Hen has been badly pecked/injured in both ears

[crcgirl93]

This afternoon I noticed that one of my Leghorn hens has lacerations on her head and both ears are badly pecked and covered with thick bloody scabs. This either happened sometime yesterday or early this morning. My hens free range and I don't have any issues with fighting or picking so highly doubt this could have been done by another hen. This girl has been in my flock for 3 years and is higher up on the pecking order. I'm thinking this could be the work of a chicken hawk and my hen just managed to break free. Anyway, has anyone else dealt with severe ear injuries? She is eating and acting fine but I worry about permanent damage to her ears. I cleaned her wounds the best I could but her ears are covered in thick scabs. I am afraid to peel them away. I did put a thick layer or Polysporin on her ears and other wounds and also gave her some pain medicine. Any other suggestions? Has anyone else had a similar incident? How did you treat?

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your hen. Is she alert and able to stand and walk? Vetericyn wound spray available at many feed stores and online is good for treating most wounds. The Polysporin can be applied twice a day. Look for any signs of infection, such as swelling, foul smelling drainage, or redness. I would keep a close eye at for hawks. To keep her with the flock you can place her in a crate or cage with her own food and water. It may take a few weeks to heal and know whether her ears are damaged. You may want to keep an eye out for hawks, and watch how the chickens are acting. We have a lot of hawks here, and my chickens hide under evergreen trees in our yard when they are active.

 

[BantamLover21]

Eggcessive gave some good advice.

I'm just wondering, though: is it her actual ears that are injured, or the flat, fleshy areas underneath them (the earlobes)?

I would keep applying the Polysporin and just leave the scabs alone. They'll fall off on their own. Other than that, just make sure she is eating and drinking and watch out for signs of infection.

Good luck with her!

 

[Eggcessive]

BantamLover21 made a good point about the injury possibly involving just earlobes. Can you post any pictures?

 

[crcgirl93]

I have been keeping an eye out for chicken hawks but haven't spotted any in the last few days. Thankfully the hen seems to be doing well. She is alert, very active and eating well. She is back with the group and I've not noticed any picking/pecking or unusual behavior. I've tried to post a photo twice and for some reason it's not showing up. I can't tell for sure if there was injury to the actual ears of just the lobe. I don't see any signs of infection and have been applying antibiotic ointment. One of scabs has fallen off of her right ear lobe and everything looks normal. The left ear was the worst and ear and lobe are still covered so keeping an eye on it. She seems to be able to hear as well so I guess all is good. Thanks for all of the responses!

 

[Eggcessive]

Great news. Hope she continues her road to recovery.