Help Severly injured (pecked) hen

[bchicky]

I have a Australorp hen who has a gash (for the lack of a better word) that runs from her ear to the back of her head. I think she was pecked. It is really bad. I will try to post a pic of it. Does anyone know what to use to doctor the wound? I don't think there is any skin left over most of the wound. Any help would be appreciated. I believe I have isolated the main one.

 

[robin416]

Rinse the area with saline. Glob antibiotic ointment on the gash, keep applying it. Eventually the skin will grow back. Keep her where flies can not get at her.

 

[bchicky]

Thanks for the info. I have mooved her inside our screened in area where she was kept as a chick. Flies will have a hard time getting in there. Will keep doing as you have suggested. Thanks for the reply.

 

[kidcody]

You would be surprised how much a chicken can take. My goose beat up one of my chickens really bad, huge deep wounds across the back and the back of the head, I took her to the vet thinking she needed to be sewn up, the vet felt it was better to leave the wounds open. To this day she is fine. We call her bent tail cause her tail feathers came back in bent to the right. Its strange. Chickens are really tough!! Just make sure you keep her seperated from the others (they will peck) and put antibiotic oint. on it and I bet she will be just fine!!

 

[binky]

I'm really glad to read the response. I have a nine-week old Gold-laced Wyandotte whose tail feathers were not growing in properly, and literally half her tail got pecked off. Poor sweet thing. She's starting to feel at home in our house. She likes to hop up onto our dryer and fall asleep. I'm just keeping her separate until she heals. I wonder if she will have trouble re-integrating with the flock when she returns.

 

[redhd077]

I always us that blue lotion its a wound dressing and antiseptic. It keeps the other chicks from bothing the wound.

 

[bchicky]

I am really surprised at how quickly she is healing. We give her scrambled eggs every now and then. My kids have renamed her Munchkin. They say she is sweet even though she has holes in her head. She loves being held and now comes to us when the kids come to the pen (of course they bring her treats and let her roam about the room.