Rooster Attack - Possibly skull exposed on chicken? WARNING: Gorey Pictures

[BackyardDove]

Okay, to keep things simple, my 12 week old pullet got into a place she wasn't meant to get into. There was a rooster there and he beat the crap out of her. The only reason she lived is because, eventually, she hid her head underneath an overturned food bin and played dead. She was still alert and responsive when I found her, but she was understandably exhausted. I let her rest in a sterile cage for a day after cleaning off her wounds, only bothering her to syringe 3mL of electrolyte water to her every 4-5 hours, spray her wounds with anti-bacterial spray, and to mist her wounds with water between treatments.

Two days later, she's doing much better. She's still resting a lot, but she's walking around, very alert, resists being syringed, and even clucks when I pick her up. She's also starting eating food again. Tonight, while I was treated her wounds again, I looked over her to see if her left ear or eye will be saved. The left ear is a goner, but her left eye might be saved. While I was looking, I noticed and cleaned off an area that was discolored from the rest. After cleaning it and inspecting closer, I'm afraid it's a patch of exposed skull. The picture on top is her when I first found her and the picture on the bottom is how she is now, with that discolored patch.




Is that her skull? And if so, how am I supposed to treat an exposed skull?

And please, for the love of God, don't just tell me to take her to a vet. I'm not going to spend $100+ dollars on a chick that I couldn't even sell for $15. She's also a very tiny breed of chicken that is very easily stressed, so if the stress of being attacked wasn't enough, I'm sure the stress of going to the vet will be the final straw for her.

 

[BackyardDove]

I just put some gauze and vet wrap on her to cover her skull and wounds. Her wounds were sufficiently moist these past couple of days just misting them with water, but today that no longer does the trick and her wounds are drier than I'd like them to be. I covered her wounds in triple antibiotic ointment before putting on the gauze.

 

[Outpost JWB]

Sounds like you are doing all you can for her. Poor dear. Something similar happened to one of my hens. She got her head in a rabbit's automatic feeder. The rabbit did damage to her head.....but I seen no bone. It healed up fine with little fuss. On your chicken, that does appear to be bone. The skin will probably eventually grow back. She may never grow feathers there, but I think the skin will grow enough to cover the skull. Please keep me updated.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I just put some gauze and vet wrap on her to cover her skull and wounds. Her wounds were sufficiently moist these past couple of days just misting them with water, but today that no longer does the trick and her wounds are drier than I'd like them to be. I covered her wounds in triple antibiotic ointment before putting on the gauze.

Quote:
I agree with @Outpost JWB you are doing a good job on taking care of her. And I think the skin will grow back over the skull portion.

The wound looks good - well taken care of and healing.
Definitely apply the antibiotic ointment, this should keep it sufficiently moist. Watch for any signs of infection in the eye (pus, oozing, odors). If it looks like it is getting infected, you can use Vetericyn eye gel or Terramycin eye ointment in the eye - if you can't find those in a pinch you can use plain neosporin.

Eating is usually a good sign

Just my thoughts.

 

[BackyardDove]

Thank you both for your help! I posted on another chicken site about this issue when it first occurred, and rather than actually getting helpful advice, I was told by several people to take her to the vet, and that since I refused to do so I'm essentially a terrible person. Apparently nobody realizes chicken owning has been around longer than veterinary care, and back in the good ole days, if you got an injured chicken, you cared for it yourself!

Sounds like you are doing all you can for her. Poor dear. Something similar happened to one of my hens. She got her head in a rabbit's automatic feeder. The rabbit did damage to her head.....but I seen no bone. It healed up fine with little fuss. On your chicken, that does appear to be bone. The skin will probably eventually grow back. She may never grow feathers there, but I think the skin will grow enough to cover the skull. Please keep me updated.

Oh no! Chickens just seem to look for trouble This little girl had no business or need to get into his cage, but yet she decided to squeeze out of her cage and into his. I looked for bone when when it first happened, but I didn't see any. I saw the gash, but I guess the bone was still covered up with some remaining blood or tissue. It's a small patch of exposed skull, I was just mostly afraid that, since she hadn't had gauze on or constant moisture on her wounds before, the bone was already dried out. Will she grow feathers on the rest of her head, or is it all probably too damaged?

I agree with @Outpost JWB you are doing a good job on taking care of her. And I think the skin will grow back over the skull portion.

The wound looks good - well taken care of and healing.
Definitely apply the antibiotic ointment, this should keep it sufficiently moist. Watch for any signs of infection in the eye (pus, oozing, odors). If it looks like it is getting infected, you can use Vetericyn eye gel or Terramycin eye ointment in the eye - if you can't find those in a pinch you can use plain neosporin.

Eating is usually a good sign

Just my thoughts.

How often should I change her gauze, once or twice a day? Her eye does look to be infected, when I went to clean it this morning her eye was sealed shut, and when I opened it, some cloudy thick liquid came out. I had been spraying her left eye as much as possible with the anti-bacterial too, but I guess eye wound treatment is a bit more work intensive than regular wound treatment! Do you happen to know where I can get Vetericyn or Terramycin?

I'm not sure how much she's eating, but I know she's eating some. Her crop feels empty, but I've noticed that there are still leftover crumbles in her beak when I go to syringe her. It's also difficult to tell since her breed is so tiny, their crops are almost never full. She's actively picking at food though, she even went after a cockroach that got into her cage last night.

