Hen scalped! Help! (Graphic pic)

[hzemag84]

poor hen that is always picked on was so badly beat up that her head doesn't even have skin/feathers on it what should I do other than saline rinse, antibiotics cream and gauze??

 

[BethMatt]

Awe that poor girl

you might want to call your local vet & see about what else you can do?..I hope she will be okay!

 

[Natalierose]

I would look up the dose for baby asprin or tylenol you can give her for pain poor girl

 

[roseyred]

Get some on refined coconut oil, it's antibacterial and will help it heal and keep it moisturized till it grows skin back. As far as growing feathers back, once they lose the skin like that the feathers usually don't come back. Sure to clean the wound really well with some baby soap or something and remove any pieces of dirt

 

[hzemag84]

Thank you for the replies! They have always picked on her for some reason and I THOUGHT it was getting better I did some peroxide, then warm water, the antibacterial cream and gauze. I'll do coconut oil tmrw when I change bandage

 

[TiaRC]

Keep us updated!

 

[hzemag84]

I can't get the gauze off of her head I wanted to put a clean bandage this morning but it's stuck. I've tried warm water and coconut oil to loosen it but it won't budge. I thought I put enough cream in between bandaged and her head that this wouldn't happen but I guess not.

 

[Akrnaf2]

1. You need to buy sterile slain water, it is water with 0.9% salt in it, you can do it yourself : you must boil 1 liter of purified water and dissolve in it 9 grams of salt.
2. You have to wet the gauze with this water using a dropper.
3.try to gently remove the gauze
4. After you removed the gauze you have to smear an antibiotic ointment on the wound and put a new gauze.
5. You need to repeat this treatment once a day for 3-5.
6. You need to keep the wound cover for 3-5 days.
7. When the wound is better and not infected you should take of the gauze and continue to smear Iodine or some other disinfecting material until the wound hills.

 

[roseyred]

I actually believe very strongly in not applying anything over a wound unless they're going to be in a situation where to get dirty like outside, I think letting it breathe is the best way to heal it especially when all the skin is removed because it causes skin to grow back, if I were you I would just keep her area very clean and be sure that she doesn't scratch at it with her feet but I would leave the girls off of it for now and keep it very moist with coconut oil

 

[Curran]

I had something similar happen to two of my chicks at the beginning of spring, they had gotten attacked by an aggressive Guinea hen that ripped the back of their necks off, they were very serious injuries with no feathers/tissue left like on your girl.

For the first couple of days I just kept an antibacterial ointment on them, then after the wounds began to heal and I saw new tissue growth (At 4-5 days for mine), I began using Vermont's original bag balm in place of the ointment. Like Roseyred said though, you could also use coconut oil, but I personally found that the bag balm helped to keep the new tissue moisturized better and for longer. I would also give them days to let the wounds air out and dry once they had full tissue coverage again.


Best of luck to you and your girl! My babies even regrew partial feathers, so there's definitely hope for her not being bald!