Hen with 2 deep cuts and bald spot on back

[FlyingNunFarm]

That definatly looks like rooster damage. It could be he is inexperienced and not very practiced in mating.
Also if I'm reading it correctly you have 3 hens to 1 male? That's just not enough. I would at least double the amount of hens in not triple.
A saddle will be helpful as she heals and to protect her and the others in the future. I agree with clipping or covering his spurs.
I've included a link to a thread following my journey of a hen with a rooster wound.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/yikes-large-wound-on-hen.1141144/

 

[rebrascora]

Your male bird is a cockerel (an immature rooster under a year old) and that makes a lot of difference. Firstly because this is his first spring and his hormones will be raging and secondly because he has not learned the technique and balance of mating. Add to this that you only have two adolescent females (apart from the one older girl that you are protecting) and they probably have not learned how to be submissive and squat for him, so that he can balance on their backs more easily or are getting the life pestered out of them because there are not enough females to ease the burden of his appetite for mating. The injuries were most likely caused by his claws rather than spurs because at his age, he is unlikely to have developed sharply pointed spurs yet. Your polish pullet is at risk of being injured too especially as they are much finer built although he may be struggling to catch her.
It would make far more sense to confine or get rid of the cockerel and let the 3 ladies live happily together rather than confine the older girl and leave the two younger ones to suffer his attentions. Either get more hens or pen him separately because it is not fair to the girls to keep them with him like this in my opinion, even with chicken saddles..... your polish could end up getting scalped.

 

[hayley3]

I bought 4 pullets and he turned out to be a rooster. My first rooster. After I realized he was a rooster it was too late to get more chickens. He seems to be gentle. Although the polish has clipped wings she can still get out of her run. I will have to devise a way to keep them separated until I have more females. He seems gentle with them, but I will watch more closely to see what I am missing. When he gets on top , they disappear so that's why I can't figure out how he is hurting them with his claws.
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[hayley3]

Thanks...for the link about your chicken...heading over to read it.

I've included a link to a thread following my journey of a hen with a rooster wound.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/yikes-large-wound-on-hen.1141144/[/QUOTE]

 

[Then I Will]

Put duct tape on the roosters spurs to prevent further injuries. That’s what I do and it works wonderfully because my hens were getting gashes too.
Keep the wound clean and put neosprorin without pain killer on the cuts, and do saline rinses. The skin should heal on its own without stitches or glue.
I’ve been thru quite a bit of this so if you have any more questions don’t hesitate to ask!

That's an AWESOME Suggestion! I'll keep this in mind because potato pulling or otherwise dremeling down spurs can be a chore and a half.

 

[rebrascora]

I'm suspicious of the rooster cause she screams when he chases her...

She is screaming because she is not cooperating with him and the fact that he is chasing her also tells you that she is not willing.... that is likely to lead to injury. He will grab her and she will pull away.... that is how feather loss happens. He needs to stand on her back to mate her and hold onto the back of her neck to balance himself. She is supposed to squat with her wings wide to balance herself so that she creates a steady platform to support his weight. If she is struggling, he can easily slip and gash her.

When he gets on top , they disappear so that's why I can't figure out how he is hurting them with his claws.

What disappear???

There are 3 key areas for mating damage to feathers... the back of the head/neck where the male grabs the feathers with his beak and the shoulders and the back in front of the tail where his feet/claws cause damage. The commonest area for mating injury where the skin gets ripped is just behind/under the wings where his foot has slipped or scalping where the pullet is so desperate to get away from him she leaves her scalp and feathers in his beak.

 

[getaclue]

I would NOT do saline. It stings really bad, and there's no reason to put an animal through that kind of pain when there are better options available.

The cockerel, not yet a rooster, will usually do better when he has more experience. The hens do better with experience too. If he's too big, you need to separate them.

 

[drumstick diva]

Do you really need a cockerel/rooster? A roo can handle 10 hens so 2 or 3 are not enough. Maybe you can let him free range, while the girls are kept in a run, to protect them.

 

[chickendreams24]

In my own experience an injury like that more than likely is from his inexperience at trying to balance. Basically he slipped and injured her. She remembers that he's clumsy and hurts her(being young he's probably also too rough in his vigorous attempts) add to that there's only two choices for him and she'd be nuts not to scream.

When a pullet won't submit cockerals with their raging hormones will often get frustrated and try to forcefully dominate them. They may even flog them in their anger. He may be very gentle but even gentle and clumsy is bad. He probably grabbed her to mate and she ran. He may have even pulled her feathers intentionally. I have seen them also accidentally pull feathers too. Give him some time. I don't think he's too big for your girls. He just needs time to mature and you need more girls.

If you wish to keep him absolutely you need more hens. You can try for 6-7 but you may have to add more depending on his desire.

Absolutely please check under her wings and check your polish as well. An unseen injury can lead to a major infection and even death. A couple years ago we had an English Orpington pullet get injured (at the time we thought predator attack but it may have been a cockeral) up under her wing a large chunk of her side ripped away. The skin torn right back. Never saw a drop of blood, not a feather out of place. She never acted ill until one day she stayed mostly on the roost. I picked her up and saw what was the beginning of bumblefoot (very beginning stages- I found it hard to believe she was bothered by a foot that didn't even gave any swelling) we brought her in to wash it up and begin treatment with drawing salve.

Inside the house she ruffled her wing and we smelled decay and death. Immediately we began a thorough search and then we found it. The gash was sickening the smell horrendous. We painstakingly cleaned the wound and slowly and as gently as possible cleaned the solid pus out loosening it as we went. There seemed to have been something stuck in the wound. Looked like a bird of prey talon. It was all very odd.

That wound was not only on the surface but extended forward under her skin towards her neck 2.5-3 inches, under her wing. With the tear another inch or two. With the wound cleaned out we gave her a round of antibiotics and she made a full recovery.

Her name is Hope. She never gave up and we never gave up on her. Her recovery was remarkable once the infection was gone it was so quick and more than I ever hoped. We separated her alone with her sister and a few juvenile pullets and gave her a saddle to cover where we clipped feathers back to see the wound better(also where the skin had crumpled into the wound-for cleanliness)

We had cleaned the wound very well with gentle iodine and such and packed it with Neosporin.

When she was healed we slowly reintroduced her by adding a few birds at a time into their little flock.

To this day I'm the only one who can tell you which bird Hope is and I can only tell by her comb shape. Her side looks no different than it should.

 

[Abriana]

That's an AWESOME Suggestion! I'll keep this in mind because potato pulling or otherwise dremeling down spurs can be a chore and a half.

I know! Also dremeling or cutting them can cause severe bleeding, which can be extremely difficult to stop. The duct tape solves everything! Gorilla tape I found works the best. It’s thick and sticky, so it stays on and the tips of the Spurs don’t poke thru.