Hens tried to eat one of the little gals how do I treat?

[The Chicken People]

One of my small girls got out of their temporary housing inside the big girls run area and when I got home she was all bloody on one side! She is seperated now and DH will look at her more when he gets home! I have no money till tomorrow to purchase anything! I do have Vaseline on hand and will look for neosporin but may be out! I know not to use caine...or anything with pain relieve in it! But will vaseline work?

 

[nebjule]

I had the same problem today. A full grown Russian Orloff basically scalped a young feathered Barred Rock. I didn't think she was going to live. We seperated her and put neosporin on the wound which is pretty large, covering the entire top of her head. She seems to act o.k. ....eating and drinking. Had to seperate her in a small wire cage from the other chicks as they noticed the wound and wanted to peck her too. Not sure what else to do. Wait and watch. Concerned about the Russian though. (She ate the scalp.) Didn't know chickens could be carnivores!! Any help would be appreciated.

 

[The Chicken People]

Yes chickens are cannibalistic by nature thats why you never feed them raw chicken or eggs!
I have a hen I rescued that had been severely pecked but has healed completely now! She cant grow her feathers back because of scar tissue...that could happen to yours. I am going to leave this one alone until tomorrow when we can get some neosporin for her!

 

[Chicken Chat]

If they see blood, they will go after it.

sorry about your birds.
This fall one of my seabrights flew over the fence and was attacked by my dog. She had some skin ripped off of her underbelly before I could reach her. After cleaning the wound, I used neosporin (w/o the cain) on it for a couple of days but it looked like it was getting worse, my seabright kept picking at it. I switched to a 50/50 solution of betadine and that seemed to work the best. It might have just been my bird, she could be allergic to it, but the betadine worked in my situation.

 

[The Chicken People]

We found out how she got out and fixed the problem! Now she is in a dog kennel in the spare room! Looks like someone tried to pluck her alive! I am hoping she will grow her feathers back and have given cat food to entire flock to help with protein def. hopefully this will be the end of it! DH thinks she got stuck behind the kennel and the little ones pecked her!

 

[Terri O]

They are surprisingly resilient and can grow back the most amazing amounts of missing skin! I had one a few years back that decided to sleep outside one night and was attacked by something. I went out in my jammies and got her into a safe place so I could check her out in the morning. She had a big rip under her wing area and I could hear air coming out of it! I thought she was a goner for sure but I taped her up and she lived! They are truly amazing creatures! Give yours a little TLC and she will most likely be fine...but maybe with a new name? I call one of mine "Baldy!" Terri O

 

[nebjule]

The scalped chick actually looks a lot better today. Neosporin seemed to have helped. She is alert et interactive. Eating and drinking. I'm still keeping her seperated though. Few more days of healing should help. I wondering, however; will the little girls ever be safe with the full grown hens??? When IS a good time to put them together. They are all fully feathered now, but there is such a size difference. Anyone have any ideas?
Nebjule

 

[The Chicken People]

I wish I knew! I try to get them to free range together but I may not be able to fully integrate them until they are all the same size!

 

[crazyhen]

Ideally introduce the chicks when they are about the same size as your hens. About 16 weeks. Keep them in an area they can see each other for at least 2 weeks. There will still be some pecking until the pecking order is established when you introduce them. But no blood. If you see blood remove that chick. Good luck Gloria Jean