Please help, hen with badly pecked head and falling over

[funnybirds]

Hi,

Have a 5 month old hen , who was attacked by her coop mates yesterday.
They have plenty of space, in the coop and in the run, and recently started over on laying crumbles, free fed all day. They get yogurt about every other day and other treats daily.

I brought her in and she has about a 1/2 inch hole on the top of her head, bloody and gaping and cannot walk without falling to her left.

She's eating fine and is comfortably resting. She has a good grip in both feet. I can't see any injuries to the leg. She mostly acts a little more sedate then usual, but doesn't appear to be in any immediate distress.

Can head injuries in chickens affect their ability to walk? If so, do they get better?

Anybody seen this before? What do you do? Is there always a poor outcome from this kind of thing?

I cleaned up the injury on her head with warm water and and put "peck no more" on it. Any other ideas?

I appreciate any help you can offer.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Yes, it can affect her ability to walk. But chickens also have an incredible ability to heal, so I would keep her warm and quiet. Give her a lot of extra protein like chopped boiled eggs or tuna fish. Keep the wound clean and put some antibiotic ointment on it. She probably doesn't need antibiotics unless the wound appears infected.

If you have access to prednisone, I would give her 5mg twice a day for a couple of days, then once a day for another 2 days. If she has some brain swelling from the injury, this will help reduce the swelling and could help her balance.

Be sure to check her over thoroughly for any other injuries.

Good luck....keep us posted!

 

[powelljessie]

I would give 0.5cc's of tylosin and keep the wound clean and dry. I always clean my chickens wounds with a little iodine and water mixture and then pat dry. I recently had a rooster scalp one of my hens and the tylan 50 really works along wth cleanliness. I like three cedars would give a high protein diet and the prednisone will definately be a blessing.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Check out this:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=425326

She's fully recovered and will be shown next month.

 

[funnybirds]

You guys are the BEST! Thank you so much for the information about your own head injured chicks. I'm still stunned at what they can do to each other. I think it was an EE hen who started this bullying. She's very possessive of her Roos.


I hesitate to say she seems better today as that always seems to bring a change in the trend. .
I've been keeping the wound clean and dry and today it seems bigger?!?
But scabbing over some. She's eating just fine and I have offered higher protein treats.
She seems to be able to walk a few steps now but is very slow and hesitant.

Rare feathers, thanks for the link. It appears to be a smaller version of the same horrible injury on our girl too.
Did she get her head feathers completely back? I just marvel at the prospect of such an outstanding recovery. Thank you all so much for the hope!
Why the gotta be so mean ?