 

[lydiagirl99]

I understand where you come from on the vet thing. Sometimes you just have to be logical and that doesn't make you a bad person at all. Just wanted to comment so in the future I can see how she healed up I would guess she'd grow feathers back everywhere but that spot where the skull is exposed.

 

[BackyardDove]

I understand where you come from on the vet thing. Sometimes you just have to be logical and that doesn't make you a bad person at all. Just wanted to comment so in the future I can see how she healed up I would guess she'd grow feathers back everywhere but that spot where the skull is exposed.

Thank you! It really was ridiculous, despite me saying that I interned at the local vet clinics here and personally know that they know nothing about chickens, and that I'm a CVA and can treat wounds on my own perfectly well, I was still getting ridiculed for not taking her to the vet. I can't even afford to go to the doctor myself, let alone be able to afford to take a chicken to the vet..

It's gonna be a long road to recovery, but when she is finally back to herself, I'll post another picture of her I really wasn't intending on keeping her, but I doubt anybody will want a chicken with no left ear, potentially no left eye, and a bald spot on her head. Not sure what I'm going to do with her, but for now I'm just trying to get her healthy again.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you both for your help! I posted on another chicken site about this issue when it first occurred, and rather than actually getting helpful advice, I was told by several people to take her to the vet, and that since I refused to do so I'm essentially a terrible person. Apparently nobody realizes chicken owning has been around longer than veterinary care, and back in the good ole days, if you got an injured chicken, you cared for it yourself!



Oh no! Chickens just seem to look for trouble This little girl had no business or need to get into his cage, but yet she decided to squeeze out of her cage and into his. I looked for bone when when it first happened, but I didn't see any. I saw the gash, but I guess the bone was still covered up with some remaining blood or tissue. It's a small patch of exposed skull, I was just mostly afraid that, since she hadn't had gauze on or constant moisture on her wounds before, the bone was already dried out. Will she grow feathers on the rest of her head, or is it all probably too damaged?




How often should I change her gauze, once or twice a day? Her eye does look to be infected, when I went to clean it this morning her eye was sealed shut, and when I opened it, some cloudy thick liquid came out. I had been spraying her left eye as much as possible with the anti-bacterial too, but I guess eye wound treatment is a bit more work intensive than regular wound treatment! Do you happen to know where I can get Vetericyn or Terramycin?

I'm not sure how much she's eating, but I know she's eating some. Her crop feels empty, but I've noticed that there are still leftover crumbles in her beak when I go to syringe her. It's also difficult to tell since her breed is so tiny, their crops are almost never full. She's actively picking at food though, she even went after a cockroach that got into her cage last night.

Change it a couple a times a day. After a few days you may want to just use ointment and not cover with gauze so it can get air to it.
If the eye looks infected and goopy you may need to flush it and get the pus out at least daily (use a qtip) and then apply your ointment. If you have a Tractor Supply, they usually carry the Terramycin (mine does anyway) I think I saw the Vetericyn there as well. Your local feed or pet store may have something comparable.

These are things I'm sure you know - keep her hydrated, if you have some Nutri-Drench or poultry vitamins give her those for a couple of days, also wet chick starter is usually a big hit so try that, you can mix in little scrambled/hard boiled egg, mackerel, etc., to make it more enticing.

I do understand about the vet comment as well. A vet visit is not an option for me either. I do suggest on some cases to see a vet if possible and some people have access to a vet or want that level (and have the $$$). I do not think it's terrible or you are a horrible person. I'm sorry someone suggested that.

Let us know how she is doing.

Here's a bit of inspiration for you:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1091319/scalped-chicken-still-alive

 

[kajira]

Sounds like you're doing everything right - I don't take my animals to the vet either, unless we absolutely have too (and our dogs for their rabies shots) we do all other vaccines, deworming, ourselves. We even do our own farrier work on our goats/horses to save money. that stuff adds up fast if you're not capable of doing basic animal first aid. And short of surgery (and state required vaccines like rabies where you need a certificate) there's not much a vet can do for you, besides write prescriptions, and most over-the counter animal stuff works unless you want to get into really fancy things...

For a pet dog /cat/horse- I could see spending money, if the dog had the possibility of having a long life that's worth the money and being okay... (same for a cat/horse) depending ON the goat, I may or may not take it to a vet or see if I can get a vet out.... but a pet chicken? They are easily replaced and while I enjoy having them, the stupid things are stupid enough to get themselves injured and killed on a pretty frequent basis. :/

You're not a bad person for doing your own vet care since you had the tools available to provide it. There's nothing else the vet can really do in that situation, besides tell you what you're already doing.

When a stray cat had a litter of kittens - she got an infection and I didn't take her in, I just talked to the vet 2 hours away and asked what their treatment suggestions were, and I gave her daily shots myself, hand fed her, bottle fed the kittens, and got them to nurse off her a couple times a day to keep her milk in until she was healthy enough to take over.

So, I get where you are coming from. I'm glad she's doing better!

 

[Outpost JWB]

Sorry that someone,would ridicule your decisions. I've never, nor probably ever, will taken any of mine to the vet. For what it's worth, my niece is getting her masters degree in veterinarian and she said they do not teach hardly anything about chickens, birds, snakes, exotic animals. She said when she has her own practice & runs across a chicken question, she will call me!