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

[BackyardDove]

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

Okay good, I may not be able to keep the gauze on her for much longer anyways. Since she's becoming more active, she's decided she doesn't like having vet wrap and gauze on, so she's scratching it off! I had to put it back on her three times today. I was cleaning her eye everyday and checking it every few hours to make sure more gunk didn't form, but it seems to mostly form overnight. I'll be sure to run by Tractor Supply tomorrow, I'm hoping they have it but I'm not sure. Their medical supply section is very tiny, so they may not carry it.

I put electrolytes with vitamins in her water a couple days ago, and I'm still syringing her just in case she's not drinking on her own yet I'm not sure she'll like extra stuff in her food though, my chickens are very leery with new things in there food and will sometimes avoid eating all together if there's something new in it! I can give her the option of normal, dry crumbles and that wet mixture though and see which one she prefers.

Oh yes, there are definitely cases when veterinary care is needed. If she had her spine exposed, or even just tendons, I would consider a vet visit, but her wounds can be easily managed with the proper supplies and care at home. Thank you, I'm glad that people on this site are more understanding

Wow, that chicken had very similar injuries to mine, even down to the damaged left eye!

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!

Thank you! It's the same for us, the cats and dogs get their vaccines from the vet but almost everything else gets done at home. Of course if there's a real issue we can't handle, we take them straight to the vet, but I see no need to take in every animal to the vet every time they get a boo boo or get sick. But yes, the idea that I was supposed to take a chicken in for wound care was just absurd to me. She wasn't even supposed to be my pet chicken, she was breed to be sold, nothing more. I do think chickens have an individual personality to an extent... But like you said, they can be replaced, and more often than not they have to be replaced because of their own stupidity. It's as if they're looking for trouble! As I said before, this pullet had no reason to be in his cage, and because she was able to squeeze into his cage in the first place, she could've squeezed out. The fact that I'm putting in as much time and effort to save her rather than cutting my losses and culling her should show that I do care about her life, but I guess since I'm not shelling out money to make a veterinary technician do what I'm doing now makes me a bad chicken keeper in some people's eyes. People put their faith in vets way, way too much. Unless you're talking about surgery, the vet technicians do most of the vet work, the actual veterinarian doesn't do a lot of the grunt work. Plus, most vet clinics don't require their technicians to be certified, meaning most vet techs have no formal education in vet care and care for the animals solely based off of experience. Just like most regular people who've learned how to treat their own animals.

We used to call the vet for advice, but pretty much every time we call it's a hassle to get any actual advice from them. They just give vague tips on how to help the animal while insisting we should bring them to the vet. Thank you and I'm hoping she'll be back to normal soon!

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!

I know! In veterinary school, they don't teach you that kind of stuff. You pretty much have small animal studies(cats, dogs, other common pets) or large animal studies(horse, cattle, maybe sheep and goats). If you're wanting to be an exotic animal clinic or treat anything out of the ordinary, you have to learn either from personal experience or learn from another vet that already has the experience. Sure vet school may teach one or two lessons in uncommon animal care, but it's not enough and most vets forget it by the time they start practicing. It's just silly to think that a vet would know how to care for a chicken more than a chicken owner. I remember when I took my Prairie Dog in to my local vet after he had an allergic reaction to the stitches after being recently neutered at a specialty clinic, I actually had to tell THEM how to take care of his infection, since I didn't have the tools myself!



Thank you very much for all your support everybody!

I posted to this other site because, in the past, people there tended to be quicker to respond than on here, and though I already knew how to treat wounds, I thought hearing other people's advice on what to do would be good. After all, there's always better methods out there, and if I forgot to do something somebody would be able to catch my mistake before it was too late. It was really a shocker to be told I'm not a good owner for not taking her into the vet by several people! I pride myself on how good my animals are cared for and how healthy they are, so that really was a blow to me, even though I knew it was all bologna.

 

[kajira]

Okay good, I may not be able to keep the gauze on her for much longer anyways. Since she's becoming more active, she's decided she doesn't like having vet wrap and gauze on, so she's scratching it off! I had to put it back on her three times today. I was cleaning her eye everyday and checking it every few hours to make sure more gunk didn't form, but it seems to mostly form overnight. I'll be sure to run by Tractor Supply tomorrow, I'm hoping they have it but I'm not sure. Their medical supply section is very tiny, so they may not carry it.

