Injured Chicken!

[blimon]

I will start by saying I am a complete rookie...should have joined here/read a "How To Raise Chickens" BEFORE actually attempting to raise them.
Apparently one of my girls is Waaaaay low on the pecking order and was brutally pecked by one or more of her "sisters". She has a gaping wound that we are trying to keep clean/dry/bug free. Have been using bag balm (cause I saw on here that it wouldn't hurt her) I've actually cried over this!!
I'm so praying she pulls through. She's eating/pooping ok and has finally stopped trembling. I sat in the yard with her today (in a danger free area) and she was starting to walk around and peck the ground....
Any thoughts or advice would be awesome!!!
Thanks

 

[Brookliner]

Make sure that she is separated from the other hens. Bag balm is fine. just keep it clean. Keep her quiet.

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about your hen. X2 on posting in the Emergencies section about her, with pictures of her wound if you can. https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures If she is trembling get her warm and keep her in a warm dry place away from the other birds until she healed, you might use a heat lamp if it is cold in your area.

 

[blimon]

I will cross post, but can't right now. ..I need to separate the other offending hens...to keep the other ones we have safe. Nina (aka Injured Chicken) is currently living in the house...lol (and is no longer trembling...The "event" took place Sunday)

 

[blimon]

Make sure that she is separated from the other hens. Bag balm is fine. just keep it clean. Keep her quiet. 

She has never made noise that I could tell...now she's making sweet little cooing like chirps...I like to think it's her saying "thanks!"
Any tips for what to use to keep it clean?

 

[gander007]

 

[TwoCrows]

Welcome to BYC!

Yes sometime the lowest ranking hen can get picked on to the point of getting hurt. So you did good by separating her and yes, keep her warm if she is cold. Injury can cause them to get cold.

You can use a saline solution on her wounds. Even some iodine will work to rinse out the area. You can apply neosporin (without the pain killer) or any triple antibiotic ointment to the area. I would clean it once a day if it looks infected, otherwise just apply the ointment and try to keep it dry so it will heal over. Chickens are pretty good at healing and she should be fine. Do not let her out with the others until this is completely healed or at least the skin is healed over.

If she is gone a long time from the flock you may need to treat her as a new birds. When you go to remix her back in, you will probably need to keep her in a separate caged area for a couple weeks to reintroduce her. Let the others get reacquainted for a couple weeks. So when mixing day comes, they should take her back into the flock. If she has any featherless skin, you can spray some blu-kote on the area so it hides the bare skin and the others will leave that area alone. Use a glove when spraying it as it stains everything. If this is close to her eyes, you can spray it into a glass bowl and appy with a q-tip.

Make SURE you have enough space in your coop as birds turn on each other when cramped. And the lowest in the rankings is going to get it the worst. I like to have two watering stations and feeding stations so there is no competition for food, especially for the lowest bird. And give them things to do...hanging veggies, seed blocks, etc...so there are other things to do other than pick on each other. Expand on your run so they have more room to occupy themselves.

Good luck with your bird. I hope she makes a full recovery and if you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Welcome to our community!

I will start by saying I am a complete rookie...should have joined here/read a "How To Raise Chickens" BEFORE actually attempting to raise them.
Apparently one of my girls is Waaaaay low on the pecking order and was brutally pecked by one or more of her "sisters". She has a gaping wound that we are trying to keep clean/dry/bug free. Have been using bag balm (cause I saw on here that it wouldn't hurt her) I've actually cried over this!!
I'm so praying she pulls through. She's eating/pooping ok and has finally stopped trembling. I sat in the yard with her today (in a danger free area) and she was starting to walk around and peck the ground....
Any thoughts or advice would be awesome!!!
Thanks

 

[blimon]

Thank you for all the tips!
We built a second coop last night and have separated the run into 3 med sections vs 1 giant one. I think our downfall was introducing new chickens into the flock without a separation fence (we were told "oh they will be fine") and that caused too much stress I suppose...but now the ladies have separate "bedrooms"...hopefully no issues going forward

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Welcome to BYC.

Glad you joined us!

 

[Brookliner]

You can always depend on BYC members to rally round. Welcome. You should also check your girls vent area for mites. Very small black dots that move. Poultry protector spray or poultry dust will take care of the problem. Be proactive with your girls and you wont get any unpleasant surprises. Read about mites, worms, comb the predator and disease pages to learn signs and symptoms so you can be on top of your birds health. Chickens are good at hiding illness. Check your birds often...easiest at night when they are sleepy and are easy to manage. This is a great site. Also have your chicken emergency supplies on hand so you wont have to wait to make a trip to the store to buy them.