there along with our other rooster we have because he is still roughed up by the old rooster too and I think him and this hen are good friends

 

[azygous]

It's tragic what happened to this hen. Bullying isn't just about restricting the bully, through. The victim has a victim mindset that needs to be addressed. I learned how much more complex a bully/victim issue can be and I wrote about it here. https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/chicken-bully-chicken-victim-a-two-sided-issue.73923/

 

[Bejep714]

Thank you. Also I have found mites on her today, and unfortunately shes been housed at some times with a flock of baby chicks we have inside right now. The chicks are around 3 weeks old. I have elector psp that I'm going to spray on the hen and inside the coop outside. But are chicks ok with elector psp? I couldn't find anything about that

 

[azygous]

The chicks should be fine as long as they are kept warm until they dry.

Are you sure you are dealing with mites and not simply lice? The latter are less of a health risk so identifying the bugs would be helpful. Also, if mites are the actual problem, the coop will also need to be deep treated.

All chicken health maintenance kits should include a magnifying lens. Your kids may even have one. Examine one of these bugs lifted off the hen with tweezers under magnification and count the legs.

Six legs total mean lice. Eight legs mean mites. Mites suck blood and can kill chicks. Lice mainly feed on dry skin and are mostly merely annoying.