My chickens head turned blue!

[scoopsmom]

2 days ago my little cochin hen, Ruffles, got jumped by 3 of my standard size chickens. Her poor little head looks horrible! I'll attach pictures below. The morning it happened my mom put tea tree oil on her head, but that night we switched to neosporin. This morning we woke up and her whole head was blue. I continued to put the neosporin on today- once in the morning and once at night. Is that the right treatment? How long do I keep doing it?
This is when it first happened:

This is the day after applying the neosporin. I have no idea if that is contributing to it but that is the only thing we did.

You can see that her skin is blue all over her head not just on the back where we put the neosporin. You can't tell from this pic but even the very tops of her little waddles are blue. Please help?! Any ideas??? Will she be ok??

 

[chickendreams24]

I agree it seems to be bad bruising and should heal. If it worsens keep an eye on it.

Continue the Neosporin without pain relief. I hope yours is without pain relief and consider some blue kote for when she's ready to go back.

Also what breed are your other birds? Is she your only bantam? Do you have a rooster/cockeral?

Is there any chance this is predator related?

 

[micstrachan]

I agree it is bruising. Poor thing. I have read the neosporin should be the kind WITHOUT pain killer, though haven’t found any scientific evidence to back up the claim that the cains are toxic to chickens. Maybe someone else can link a source.

 

[coach723]

But why would it bruise her whole face including waddles on the top?

The bruising is likely from the trauma to the tissues from the attack, not from the medication. Just like with us, bruising does not always show up immediately, it takes time, so that's why you saw it the second day. As the wounds heal, the bruises will slowly fade. I would keep an eye on her to see if she shows symptoms of any other illness, if the other birds sensed weakness or illness, that could have triggered the attack.

 

[Peppercorngal]

I really don't know about chickens being allergic, however this human (me) is very allergic to Neosporin! It's possible that animals can be too. You may want to switch to a polysporin just in case. . . .

 

[Eggcessive]

Bruising is normal from trauma, and in chickens looks like green skin. I don’t think tea tree oil is safe in full strength on chickens. Someone else used that recently on a hen and had some discoloring with skin, so I don’t know if that is common. But your hen just looks like she was really clobbered. She should heal fine, but I would confine her to a wire dog crate with food and water, so the others can all see her, but she will stay safe. That way she remains part of the flock. I would try to find out if she is showing signs of illness, or if there is a bully that needs to be separated. Have they all been together for a long time?

 

[micstrachan]

@sylviethecochin I forgot to thank you for the great links on caine discussions. Thank you!

 

[scoopsmom]

sorry it wouldnt let me put this one up...

 

[The Phantom]

It is probably bruised. It also could be something you put on it. I would keep on doing the neosporn.

 

[sylviethecochin]

I agree it is bruising. Poor thing. I have read the neosporin should be the kind WITHOUT pain killer, though haven’t found any scientific evidence to back up the claim that the cains are toxic to chickens. Maybe someone else can link a source.

Here's a discussion:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...s-true-or-false.1191417/page-15#post-19051665

Here's a quote from:
http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/s/00man/VeterinaryTechniques/WfowlIndTech/birdtopical.htm

• Wound powders designed for use in mammals may contain chemicals which should be avoided in birds due to their potential toxicity, for example benzocaine (e.g. in Aureomycin Topical Powder, Fort Dodge Animal Health), propoxur and coumaphos/coumafos (both found in Negasunt, Bayer plc.)

Xylocaine, according to this book published in 1968, is a safe anesthetic in birds.

Lidocaine, at a controlled dosage, also seems to be safe:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/vaa.12226

Basically, seems like it's only Benzocaine and possibly dibucaine. Procaine is in penicillin, so, while toxicity is unknown (to me) I doubt it'll harm chickens in recommended doses.


Hunh. I always thought the caines (other than procaine) were poisonous. Thanks for pointing that out.