Please help! Something attacked my hen!

[ANiceKaren]

Friends help!y sweet Lilac was attacked by something today! Could this be my other hen mounting her or something bigger? I have a hen who has been mounting her! She has been hiding in coop past day or two but I didn’t notice anything. Today when I got home I saw blood on her back and then this!! See image! She seems fine.. eating.. drinking.. walking around. I have NO idea how to clean or take care of this! I poured peroxide on it and sprayed it with a lot of Vetericyn. I don’t have a vet.. can someone please help. I have a dog crate I can separate her… I’m at a loss and so worried about my girl. It feels swollen like blood has pooled.. do I wash it? Do I just keep spraying? All help appreciated

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Can you trim some of the feathers away for a better look at the wound?

 

[ANiceKaren]

Can you trim some of the feathers away for a better look at the wound?

I added a few more pics… she has been being mounted by one of my hens lately! Could this actually be from that!? Yes.. a hen! I don’t even have roosters!

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Its in the right spot but I've never seen it so raw or such a small area. It usually is a bigger spot that is just missing feathers. Could she have gotten caught on something? What kind of predators do you have and how secure is your run?

 

[ANiceKaren]

The only reason I think it could be a mounting issue is because I have seen my crazy hen mounting her lately.. and her being terrified of this other hen. They free range all day. I’ve never had an issue.. fenced yard however we do have occasional hawk. None of my other girls are injured and she has no other areas injured. The feathers are pulled from skin.. the flesh itself seems intact.. just separation from feathers. I’ve never treated an injury so I’m not sure what to be looking for. Her side is swollen to the touch.. I’m not sure if it’s blood or just swollen from the injury. My plan is to isolate her.. saline.. antibacterial ointment (non pain relief) and col. Silver? How long should I isolate her and what’s to say this hen won’t do again OR maybe it was a hawk? We have cats, raccoons.. dogs.. my yard is fenced from dogs and my husband home all day. They have free ranges for years without an issue. I have 7 girls total. It’s the frequent mounting from this other hen that makes me wonder if it’s from her? Can she survive this?

Its in the right spot but I've never seen it so raw or such a small area. It usually is a bigger spot that is just missing feathers. Could she have gotten caught on something? What kind of predators do you have and how secure is your run?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Sorry this happened. Can you post a picture of the hen that you think did this? And don't use peroxide to clean the wound, use saline. Best to put it in a spray bottle, then you don't have to wipe or scrub. Cover it with triple antibiotic ointment (neosporin) that does not have pain reliever in it, and spray with Veterycin, do this twice daily. Protect her from flies. Trim feathers so you can see the injury clearly and check for maggots. Protect her from the other chickens so they can't peck her and she should heal just fine.

 

[ANiceKaren]

Sorry this happened. Can you post a picture of the hen that you think did this? And don't use peroxide to clean the wound, use saline. Best to put it in a spray bottle, then you don't have to wipe or scrub. Cover it with triple antibiotic ointment (neosporin) that does not have pain reliever in it, and spray with Veterycin, do this twice daily. Protect her from flies. Trim feathers so you can see the injury clearly and check for maggots. Protect her from the other chickens so they can't peck her and she should heal just fine.

Thank you! This is what I’m doing. So I should isolate her? A crate perhaps in the run area? I also have a wired off section of run she cold stay in but I’m worried she may dust bathe? This could be a predator attack but my gut is telling me it’s my hen Mildred who has been mounting two of my girls quite a bit lately! She is 100% female.. lays eggs for over 2 years. I’ll post pic of her AND pic of her mating another girl! I caught it! How long do you think she needs to be isolated? I always feel so bad. I suppose I can let her out while I supervise and at night she doesn’t sleep with Mildred.. they have separate coops.. long story. So tonight she is roosting with her close friend. I how I’m doing this right. It was so shocking seeing this wound! Do you think I should start an antibiotic? No more peroxide either… I did that tonight and feel bad about that. I thought I was helping! I did saline after and packed with neosporin. Here is Mildred below…

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I think you might separate Mildred from the other hens if you can. I wonder if she's having hormonal issues. Let's ask @azygous or @EggCentric, this is pretty weird. As for your injured hen, can you keep her in the house or a garage till the wound heals over? To protect her from flies? Getting maggots in the wound is called flystrike and is very serious.

Edit. Sorry, flystrike

 

[BigBlueHen53]

If you can, see if you can look carefully into the deepest part of the wound, kund of under the skin where it looks darkest in the pucture and make sure there are no maggots under there.

 

[ANiceKaren]

I think you might separate Mildred from the other hens if you can. I wonder if she's having hormonal issues. Let's ask @azygous or @EggCentric, this is pretty weird. As for your injured hen, can you keep her in the house or a garage till the wound heals over? To protect her from flies? Getting maggots in the wound is called fkystrike and is very serious.

I can keep her in the house. I worry it will stress her out but I can absolutely crate her safely in my house. Mildred has gotten worse with this mounting.. 2 girls in particular.. she is head hen.. 2.5 year old sex link. Normally nice but relentless to these two other hens. I think she caused this I could isolate her if needed? Thank you all for all the help! So worried about my Lilac.. such a sweet girl