Rooster fight, poor baby

[horsechick]

Hello,
We are fairly new to chickens.
We have some that are bout 12 weeks old? and some 10 weeks? Not exactly sure of what dates, bought them.
Anyhow, we moved 3 to another pen because they are standards also. One rooster (I know was rooster) found one that I didn't know was rooster, hadn't found any signs yet. He pecked him some and then quit and went on about his business.
I watched for a while and thought it'd be ok. (I put baby powder on everyone in the coop, threw it around, an older lady told me that would help?)
Went back out after meeting and the younger had been really attacked.
His head was tore all up but he was still alive.
I put the mean one in a box by himself, he will be finding new home-food related.
I didn't think the other one would make it but didn't have the heart to kill him. I would touch him and he would just talk a little bit, I know he's sore and hurt.
I thought I'd let him rest.
Moved him to his on dog carrier with water, hay, food so no one would bother him. Today he is walking around. Still tore up.
I can see his skull.
Do you think he will make it? Its not bleeding anymore.
I don't think his skin will grow back over it?
What should I do?
He was doing better today.
Should I just give him time?????
No more roosters for me unless they are very nice.
(we do have one that is very friendly, you go in and he will come to you to get picked up and talk to you while you hold him and scratch him. BUT if he ever gets nasty he's dinner for sure!)
I know now I will not tolerate and mean/nasty one AT ALL!

Thanks for any suggestions.
Just feel SSOOOO bad for our guy.
Thank you again.
Angela

 

[CrazySally]

You might want to talk to your local vet and see if there's an ointment you can pick up that will help the injury stay clean and heal?

Good luck!

 

[CrazySally]

.....here's another thought.....since you have him separated you can put a little Tetramyacine in his water. It's a general antibiotic. I think it's about 1/4 teas per quart. Just enough to make the water a little yellow. Any feed store should have it.
That may help with the risk of infection.

 

[spudchild]

You can get terramycin ointment or liquid at your local co op or tractor supply. If he's still doing okay today, you are probably past the worst of it. It will take him weeks to heal though, so just baby him.

 

[horsechick]

Thank you all!
I will get some.
Amazingly enough, he is alive!
The next day he was standing. Everyone here told me I should put him down but I just couldn't.....

He is drinking and I put food in there with him, he slowly pecks around.
Will his skin will ever grow back to cover his skull? I'm afraid to get him and clean it real good as well, is there something I can put on it like an antibiotic cream or something? The skin that was down had hardened by the next day.
He is an australorp.
Poor guy.

Thank you all, very tramatizing, for all.

 

[dlhunicorn]

You will need to remove any dead skin....any wound should be flushed with sterile saline ... you can make this yourself by boiling 1/4 tsp salt in a quart of water for five minutes (cool to room temp or lukewwarm in this case as the area has hardened >I would sop a cotton wad in it and apply on the head to moisten all...this will take a few minutes. Keep doing this (gently ) till all is moistened and any debris is gone)
You can apply triple antibiotic creme to keep it moist though I would not do this for longer than a week as extensive continuous use will hamper regeneration at a certain point. I suggest you get GRANULEXV creme to apply at this point... you can normally find it in the horse section or here is one supplier online:
http://www.jefferspet.com/ssc/products.asp?CID=0&Area=&BrowseList=372&dept_id=427&sort=&c=

 

[Riparian]

If the skin has already hardened and there is still exposed bone, then you have a very long battle against infection ahead of you.

How much skull is exposed? Just a tiny bit? alot? If it is too much, It will take too long for the skin to cover the eposed bone again, and infection will set in.

I would consult a poultry vet, either via e-mail or in person, and explain the situation. My questions would be if you should keep it covered or not.

In the meantime, gently blot the wound with saline solution to get it clean. I would not put antibiotic cream on it unless you are going to cover it, otherwise it will just collect more dirt and debris.

I just found this link for you. Its the American College of Poultry Veterinarians.

http://www.acpv.info/html/contact.html

It would be worth sending them an E-Mail explaning the situation, with some digital pictures. I find that students and undergrads can be just as helpfull as the fully trained professionals.

Start firing off e-mails, someone will respond to help you.

Good Luck.
-Andrew