I put electrolytes with vitamins in her water a couple days ago, and I'm still syringing her just in case she's not drinking on her own yet I'm not sure she'll like extra stuff in her food though, my chickens are very leery with new things in there food and will sometimes avoid eating all together if there's something new in it! I can give her the option of normal, dry crumbles and that wet mixture though and see which one she prefers.

Oh yes, there are definitely cases when veterinary care is needed. If she had her spine exposed, or even just tendons, I would consider a vet visit, but her wounds can be easily managed with the proper supplies and care at home. Thank you, I'm glad that people on this site are more understanding

Wow, that chicken had very similar injuries to mine, even down to the damaged left eye!



Thank you! It's the same for us, the cats and dogs get their vaccines from the vet but almost everything else gets done at home. Of course if there's a real issue we can't handle, we take them straight to the vet, but I see no need to take in every animal to the vet every time they get a boo boo or get sick. But yes, the idea that I was supposed to take a chicken in for wound care was just absurd to me. She wasn't even supposed to be my pet chicken, she was breed to be sold, nothing more. I do think chickens have an individual personality to an extent... But like you said, they can be replaced, and more often than not they have to be replaced because of their own stupidity. It's as if they're looking for trouble! As I said before, this pullet had no reason to be in his cage, and because she was able to squeeze into his cage in the first place, she could've squeezed out. The fact that I'm putting in as much time and effort to save her rather than cutting my losses and culling her should show that I do care about her life, but I guess since I'm not shelling out money to make a veterinary technician do what I'm doing now makes me a bad chicken keeper in some people's eyes. People put their faith in vets way, way too much. Unless you're talking about surgery, the vet technicians do most of the vet work, the actual veterinarian doesn't do a lot of the grunt work. Plus, most vet clinics don't require their technicians to be certified, meaning most vet techs have no formal education in vet care and care for the animals solely based off of experience. Just like most regular people who've learned how to treat their own animals.

We used to call the vet for advice, but pretty much every time we call it's a hassle to get any actual advice from them. They just give vague tips on how to help the animal while insisting we should bring them to the vet. Thank you and I'm hoping she'll be back to normal soon!




I know! In veterinary school, they don't teach you that kind of stuff. You pretty much have small animal studies(cats, dogs, other common pets) or large animal studies(horse, cattle, maybe sheep and goats). If you're wanting to be an exotic animal clinic or treat anything out of the ordinary, you have to learn either from personal experience or learn from another vet that already has the experience. Sure vet school may teach one or two lessons in uncommon animal care, but it's not enough and most vets forget it by the time they start practicing. It's just silly to think that a vet would know how to care for a chicken more than a chicken owner. I remember when I took my Prairie Dog in to my local vet after he had an allergic reaction to the stitches after being recently neutered at a specialty clinic, I actually had to tell THEM how to take care of his infection, since I didn't have the tools myself!



Thank you very much for all your support everybody!

I posted to this other site because, in the past, people there tended to be quicker to respond than on here, and though I already knew how to treat wounds, I thought hearing other people's advice on what to do would be good. After all, there's always better methods out there, and if I forgot to do something somebody would be able to catch my mistake before it was too late. It was really a shocker to be told I'm not a good owner for not taking her into the vet by several people! I pride myself on how good my animals are cared for and how healthy they are, so that really was a blow to me, even though I knew it was all bologna.

I wouldn't feel too badly about it. I wouldn't cull her either in this situation, and would probably drive my husband nuts trying to save her. We've saved all sorts of animals over the year. When a baby goat got attacked my a fox, my husband made her a special pen, and took care of her wound, and retaught her how to walk. (She had a limp for the rest of her life.) everyone else would have just put her down thinking she'd be worthless.

