Injured chicken near ear

[WagarFamilyFarm]

Hello,
I just went to close up the coop, waiting for one lady to make her way up the ramp and noticed one of my ladies on the inside had a gouge type injury on the side of her head near her ear. Not sure how this happened...do you think one of the other chickens may have done it? They've been happy together all this time with no problems, seem to have plenty of room in the coop plus all kinds of space to roam outside the coop (it's fenced), have food and water, have shade under the coop (it was fairly warm today). I can't figure out why she's hurt, but maybe that just happens some times? We're new to this: we have 26 chickens in our flock. We do have cats that prowl around from our neighbor...could she have gotten into a fight with one of them?

And, should I get anything to put on it? Would regular old neosporin work or is something else recommended?

Thank-you to all your expertise!
Farm Mama

 

[keljonma]

I would put some tea tree oil or calendula cream on it to help prevent infection. But if neosporin is what you have, use it. If she is behaving normally, she is probably okay. If she is bleeding you may want to separate her overnight so she doesn't get picked on by the rest of the flock.

Chickens that have been "in a fight" with a cat look much worse than what you are describing. And if your birds are loose in the yard, the cat always wins.