Help.....Chicken has hole in her head!

[jolojaly]

We have been absent from our chickens for 2 days and have just discovered one of our 2 m/o New Hampshire Reds has what appears to be a hole in the top of her head, with dried blood around it. Also,the right ear seems to be infected (it is greenish, black, and slightly swollen). She seems to be fine, eating and drinking and walking around. I can't imagine how this can be ....seeing this hole, though it is small!
These chicks have been integrated in with our older heads for a few weeks now, so I am just guessing it is from a hard peck on the head?
Can I put peroxide on these wounds, or something else? Anything else I can do to help her? My kids are worried about this sweet chick, and want to take it to the vet.......um, I would like to avoid this....!

 

[KellyHM]

Peroxide impedes tissue healing, so I'd stay away from it. Wash the wound with warm soapy water and apply some antibiotic ointment. It wouldn't hurt to put her on some antibiotics from the feed store for a few days too. Keep her away from the other chickens while she heals...they are drawn to blood/wounds and will continue to peck at them.

 

[jolojaly]

Thank you for the quick response. We have seperated her....she's in a our bathroom right now until we can make a temp.outdoor shelter for her! I will try your suggestion about treating the wound. Are antibiotics for chickens usually given orally or by injection?

 

[Chicken Chaperone]

I don't have an answer about the antibiotics- you might want to update the title of your post to something like
"antibiotic question" or do a search of antibiotics through our search section here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/search.php

I do know that chickens should NOT have any antibiotic cream or ointment that has any medicine ending in 'caine' in it (i.e. lidocaine..)
and should NOT have "Neosporin with pain relief" which has Pramoxine in it. Regular Neosporin is fine- just avoid the stuff with 'pain relief'.

I wish I could be more help. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[KellyHM]

Quote:
Usually you can get oral antibiotics at the feed store that either get mixed in with the feed or dissolved in the water.

 

[AdrienMarie]

We had a duck attacked by my neighbor's German Shepherd. His head was bitten and we couldn't tell if he lost one eye, or both, his face was pretty swollen. Instead of instantly putting him down, we washed his face everyday with warm water and applied Neosporin. One eye was lost (busten by the dog's bite), but the other healed up perfectly and he gets around fine now. I have found that if you treat a cut or wound with antibiotic ointment early enough, and keep others from pecking at them, injected and oral antibiotics aren't always necessary.

 

[MotherJean]

Hydrogen peroxide shouldn't be getting the bad rap that it does. The fact is, peroxide is an excellent antibacterial and does an superior job of flushing dried blood and debris out of wounds because of its foaming action when it comes into contact with blood. As a "first response" to injuries, there is absolutely nothing wrong with 5% hydrogen peroxide and a lot that is right with it. It's not only effective, it's inexpensive, and can be found even in the middle of the night at your 24 hour grocery store. The caution is, peroxide should not be repeatedly applied to the wound because it can impede healing by removing nature's band-aid - the scab. I wholeheartedly recommend peroxide as an initial wound wash followed up by applying Triple Antibiotic Ointment (which is a dead cheap generic antibiotic readily available in the first-aid section of most grocery stores too). If you find that the other chickens are continuing to attack that wound, you may have to get some Bluekote at the feed store to prevent that.

ETA: I agree that it's wise to separate the hen from the flock for a few days. Doing so means that you won't have to try to bandage the wound. It would be helpful if you could put her in an open cage by herself where she can get a little sunshine. The UV rays are a natural antibiotic and very healing.