Polish pullet got her head pecked open- do I need to cull her?

Pastel the Rooster

Crossing the Road
Apr 22, 2022
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Southern Georgia
On Thursday, one of my polish pullets got her head pecked open by her siblings. I separated her, put some Vetericyn and neosporin on her head and wrapped it with gauze and vet wrap (although she got it off within 30 minutes).
I’d hate to need to cull her, although it wouldn’t be the end of the world for me to cull her since I’m not attached to her yet.
She’s been eating and drinking fine. I can’t tell what her feces looks like. She’s in a dog cage outside, and while she has a roof on her, it’s been raining and one part of the cage has gotten a bit wet.
I’m not quite sure to do. There’s flies and gnats all around and I’m worried that they’re going to lay eggs in the wound.
I want to do what’s best for her, even if that means putting her down.
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How is she acting? Is she alert and able to drink water, eating, and walking around? I had 2 polish hens and they wepould get head feathers picked out every now and then. If I didn’t look in on them often, when the others decided to do this, they would have been scalped. But normally with just a little pecking occurred, BluKote would be all that was necessary. In fact, one was injured badly when a hormonal young cockerel chased her and she refused to mate with him. I kept mine separated, and applied Neosporin to her head for several days until it scabbed. Once that happens, BluKote spray from the feed store usually works well, applying that every 2-3 days to keep the red from showing. Yours is pecked pretty deeply, so keep the ointment on it for for about a week. Let her spend time next to the chickens in a wire crate for some of the day, so they won’t forget her. Then once she is scabbed or healed, and has the BluKote on, watch them carefully as you let her back with them. Mine would go months without picking out those head feathers, and then suddenly it became a problem with one of them. Good luck.
 

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