Scalped Hen! Help! *Graphic Pics*

[allieloveschickens]

Today my bf called me at work and said that Lucy my little EE had been scalped by my three BR girls, I went home and it is pretty gnarly, all her skin and feathers are gone from the back of her head and neck- I have isolated her in a box in the house and got her to eat a little scrambled egg, and gave her sugar water with a dropper. One of the ligaments that attaches to her beak is exposed and not connected to anything (on the right side) but she is still able to eat thank goodness. They always picked on her, but never like this- poor girl. I cleaned it with diluted Hydrogen peroxide and then put an antibiotic saline spray on her. Any other suggestions??

 

[jeaucamom]

Try to wash with some warm water and a paper tower. Get some neosporin and dab it on there with a clean Q-tip. Get some liquid baby vitamins at the store without iron if they have it and give her a few drops twice a day. Keep her warm, dry and calm, make sure she has food and water within reach... let us know how she does. You will be surprised how quickly chickens heal! Good luck!

 

[txliss]

Ditto! Keep 'er clean, ointment-ed, quiet, and well nourished - she should be ok. If she heals up and goes back out with the girls before she has feathers on top, I'd say BlueKote it to keep their picking little beaks off of her...

 

[allieloveschickens]

Thank you!! I will be keeping her safe and warm inside away from the other girls, and keep her wounds clean- she may be getting her own little coop after this. Thanks again for the responses! I hope she heals quickly.

 

[ChickyLaura]

I would make her a "porch chicken". Poor thing. Give her some love and attention, and I think she'll do ok!

 

[Miss Lydia]

if you can find out who the main hen is thats doing this you can move her out from the rest when you start to put the wounded one back in that way your causing the pecking order to be out of balance and that hen will no longer be at the top.. but wait until the hen is healed up enough to go back and be sure to have plenty of bluekote on her to cover where the wound was..

 

[LindsayB]

Poor girl! That looks painful...I'm sending our BR to freezer camp soon, she has been plucking feathers and picking at our 2 EE hens too.

 

[FrankRobin]

We had the exact same thing happen to our Copper Maran pullet last summer when I had her in too small of a pen with too many Buckeye pullets and cockerels. We kept her isolated until the wound healed and slowly put her back in with the main flock where she still is today. Other than the bald spot where the wound was, she is fine.

 

[allieloveschickens]

Well I am glad to hear that others with this issue have had a successful healing process.. do the feathers ever grow back? She was such a beautiful girl, it kills me that this happened to her..
Unfortunately all three of my BR's are mean to her, I can't pinpoint any one of them that is the ring leader- they are all very nice to each other, and to my older EE hen- but they have had it out for Lucy ever since I added her and the older EE to the flock. I feel sick I am so upset over this... I just hope she gets better quickly!

 

[seabreeze]

I would also suggest possibly clipping the feathers closest to the wound so they don't hold the *ooze* or get stuck to the tender flesh. Otherwise, if they do get stuck, you have to soak gently with very warm water to loose the dried exudate. Or, you can bathe that wound daily with warm water and mild baking soda (do not use peroxide, that stuff kills cells) and this will keep it from caking and sticking to the feathers. Also, the warm water will help stimulate white blood cells to the wound site, helping to heal faster.

Good luck, poor girl!

BTW, I have trouble with all the abbreviations of chicken breeds, what are BRs?