Hens Pecked

[Quik1th]

ISOLATE THEM NOW

10-1 one pulled a feather, started to bleed and the rest had a fill day.

start administering antibiotics immediately, somebody else can suggest a proper antibiotic to prevent infections.

clean the wounds thuroughly, go to your loacal drug store and get a very large capacity syringe that can be used with screw on needles, and distilled water, and hydrogen peroxide, might be worth getting some dixie cups as well to make the chicken cones of shame to both protect the areas from pecking but also protect against debris getting in to an extent, some gauze, and as much neosporin as you can muster.

begin with luke warm distilled water and the syringe (used as a flushing tool) and very gently wrinse the areas, check for debris, you will need 2 sets of hands for this as they wont sit still in this area. clean well and mix up 50/50 in a dixie cup distilled and peroxide and use the syring to drip it on the live tissue to clean and dis infect the area. once cleaned apply liberally neosporin to every micron you can to the entire area exposed and open to air and hope for the best. clean the area 2 times a day for the next 3 days and DO NOT LET IT GET DRY keep it slathered with neosporin, use q-tips to apply neosporin and DO NOT SMEAR WITH BARE HANDS you can introduce bacteria to the tube with your finger if used. gloves are fine to smear if you cant get close with the Q-tip, this will also prevent them from chewing it themselves and making it worse, they dont like the taste, atleast my girls dont

you will need to isolate them apart from eachother as well and keep them seperate so they dont keep pecking or chewing. for the size of those girls id say the container you have them in is far too small and they began fighting for space. if one dies, more room for the more dominant chicks. get them in a bigger area.

consider the realization here you may loose those 2 girls, chickens are extremely resilient to injurys and heal from some severe wounds fairly well.

when re acclimating them to the girls if they make it, set up 2 pens in sight of the others and let them see eachother for about a week then get them close enough to interact between fences for about a week. then add them back to the rest and monitor for a few hours to see if they continue to get bullied. dont try to add them back to the rest of the flock without them having all feathers returned to that area or it will happen again as they see it as a wound

heres a pic of my chick that had her butt pecked open after one pulled her back pin feathers out. both when it happened and a week ago. shes mostly healed now with a tiny bit of tissue visible.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

These 3 chicks are only 8 weeks old, and were in a separate space in our very large coop and run, one if the other full size hens broke into it. ( over 30 x30 feet for 6 hens). I put them in this pool once injured while I was treating.

They are young and were separated from the older hens.... one of the older hens got in there space. I know why it happened and how to prevent from happening again, I was looking for input on how to treat them.

How are they doing?

Are they alert, eating/drinking?
They can be a little shocky from injury, so offer some electrolytes or poultry Nutri-Drench if you have it. Gatorade can also be used for the first 12hrs or so if need be.
Get them hydrated first. Drinking is most important, they will be fine for a day if they don't eat.

Chickens are resilient and can survive serious wounds if given a little TLC. Since these look like they are on the head/face, use saline to flush the wounds. You can trim off feathers to keep them out of the wounds. Apply triple antibiotic ointment or vetericyn.

Are the eyes o.k.? For eyes if there is injury, use saline flush or saline soaked compress to gently clear away any blood or discharge. If there is injury to the eye, you can in a pinch apply plain Neosporin or better yet get some ophthalmic ointment like Terramycin or Vetericyn eye gel.

If you have no saline, you can make your own. Add 1teaspoon salt to 1quart of water, boil for 15minutes, this makes it sterile. Cool to room temperature and use. Make fresh each day and store excess in a sterilized jar (like a boiled canning jar).

 

[Mr.Universe]

We do not have a rooster, I will look into this!

inspect the tissues surrounding the wounds for puncture marks, sole or group punctures is a tell tale sign of a roo attack. considered despurring if not already?

 

[rcookiegirl]

inspect the tissues surrounding the wounds for puncture marks, sole or group punctures is a tell tale sign of a roo attack. considered despurring if not already?

We do not have a rooster

 

[rcookiegirl]

How are they doing?

Are they alert, eating/drinking?
They can be a little shocky from injury, so offer some electrolytes or poultry Nutri-Drench if you have it. Gatorade can also be used for the first 12hrs or so if need be.
Get them hydrated first. Drinking is most important, they will be fine for a day if they don't eat.

Chickens are resilient and can survive serious wounds if given a little TLC. Since these look like they are on the head/face, use saline to flush the wounds. You can trim off feathers to keep them out of the wounds. Apply triple antibiotic ointment or vetericyn.

Are the eyes o.k.? For eyes if there is injury, use saline flush or saline soaked compress to gently clear away any blood or discharge. If there is injury to the eye, you can in a pinch apply plain Neosporin or better yet get some ophthalmic ointment like Terramycin or Vetericyn eye gel.

If you have no saline, you can make your own. Add 1teaspoon salt to 1quart of water, boil for 15minutes, this makes it sterile. Cool to room temperature and use. Make fresh each day and store excess in a sterilized jar (like a boiled canning jar).

I have electrolytes in their water, and they are eating and drinking, and acting fairly normal today... much better than yesterday. I have been cleaning, spraying with Vetericyn spray, and have been applying antibiotic ointment.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have electrolytes in their water, and they are eating and drinking, and acting fairly normal today... much better than yesterday. I have been cleaning, spraying with Vetericyn spray, and have been applying antibiotic ointment.

Eating/drinking is good!

Vetericyn is very good. Since all seem to have wounds, once the injuries start scabbing a little, you may also want to put a little BluKote on them to hide the wounds. They may start picking at one another once they are feeling better.

 

[rcookiegirl]

Update on the pecked hens.... they are all doing well, had a visit to the vet and have begun to start healing. We have built a secondary, infirmary coop and run so they have more space. I am still spraying Vetericyn 3-4 times per day and am ensuring they are not pecking at each other. My biggest concern now is the one who was pecked all the way down to her skull.... will this ever mend? She has healed well around her skull... but the bone is still bright and exposed on the top of her head.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad they are doing well.
It can take months for a scalping to heal. She may have a bald spot all her life, only time will tell.

 

[Mr.Universe]

My biggest concern now is the one who was pecked all the way down to her skull.... will this ever mend? She has healed well around her skull... but the bone is still bright and exposed on the top of her head.

vetericin only gos so far. start slathering it in triple antibiotic or neosporin. keeping it wet encourages new tissue and skin growth. something that cannot be attained with an aerosol or evaporative antiseptic.