My Pullet has been severely pecked on her head and has a flap of skin hanging

[Lamby]

I'm not sure what to do. One of our pullets had it's headed ripped from the Rooster. My husband seen him grabbing her by the neck and head yesterday morning and we know it's supposed to be a part of mating (no blood etc... at that time). Came home in evening, and it looks like she got shot in the head it's so bad. It looks like all the chickens and rooster pecked at the poor thing all day. We immediately removed her and brought her inside. We have also gotten rid of the aggressive rooster.
So now we have Lucy (our now named indoor chicken) inside in a large dog crate. I cleaned up the wound with soap and water and then peroxide, then I put neosporin on the whole wound. There is a flap of skin (about 1x1 inch), just hanging there, the flesh under is a red pecked bumpy mess and there is a lot of meat and skin just totally gone. She looks like she has been scalped. Can she heal from this? When I was cleaning it, she actually just sat in my arms calmly and closed her eyes. Now she's happily eating and foraging and acts totally normal. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[coach723]

Keep the wound clean and covered with ointment to keep it moist. Reapply several times a day as needed. If there is enough blood flow the flap may reattach and heal there, if not, it will dry up and come off eventually. I had one scalped, there was no flap, I kept it clean and covered in ointment and it healed up fine. It formed a very thick scab. Once the scab was coming off on it's own I stopped the ointment. You will also need to make sure that no one can peck her wound until it's healed up enough to be safe, I kept mine crated in the run so she could still see and be seen by everybody, so she went right back to the flock when it was time with no issues. Picture below was about 5 weeks after, feathers were just starting to grow back.

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive might know. they've been working in the chicken hospital since BYC became a site!
is your rooster humping all the hens that hard, or just that one? either way it's bad, but if he's doing it that badly to all your ladies, you may want to consider checking how much space there is in your freezer. by that, I mean considering culling your rooster. the worse the roo, the sweeter the stew.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm not sure what to do. One of our pullets had it's headed ripped from the Rooster. My husband seen him grabbing her by the neck and head yesterday morning and we know it's supposed to be a part of mating (no blood etc... at that time). Came home in evening, and it looks like she got shot in the head it's so bad. It looks like all the chickens and rooster pecked at the poor thing all day. We immediately removed her and brought her inside. We have also gotten rid of the aggressive rooster.
So now we have Lucy (our now named indoor chicken) inside in a large dog crate. I cleaned up the wound with soap and water and then peroxide, then I put neosporin on the whole wound. There is a flap of skin (about 1x1 inch), just hanging there, the flesh under is a red pecked bumpy mess and there is a lot of meat and skin just totally gone. She looks like she has been scalped. Can she heal from this? When I was cleaning it, she actually just sat in my arms calmly and closed her eyes. Now she's happily eating and foraging and acts totally normal. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome To BYC

Can you post some photos of Lucy's wounds?

Sounds like you are treating the wound like I would, you cleaned it and applied ointment.
If needed, trim feathers away from the wound so they don't stick in the ointment. If you find you need to clean/flush the wound again, then omit the Peroxide. Use saline, chlorhexidine (hibiclens) or a little soapy water will work as well.

The photos will help us see the flap of skin. Me personally, I've had them with hanging skin, I let that be since it was already sort of drying up. It will dry and fall off or you may need to trim it in a few weeks, time will tell.

Chickens have a very good chance of surviving injury like scalping. Her eating and moving about is a good sign. Keeping the wound cleaned, moist with the ointment and just general care goes a long way in helping her heal.

How old is Lucy?
How old is the rooster?

 

[Eggcessive]

I would cull this rooster. I had picked out the best specimen of 4 heritage RIR cockerels from some precious eggs someone sent me. The others were separated. The lucky one then went out and scalped my dingaling polish hen who did not allow anyone to mate her. He ran her out of the barnyard and left her in a ditch where I found her. He went to the henhouse in the sky that day.

