One of my females has been scalped

[farmfrau]

I went out this morning and found that one of my females has no skin left on her head. It's just one raw open wound. She is in a pen with one male and two other hens. They are 4 months old and have always been together. I have taken her out and put her in a rabbit cage by herself. Would this injury have been caused by the male or one of the other females? I've covered her head in Fucidin Antibiotic Cream. Is there anything else I can do. She's sitting puffed up in a ball with her eyes closed. Can they survive this type of injury? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Titansfan2104]

Most likely another female. I have had similar problems with isolating females with one female and one male and it stops. This is what I consistently find and another female can be introduced and it happen s again. But that one female comes out unscathed.

 

[TTracy]

Same situation here before. One of my hens (no roos in the pen) had torn off another hens crown. Completely gone! I cleaned it and applied A&D to it. I also sprayed it with Blue Kote so the other hens would leave it alone. You could give her some extra electrolytes to help her out and maybe scramble her an egg for an extra protein treat. I would think her surviving this is very good.

 

[farmfrau]

Thanks, did the hen survive. These are Coturnix, I forgot to mention that before. Any chance I will be able to put her back if she does. I have a second pen which contains one male and one female. I had ordered a male and five hens but I got two males and 4 hens and the one male at 7 weeks severely injured the other one but not to the extent of this hen's injuries. I separated him with one hen and they seem fine. I guess now there's a chance that the aggressive one will go after the other remaining hen as well.

 

[farmfrau]

I've never had this kind of behaviour from my chickens Tracy and I have 3 roos and they all get along. The quails love hard boiled eggs and baby peas so I'll fix some of that for her but she's sitting puffed up in a corner and I doubt that she'll eat anything but I guess it's worth a try.

 

[Titansfan2104]

If its bad enough , she wont. I have had a couple die for this very reason. I always cull the aggressor if I need the room in my breeding pen. Luckily for this one I dont so she gets a pass for now plus she weighed in at 14 oz the other day. Hate to kill her off

 

[scratch'n'peck]

I had a hen scalped down to the bone survive and heal quite well. Poultry can regrow skin well as long as the wound does not get infected.

 

[TTracy]

Admittedly I'm not familiar with quail, though our hen did survive. I'd still say that basic care should help, keeping the wound clean, offering her food with lots of electrolytes, etc. Definitely keep an eye on your birds and try to figure out who the aggressor is. I have never had anything like this happen since then (knock on wood).

 

[farmfrau]

I was just out there and offered her oatmeal with peas, ham and chopped egg. This would normally be devoured but she didn't even open her eyes. I have a buff Brahma in a cage beside her that went lame two days ago. Fine at lock up and came out of the coop hopping on one leg. I'm guessing that it's a sprain and hope that a few days rest will help her. Three days ago my 8 week old Amerecauna chicks were attacked by a hawk. When I got back there he was sitting on top of their coop and had eaten everything but the head of one of them. No idea how to protect against that. They are in a very treed area and I've strung fishing line and hung up CD's to reflect the sun. Seems like it never rains but pours around here.

 

[Titansfan2104]

If she wont eat, she probably wont make it. That has been my experience.