The litter of kittens and cat we took care of - I took to a special vet who fixes/vaccinates feral cats, I had the vet clip their ear so others would know they'd seen a vet and leave them alone. They are our barn cats now. (I didn't want a million cats, I do feel ethically we have too many cats running around, so before they went to live outside in our shed with food/water and free run of the place, they were vaccinated and spayed/neutered.)

it was only 20/cat which was VERY reasonable to get them all fixed. LOL

But, I also would put a dog down, for attacking livestock and I see plenty of people just replace their chickens and try to make a better coop to keep dogs away from their chickens instead of thinking of their dog being bad... And, i'm letting my daughter keep two chickens in her room as pet house chickens.... so obviously, I'm never going to fit into any one group either. too farmy for the foofy people, to animal-loverish for the farmy people who wouldn't understand even keeping a pet dog in the house.

 

[Outpost JWB]

That's where I'm at. We rescued a kitten from a local park. Hubby was fuming! . He scolded my daughter, "Put that cat down! No CATS!" He "hates" cats. Lol! Here we are a year later. Our cat, Blue Star has caught 4 or so mice. She goes outside some days, and stays inside at night to avoid predators. We have spent $50 on her. Got her spayed, flea treatment, rabies shot. These days, hubby speaks fondly of her.

 

[BackyardDove]

I wouldn't feel too badly about it. I wouldn't cull her either in this situation, and would probably drive my husband nuts trying to save her. We've saved all sorts of animals over the year. When a baby goat got attacked my a fox, my husband made her a special pen, and took care of her wound, and retaught her how to walk. (She had a limp for the rest of her life.) everyone else would have just put her down thinking she'd be worthless.

The litter of kittens and cat we took care of - I took to a special vet who fixes/vaccinates feral cats, I had the vet clip their ear so others would know they'd seen a vet and leave them alone. They are our barn cats now. (I didn't want a million cats, I do feel ethically we have too many cats running around, so before they went to live outside in our shed with food/water and free run of the place, they were vaccinated and spayed/neutered.)

it was only 20/cat which was VERY reasonable to get them all fixed. LOL

But, I also would put a dog down, for attacking livestock and I see plenty of people just replace their chickens and try to make a better coop to keep dogs away from their chickens instead of thinking of their dog being bad... And, i'm letting my daughter keep two chickens in her room as pet house chickens.... so obviously, I'm never going to fit into any one group either. too farmy for the foofy people, to animal-loverish for the farmy people who wouldn't understand even keeping a pet dog in the house.

Culling her never even crossed my mind before. I would never think any animal of mine should be put down for wounds that can be treated. Everything deserves a chance to live if they're willing to live. If she had deteriorated and was basically only alive because I was making her stay alive for several days, I would've considered culling. At that point, they've pretty much given up on trying to live, and there's not much helping an animal that's already accepted it's death.

You had to pay to get them fixed? We have a program here where feral cats are fixed for free at a certain facility, so long as you take them back to your property. And it doesn't matter how many either. We tend to have a lot of feral cats running around in this county, and so there are always momma cats moving into somebody's barn and taking over! The people don't want to get rid of them since they're good for pest control, but they don't want a million cats running around too, so at some point somebody developed a program that will spay/neuter your feral cats for free, so long as you do the trapping and take them back home with you. But that was a great thing for you to do for them, now they'll forever have a safe place to stay and will live long lives, since they've been spayed/neutered!

I wouldn't put a dog down for that, but I would definitely get rid of it. My mom had a dog that would chase my chickens, and even killed a couple of them, along with a couple rabbits too a few years back. Luckily she learned to leave them alone, otherwise I might've ended up 'accidentally' shooting her! My mom was absolutely insistent that her dog killed them because she was protecting the yard, which apparently means killing harmless livestock. And when my own dog killed a chicken, I immediately tried to return her to my sister, but my mom refused to let me get rid of her! My philosophy is that, if one animal can't peacefully live alongside the other animals, they're getting a new home. I have too many animals to not be able to trust that one will get along with the others.

That's where I'm at. We rescued a kitten from a local park. Hubby was fuming!

. He scolded my daughter, "Put that cat down! No CATS!" He "hates" cats. Lol! Here we are a year later. Our cat, Blue Star has caught 4 or so mice. She goes outside some days, and stays inside at night to avoid predators. We have spent $50 on her. Got her spayed, flea treatment, rabies shot. These days, hubby speaks fondly of her.

That's how it seems to be! The husband always hates cats, but then when one comes along, they eventually give in and end up loving the cat the most!



