Scalped Chicken!! Warning: Graphic

[SkyWarrior]

I'm over at a convention the entire weekend, and, of course, something nasty has to happen while I barely have time to care for anyone.

Last night, I noticed one of my EE mixes had what looked like a black ribbon along the back of her head. The roos were mercilessly picking on her, so I went over and saw something frightful. Her head was degloved from her comb to about an inch down her neck. It was black from blood and whatever else. She was blind in one eye. It was midnight, so I put her in a dog crate, gave her food and water, expecting to put her down today.

Today, she was sitting in the crate, wondering why she's not with the other birds. I looked at her wound--it's nasty. Still, she's alive and not really being in pain. I put antibiotic in her water, gave her some more food and left her alone.

What are her chances of making it, you figure? What else should I do?

 

[dawg53]

I'm over at a convention the entire weekend, and, of course, something nasty has to happen while I barely have time to care for anyone.

Last night, I noticed one of my EE mixes had what looked like a black ribbon along the back of her head. The roos were mercilessly picking on her, so I went over and saw something frightful. Her head was degloved from her comb to about an inch down her neck. It was black from blood and whatever else. She was blind in one eye. It was midnight, so I put her in a dog crate, gave her food and water, expecting to put her down today.

Today, she was sitting in the crate, wondering why she's not with the other birds. I looked at her wound--it's nasty. Still, she's alive and not really being in pain. I put antibiotic in her water, gave her some more food and left her alone.

What are her chances of making it, you figure? What else should I do?

I'd say her chances of survival are 50-50 unless infection sets in. If you decide to treat her, I recommend gently cleaning and disinfecting the wounds with a 50/50 water/betadine solution, pat dry, then liberally apply neosporin to the wound. I also recommend penicillin G procaine injections.
Your other option is to cull if you dont have time to treat her.
If she were my hen, I'd cull as I dont have time to nursemaid a sick/injured hen, I view it as a quality of life issue for the hen.

 

[chickendreams]

I had the same injury here. It's takes a long time but Lovey is almost healed. She has to be in her own pen because otherwise she is pecked on. She gets supervised free range time every day. The children cuddle her lots. She has her own tractor outside so she always has access to grass and bugs. When it was still cold she was inside. I do not like a house chicken and she seemed unhappy and did not heal very quickly inside. I used Blu-Kote to keep the infection and bugs away.