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

[lydiagirl99]

If you keep caring for the wound, it should grow back.. I personally wouldn't put an animal down unless something severe wasn wrong with it preventing it from living a happy life but she seems to be coping, well.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad to hear the eye is ok.

Since she is eating/drinking and active, you may want to just wait and see what happens to the larger wound area. Try to keep it moist with your ointment.

It's a hard decision to make and only you can make it. Hopefully you will see improvement soon.

 

[BackyardDove]

I don't want to put her down, I just didn't know if it was even possible for her to grow back her entire scalp. But if it is possible, I'll keep caring for her. As long as there's a light at the end of the tunnel, I see no reason to give up on her

Also, this may be a silly question and I probably already know the answer, but should I remove her peeling scabs or allow them to come off on their own?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I don't want to put her down, I just didn't know if it was even possible for her to grow back her entire scalp. But if it is possible, I'll keep caring for her. As long as there's a light at the end of the tunnel, I see no reason to give up on her

Also, this may be a silly question and I probably already know the answer, but should I remove her peeling scabs or allow them to come off on their own?

I would leave the scabs alone. Let them fall off naturally.

 

[Outpost JWB]

Definitely don't peel them off.

 

[Outpost JWB]

How is your chicken now @BackyardDove

 

[BackyardDove]

How is your chicken now @BackyardDove

She's doing wonderfully! It took a lot of care and patience, but she's doing great. Her scalp has healed over and her ear and eye are just fine. She's completely healed, though she still doesn't have any feathers on her head. She can actually go ahead and join her new flock, but I'm giving her some extra time to rest after doing all that healing. Thank you for asking!

 

[Cre8tivechik]

Such great news!!!! I've been there! Mine got the top of her head ripped off my our male guinea.. placed it back, kept her in ICU (Intensive chicken unit) vetrecin out the yang, and now? I think she might have a brain injury, but she's laying, playing happy, and my Roo''s favorite girl! (Note the lack of feathers on her head..) ha! My beautiful supergirl, Pearl!

She's doing wonderfully! It took a lot of care and patience, but she's doing great. Her scalp has healed over and her ear and eye are just fine. She's completely healed, though she still doesn't have any feathers on her head. She can actually go ahead and join her new flock, but I'm giving her some extra time to rest after doing all that healing. Thank you for asking!

 

[BackyardDove]

Such great news!!!! I've been there! Mine got the top of her head ripped off my our male guinea.. placed it back, kept her in ICU (Intensive chicken unit) vetrecin out the yang, and now? I think she might have a brain injury, but she's laying, playing happy, and my Roo''s favorite girl! (Note the lack of feathers on her head..) ha! My beautiful supergirl, Pearl!

Oh wow! That's terrible that her brain might've been affected, but at least she doesn't know the difference! I actually didn't even use vetrecin on my girl. Just plain ole Neosporin. Not even the name brand of Neosporin either, it was some generic brand! I'm surprised you were able to reattach the scalp though.

 

[Cre8tivechik]

Okay, after seeing these? You are my new hero!!! Pearl had a flap with some exposure... your baby had significantly more damage. Wow. And yeah, anyone who judges me for not taking a bird to the vet has no business in my life. You're so right, we have to draw the line somewhere. My dog, YES... my human children, yes.... I swear people on feeds like these know way more than any vet and I would trust them more too!!! I do EVERYTHING in my power for sure, but getting a farm vet involved for an instant $75 minimum, isn't happening. You are amazing!!! Can you show how she looks now?

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.