A little update on the pullet. As far as activity goes, she's back to normal. Eating fine, drinking fine, walking around, etc. I wanted to contīnue to syringe her for just another day or two, just to be sure she was well hydrated, but she was fighting me so much that I was afraid I was going to do more harm than good! I couldn't keep the gauze on her for more than that day either, she was very insistent on getting it off and if I had tightened it anymore, she would've been at risk for choking. I am keeping her wound and skull moist with Neosporin though. Today I was able to get a good look at her left eye and it looks like the eye itself is undamaged, but since the eyelid is damaged it may heal to where her eye is permanently only partially open. Speaking of which, her eye is about half way open now! She may still have an infection since I am still having to clean out gunk in her eye once a day though. I have been just using Neosporin for her eye in hopes that would be enough, but if there's more gunk tomorrow, I'll be checking my feed stores for Terramycin. Still not sure about her left ear. I had attempted to try and poke through her scabs where her ear would be, in hopes that maybe she won't heal in a way that completely seals her ear hole, but I couldn't even tell where her ear was supposed to be. Her skull, of course, is still exposed but since I've been applying Neosporin on it multiple times a day, I'm hopeful it'll eventually heal back.

I've also accepted that she'll probably never be sold due to her being in a less than ideal state for the rest of her life, so I've named her Sunshine and she'll be staying in her parent's cage when she's better. I don't like the idea that her father will be breeding her, but, that is how they keep ideal genes in the gene pool throughout all species anyways, and she and her mother both have very good genes.

 

[kajira]

Culling her never even crossed my mind before. I would never think any animal of mine should be put down for wounds that can be treated. Everything deserves a chance to live if they're willing to live. If she had deteriorated and was basically only alive because I was making her stay alive for several days, I would've considered culling. At that point, they've pretty much given up on trying to live, and there's not much helping an animal that's already accepted it's death.

You had to pay to get them fixed? We have a program here where feral cats are fixed for free at a certain facility, so long as you take them back to your property. And it doesn't matter how many either. We tend to have a lot of feral cats running around in this county, and so there are always momma cats moving into somebody's barn and taking over! The people don't want to get rid of them since they're good for pest control, but they don't want a million cats running around too, so at some point somebody developed a program that will spay/neuter your feral cats for free, so long as you do the trapping and take them back home with you. But that was a great thing for you to do for them, now they'll forever have a safe place to stay and will live long lives, since they've been spayed/neutered!

I wouldn't put a dog down for that, but I would definitely get rid of it. My mom had a dog that would chase my chickens, and even killed a couple of them, along with a couple rabbits too a few years back. Luckily she learned to leave them alone, otherwise I might've ended up 'accidentally' shooting her! My mom was absolutely insistent that her dog killed them because she was protecting the yard, which apparently means killing harmless livestock. And when my own dog killed a chicken, I immediately tried to return her to my sister, but my mom refused to let me get rid of her! My philosophy is that, if one animal can't peacefully live alongside the other animals, they're getting a new home. I have too many animals to not be able to trust that one will get along with the others.

Most people I know, don't want animals that are known livestock killers. Living in farm country, where animals are dumped just everywhere - it's too easy to find a good dog. No one wants a "bad" dog they'd have to keep confined in some fashion.... rehoming a dog is not always an option, most of the shelters here are kill shelters.

 

[Morighan]

Vet tech here! You did really good wound care here. One thing I would recommend for the future is "don't wrap the wound unless to stop bleeding". And i wouldn't recommend neosporin in the eyes either. Chlorohexadine flush is also really handy to keep on hand. It's anti microbial flush, the blue stuff used by your vet. It's non prescription and I've found it pretty cheap where I live. It helps if they get fungal/bacterial infections and it's a wound cleaner. But it has to be diluted for birds to about 1 part chloro and 9 parts water.

My duckling had similar wounds on her leg and we simply gave an antibiotic injection and used the flush on her wounds everyday until healed. She has no scarring and her feathers are all back. Even one of the vets, an exotic specialist, I work with was surprised at her recovery.