 

[Lamby]

I'm not sure what to do. One of our pullets had it's headed ripped from the Rooster. My husband seen him grabbing her by the neck and head yesterday morning and we know it's supposed to be a part of mating (no blood etc... at that time). Came home in evening, and it looks like she got shot in the head it's so bad. It looks like all the chickens and rooster pecked at the poor thing all day. We immediately removed her and brought her inside. We have also gotten rid of the aggressive rooster.
So now we have Lucy (our now named indoor chicken) inside in a large dog crate. I cleaned up the wound with soap and water and then peroxide, then I put neosporin on the whole wound. There is a flap of skin (about 1x1 inch), just hanging there, the flesh under is a red pecked bumpy mess and there is a lot of meat and skin just totally gone. She looks like she has been scalped. Can she heal from this? When I was cleaning it, she actually just sat in my arms calmly and closed her eyes. Now she's happily eating and foraging and acts totally normal. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Here is an update with pictures, I take pictures once a week so I can see Lucy's progress. The one thing I did differently is after one week i switched from neosporin to Vasaline after doing some research. It was in an experiment on mice that a little bacteria actually makes the wound heal faster after a week. Also I did it 2 times a day instead of 3. Lucy is actually getting tame and she has started to coo now when I hold her. The only dilemma I have is her comb, it's becoming discolored and flopping off to the side. That's because is is disconnected under it where she was pecked. Will that die and fall off? I have removed a comb before, I just want to cause her any undue pain if I can avoid. I know it's said they can't feel it, but I don't believe that. The first 2 pics are 1 week later, the 3rd thru 5th are 2 weeks after.

 

[Lamby]

Here is Lucy, the white piece over the dark is the flap, I have it all neosporined, under and on top. I trimmed all the feathers back. In the one picture you can see where there is another chunk out of her neck. The rooster is gone, for anyone wondering. Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[Lamby]

Welcome To BYC

Can you post some photos of Lucy's wounds?

Sounds like you are treating the wound like I would, you cleaned it and applied ointment.
If needed, trim feathers away from the wound so they don't stick in the ointment. If you find you need to clean/flush the wound again, then omit the Peroxide. Use saline, chlorhexidine (hibiclens) or a little soapy water will work as well.

The photos will help us see the flap of skin. Me personally, I've had them with hanging skin, I let that be since it was already sort of drying up. It will dry and fall off or you may need to trim it in a few weeks, time will tell.

Chickens have a very good chance of surviving injury like scalping. Her eating and moving about is a good sign. Keeping the wound cleaned, moist with the ointment and just general care goes a long way in helping her heal.

How old is Lucy?
How old is the rooster?

I added some pictures. Lucy and the rooster are 5 months old. All the hens were making worried noises before. Now that he is gone, the all seem calm and happy now. There is another rooster, but he's not aggressive, but will be watching closely.

 

[Lamby]

@Wyorp Rock @Eggcessive might know. they've been working in the chicken hospital since BYC became a site!
is your rooster humping all the hens that hard, or just that one? either way it's bad, but if he's doing it that badly to all your ladies, you may want to consider checking how much space there is in your freezer. by that, I mean considering culling your rooster. the worse the roo, the sweeter the stew.

He is gone. He seemed to only do this to Lucy. We inspected the rest of the girls and they are fine, but my husband took care of him.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Here is an update with pictures, I take pictures once a week so I can see Lucy's progress. The one thing I did differently is after one week i switched from neosporin to Vasaline after doing some research. It was in an experiment on mice that a little bacteria actually makes the wound heal faster after a week. Also I did it 2 times a day instead of 3. Lucy is actually getting tame and she has started to coo now when I hold her. The only dilemma I have is her comb, it's becoming discolored and flopping off to the side. That's because is is disconnected under it where she was pecked. Will that die and fall off? I have removed a comb before, I just want to cause her any undue pain if I can avoid. I know it's said they can't feel it, but I don't believe that. The first 2 pics are 1 week later, the 3rd thru 5th are 2 weeks after.

Her wound is looking good!

As for her comb, I would just watch and see how that goes. She's been inside right?
She will probably regain color as she's transitioned back outside, getting sunshine and when she comes into lay. The flopping over isn't too bad and it doesn't seem to interfere with her vision, so I would be hesitant to think about removing (dubbing) any of it at this time. At some point down the road if it worsens, turns black or appears necrotic/dead, then dubbing would be something to consider.