Pecking wound on neck

[cahoon18]

One of my hens was severely pecked by another hen. We have isolated the aggressive hen but the other hen has a very nasty wound on the back of her neck. It looks like a hole and it is bubbling and fizzing. Ive never seen a wound do that before. Any suggestions on what I should do?

 

[BlueChai]

Do you have pictures? Was the aggressive hen familiar with the attacked hen, or was the attacked hen a new addition to the flock? I would flush the wound with a saline solution and put iodine on the wound it keep out infection and wrap her neck with gauze (don't wrap the neck too tightly, you don't want her to choke.) Do you know if this is a recent injury or one that was inflicted a while ago that the aggressive hen kept coming back to? If it's old it might be infected, I'm not sure what bubbling and fizzing in a wound means.

 

[Lazy Farmer]

Was the aggressive hen familiar with the attacked hen, or was the attacked hen a new addition to the flock?

x2

 

[cahoon18]

They have been in the same flock for a few years. This is something new. The aggressive Hen began picking on the other hen a few weeks ago. But just recently it became pretty violent with the aggressive hen straddling her and pecking at her neck. We were gone for the weekend and came back to her having a hole in the back of her neck. Ill try to get some pictures tonight after work.

 

[BlueChai]

They have been in the same flock for a few years. This is something new. The aggressive Hen began picking on the other hen a few weeks ago. But just recently it became pretty violent with the aggressive hen straddling her and pecking at her neck. We were gone for the weekend and came back to her having a hole in the back of her neck. Ill try to get some pictures tonight after work.

That is really strange indeed. Has there been any other change in your flock? A change in environment, or a change in birds? Have you lost any birds? Sometimes when there are environmental changes or a bird dies or is removed from the flock, the pecking order will change. Your aggressive hen is probably trying to assert herself with the others. When you return from work, I would clean the hen's wound like I stated earlier.

 

[cahoon18]

I definitely agree it is strange that this is starting to happen. The aggressive hen is a few years younger than the other hen and she is a leghorn the other hen is a barred rock. They have been in the same environment for about a year. They are in an enclosed coop that has a run. I feel that it is a large enough space. Its a converted tin shed. In total there are 4 hens and a bantam rooster. We dont let them free range because of predators. We live outside of town in the desert.

 

[cahoon18]

the total space of the coop is 10x12 ft