Also, in basic animal care/veterinary school, they don't teach about exotics like chickens and goats. Because you get a license in basic small or large animal care. You can further your education by specializing in anything from reproduction to radiology to exotic animals(goats, reptiles, birds, rodents, etc..). Just a tidbit for the user with a veterinarian relative.

Also, don't feel bad about not taking your pet into a vet clinic for care. If you have enough experience to care for it yourself then by all means go right on ahead. At the clinic I work for, we always try to teach those with farm animals and exotics on how to care for their pets so they don't have to see a vet as often or in the event that a knowledgeable vet isn't near by. Also if you ever have questions about what's safe to use on your pet and what's the best antibiotic treatment for the injury, you should always contact a vet that is knowledgeable in that species (just call and ask a question) or contact your nearest veterinary school, most have a hospital on site and can deal with most species.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

A little update on the pullet. As far as activity goes, she's back to normal. Eating fine, drinking fine, walking around, etc. I wanted to contīnue to syringe her for just another day or two, just to be sure she was well hydrated, but she was fighting me so much that I was afraid I was going to do more harm than good! I couldn't keep the gauze on her for more than that day either, she was very insistent on getting it off and if I had tightened it anymore, she would've been at risk for choking. I am keeping her wound and skull moist with Neosporin though. Today I was able to get a good look at her left eye and it looks like the eye itself is undamaged, but since the eyelid is damaged it may heal to where her eye is permanently only partially open. Speaking of which, her eye is about half way open now! She may still have an infection since I am still having to clean out gunk in her eye once a day though. I have been just using Neosporin for her eye in hopes that would be enough, but if there's more gunk tomorrow, I'll be checking my feed stores for Terramycin. Still not sure about her left ear. I had attempted to try and poke through her scabs where her ear would be, in hopes that maybe she won't heal in a way that completely seals her ear hole, but I couldn't even tell where her ear was supposed to be. Her skull, of course, is still exposed but since I've been applying Neosporin on it multiple times a day, I'm hopeful it'll eventually heal back.

I've also accepted that she'll probably never be sold due to her being in a less than ideal state for the rest of her life, so I've named her Sunshine and she'll be staying in her parent's cage when she's better. I don't like the idea that her father will be breeding her, but, that is how they keep ideal genes in the gene pool throughout all species anyways, and she and her mother both have very good genes.

Glad to hear she is improving

I do like the name you picked for her.

Keep us updated on her progress.

 

[AnnieAlbright]

I have a marans who scalped herself 2 years ago by getting her comb stuck in the chicken wire around the coop. Her skull was exposed & her comb was hanging over her face.

The vet cleaned the wound with saline & applied a thick coat of antibiotic powder. When I got her home I kept her separated from the other girls & applied the powder twice a day. I didn't apply gauze, just the powder. It began to heal very quickly & within 2 weeks the skin had grown back over her skull. Her comb is still flopped down over her face, but it's healthy tissue & doesn't bother her. It's amazing how chickens can heal with a little care & good medicine.

 

[Outpost JWB]

So glad she is getting better. I know what you mean about her not being sellable now. One of the breeds I have is Black Jersey Giants. I have one girl that repeatedly got her wings chewed off. She was at the very bottom of the pecking order. We isolated her, she got better, then they would eat her wings off again. Poor dear. They healed over, but only very short wings. The 2nd part of the wing is gone forever. We kept her, named her "Nubbs". She sleeps on the ground in a corner, obviously can't fly, but is a sweetie, and her defect is not carried thru the genes, so she's fine for breeding.

 

[BackyardDove]

Thank you everybody for all the encouraging stories you've shared and advice you've given! But, I have both good and bad news...

The good news is her scabs are being to peel, and the scabs around her eye have come off, fully revealing a healthy left eye. The bad news is also that her scabs are coming off, and have revealed that 95% of the dried blood in the second picture of my first post has no skin underneath it. I had lifted up the peeling scab just enough to see that all of that area is an exposed skull, covered only by the thin layer of dried blood... That means the entire area of the back of her head has no skin. Now, she's gone back to being normal and is eating and drinking a healthy amount, but... with that much exposed bone, is it even worth trying to get the area to somehow heal, or should she just be put down at this point? I didn't take off the scab, but it's only a matter of time before it comes off on it's own.