Help...our hen has what looks like a draining abcess on the side of her face.

[gailaus22]

Went down this morning to collect eggs and noticed our Lucy girl has a huge bump on the side of her face. After looking further, we can see what appears to be some typre of abcess and it is draining at the bottom and running down her neck. The liquid appears to be bloody. These are our first chickens and would ask for any suggestions on how to care for her. She is acting normal and gave us a beautiful brown egg this morning.

Is she in danger of being picked on by theother girls, even though she is the dominant hen?

How should we treat the wound?

Thanks

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I'm glad she is acting normally. If blood is visible the other chickens may peck at her wound, because they are tempted to peck at red. You probably should clean it with either some saline wound cleaner or even just some warm water. If it is still draining some blood then you may want to separate her from the others until it dries up. You can put neosporin or most any antibacterial ointment on it (as long as it doesn't have benzocaine or lidocaine in it)

A lot of chicken keepers get Blue Kote at the farm store because it is has antifungal and antibacterial properties in addition to having blue pigment that covers up red and discourages pecking.

 

[gailaus22]

Thank you for the advice. I appreciate it.

 

[klmclain1]

X2 to everything scratch'n'peck said!

 

[dawg53]

x3 I'd lance it with a needle at the bottom of the abcess and push the blood downward, rather than squeeze it out if you decide to do that.