Scalped Chicken. Help, please. :’(

[azygous]

@Wyorp Rock has a good point. When you clean the wound tomorrow, and you will be doing this every single day until this wound heals, trim all of the feathers away from the edges of the flap with scissors so none of them get tucked under the flap. They will grow back. The beauty of using a skin flap as a graft is that feathers will repopulate the wound. Without the skin graft, no feathers would grow back on the wound. But you do not want feathers tucked under the flap or it won't heal properly and could cause the graft to be rejected.

 

[nickelu]

How many feathers are underneath what you pulled up and secured?
My concern is this will cause infection underneath the skin flap that has been pulled up.

I wondered if there was a potential issue.

what do you mean by how many feathers are underneath? I know it sounds silly to not understand that simple question. I believe the correct answer is zero. I’ll see if I can draw on one of the before photos to show what I did. I’ll be back.

 

[nickelu]

How many feathers are underneath what you pulled up and secured?
My concern is this will cause infection underneath the skin flap that has been pulled up.

Does this answer the question? Just checking. Not tryin to be combative. I cannot thank all of you enough for sharing your knowledge with me. I truly appreciate it!

I made sure it was free of feathers underneath.

 

[333113]

Tomorrow I will take a picture of my long-ago healed Houdan hen who was ripped up by a raccoon. He just got one grab, evidently. It took almost three months to heal past the heart-grabbing photo you took of your chickie, but she did it, has a devoted roo, and multiple children and grandchildren.

Chickens have remarkable recuperative powers. I ran into my vet at the grocery store this evening.
He took a look at the injury photo you posted and said she will heal on her own, and confirmed that glue or stitches won't help. The skin will grow in from the edges, he said, so she will probably always look like she is missing some feathers there.

Give her lots of supportive care--a quiet, comfortable place alone to recuperate with plenty of food and water.

 

[nickelu]

Tomorrow I will take a picture of my long-ago healed Houdan hen who was ripped up by a raccoon. He just got one grab, evidently. It took almost three months to heal past the heart-grabbing photo you took of your chickie, but she did it, has a devoted roo, and multiple children and grandchildren.

Chickens have remarkable recuperative powers. I ran into my vet at the grocery store this evening.
He took a look at the injury photo you posted and said she will heal on her own, and confirmed that glue or stitches won't help. The skin will grow in from the edges, he said, so she will probably always look like she is missing some feathers there.

Give her lots of supportive care--a quiet, comfortable place alone to recuperate with plenty of food and water.

Thank you, Connie! I have tears of joy in my eyes right now. What you shared made my heart so happy! Thank you for thinking to share the photo with your bet. You didn’t have to do that.

 

[nickelu]

UPDATE
Emma is eating and drinking on her own and has both eyes open!

i am making sure it doesn’t dry out.

Thank you, everyone! I truly appreciate your guidance!

 

[coach723]

Glad she's doing well. Just try to keep anything, including bits of feather, or tips from getting in or touching the wound. You want to minimize any contamination and try to prevent infection. If needed, trim back feathers with some small scissors.
I've attached a picture of one of my hens that was scalped badly. I don't have a before, but the picture is about 5 weeks later. She did not have a flap of skin left it was completely exposed, I just kept it clean and covered in plain neosporin (thickly) applied 2 or 3 times a day as needed to keep it covered. It may form a very thick scab, that will slowly come off on it's own from the edges in, over time.

 

[nickelu]

Glad she's doing well. Just try to keep anything, including bits of feather, or tips from getting in or touching the wound. You want to minimize any contamination and try to prevent infection. If needed, trim back feathers with some small scissors.
I've attached a picture of one of my hens that was scalped badly. I don't have a before, but the picture is about 5 weeks later. She did not have a flap of skin left it was completely exposed, I just kept it clean and covered in plain neosporin (thickly) applied 2 or 3 times a day as needed to keep it covered. It may form a very thick scab, that will slowly come off on it's own from the edges in, over time.
View attachment 2586769

Excellent! Thank you!

 

[333113]

Thank you, Connie! I have tears of joy in my eyes right now. What you shared made my heart so happy! Thank you for thinking to share the photo with your bet. You didn’t have to do that.

Here's a photo of my Houdan who was scalped by a raccoon two years ago:

And here's the video I pulled the photo from.

Notice the beautiful white egg in the background.

She is a great layer, and her roo is completely okay with me leaning into the nest to capture the eggs. (They are non-setters.)

Seven of their eggs hatched in Iowa last year, and I have another lovely pair that also hatched last year. Eight of their eggs are on track to hatch in early April in my incubator.

What was that Churchill said? Never give up!

 

[nickelu]

Here's a photo of my Houdan who was scalped by a raccoon two years ago:
View attachment 2586873
And here's the video I pulled the photo from.

Notice the beautiful white egg in the background.

She is a great layer, and her roo is completely okay with me leaning into the nest to capture the eggs. (They are non-setters.)

Seven of their eggs hatched in Iowa last year, and I have another lovely pair that also hatched last year. Eight of their eggs are on track to hatch in early April in my incubator.

What was that Churchill said? Never give up!

That’s wonderful!

we are definitely not giving up!