Scalped PULLET! Help!

[WooingWyandotte]

Long story short a predator grabbed hunks of feathers off my favorite pullet and some of her skin off too! What do I do? This is my first predator attack! Should I put neosporin on it?

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Yes, when our hen was scalped, we cleaned the wound and put neosporin on it a couple of times a day and she healed very well. Good luck.

 

[WooingWyandotte]

Thank you!

 

[Chicken_Pauper]

Blu-Kote spray might help, antiseptic, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, etc....

 

[WooingWyandotte]

What does Blue-Kote do? And, I've separated her from the flock with her hatchmate. I washed her wound out with warm water and applied some neosporin, her feathers are well covering it so I doubt that her buddy will bother it. The wound was on her back, if the roo mounted her it would hurt so bad! Another thing - I can't figure out what did this! We heard them singing the egg song this morning. I was half awake (it was like 6-6:30 am) and my the weiner dog was barking, my mom had heard the egg song a lot earlier than me, and she heard sqwuaking and screaming. So she ran out the door and saw this dark animal. A little taller than a dachshund sneaking up on Ramona! She was out of the her coop/run walking. "What the heck is she doing outta her coop?" The animal was sleeker than a raccoon and it's tail was not bushy, it had long legs too.
She ran inside and woke me up. All I heard was "Ramona, bobcat!" and I ran outside (with my pj's) and I saw my sqwauking Ramona, her feathers all torn up! I picked her up and went down to the coop to survey the crime scene. After putting all the pieces together this is what I can figure out: The Thing walked up to the coop. Saw chickens inside the coop. Reached through the run wire and grabbed onto the door, yanked and yanked until it broke. Chickens came out. The Thing grabbed whatever he could get. Except for a few tail feathers of our BO it was mostly Ramonas' saddle feathers! Clumps of them everywhere. Frantic, she squeezed with all her might and opened the bottom half of the run door and outside she went! The Thing followed her and that's when my mom came out.
Humph! I don't know what this was. It sure seems a raccoon to me.

 

[scratch'n'peck]

Blu Kote is a dark blue liquid that comes in a spray bottle that masks the color of blood so the others won't peck and it in an antiseptic. It can make a real mess if you don't wear gloves when spraying, but it can be helpful. It is sold in the horse section of the farm store.

That was some strong predator. You could try putting out a trap. We use the no kill kind, because we don't want to find a dead cat in the other kind of trap.

 

[WooingWyandotte]

I'll look into it, thanks for your help!

 

[Uniontown Poultry]

I also recommend powdered sulfur if you can find it. It's dry, and helps heal & keep germs from causing infection & last time I got it (at farm/feed store) it was cheap as bones.

 

[WooingWyandotte]

I'll add that to a shopping list. How often do you apply it?

 

[Uniontown Poultry]

Mine came in like a big quart jar that you just opened & spooned out like sugar (I gave a lot of it away b/c, barring some mega-attack by a whole gang of raccoons, I would never use it all). You just sprinkle it on - I put mine in an old salt shaker! Just keep a dusting on the wound, so it doesn't appear wet. If wound is a closed one, dust the edges of it. Depending on severity and depth of wound, you dust maybe 1 - 3x a day. It's very hard to put too much on, so long as the wound is exposed to air, and when wound starts looking like it's healing, cut back to once every other day or stop entirely. The wound may make a brownish crust, which is just part of it healing - it will fall off later. Sulfur is very good for drying up wounds that have a tendency to weep, or open areas where the skin has been removed & nothing is left to cover it. Skin will not regrow over flayed areas (except with chicks), but a nice clean scar forms. Oh, and if curious chicken puts her beak in the sulfur, it will not poison her (but her eggs may be yukky tasting). Hope this helps!