Scalped to the Skull, Pullet Silkie

[calam1ty]

Hey everyone, I went out to let the chickens out late this morning. I normally let them out at 7am but none of my alarms went off, so I ended up letting them out at 11:30am.

I let the chickens out, and as I was putting egg shells in the compost I noticed someone was in the corner. I got her inside upon realizing she was injured, cleaned her with some soup and water (gently, with a clean wrag) then applied neosporin. She's currently in a cat carrier, and she's somewhat lively. She tries to shuffle away when I grab her (every 2 hours, to give her water via a dropper. she doesn't like it but she is swallowing.

Both of her eyes are closed, but she does cheep occasionally. I have a noise I make when it's treat time outside, and she responds to it whenever I check on her. She's roughly 20 weeks old, and has been co-habitating with everyone else since she was 14 weeks (she was separated but near them from 10 weeks old to 14 weeks old in an outdoor enclosure) I plan on giving her some cooked egg or potentially fresh egg yolk this evening, depending on her state.

Should I get rid of the potential bully? one of the bigger ladies, a non-silkie BYM had some blood on her head that was not her own. She's the HBIC, but she's 2 years old and has never done anything like this before, a peck or two here and there but nobody has ever drawn blood before, let alone to this level.

Note: I have some Vetericyn poultry spray on the way via doordash.

What else can I do? Sadly going to a vet is not a financial option my parents have right now. I only have about $70 after getting the neosporin and Vetericyn. Please let me know what else I can do for her. She's not my chicken but my mom loves her.

 

[plumtheserma]

This happened before with us as well. We just put the one being attacked in a separate cage in the main coup. For a bit. If its one chicken that keeps on pecking on him its a choice to get rid or separate one of them may be long term. We have 2 coops one big one for the flock and one smaller one for the problem child. We put them in time out for a few days to even a week or so. If it happens again then its time to choose what chicken goes, the bully or the bullied. Its a hard one to make unless you make the bullied one a pet and get it out of the main flock. Either way the bullied one needs to come out and separate it until it heals. Put antibiotic on it like gobs and watch for infection. If possible keep in in the house until it starts to scab over so it does not get dirty or infected from the outside. This injury is very survivable just looks ugly. Chickens have an amazing recovery rate after pecking.

 

[Eggcessive]

The skull is showing, so the skin will take a long time to cover her head. I worry that she might have a brain injury. Time will tell. Do you have a rooster? If not, could she have been attacked because she was try to use a nest box to lay an egg? Do you have enough nest boxes for your hens? I would spray her wounds with Vetericyn wound spray or saline. Then apply plain Neosporin triple antibiotic ointment to the wound twice a day, and do not let it dry out. You can make home made saline by adding 2 tsp of salt to a quart of water. Offer wet chicken feed, a bit of scrambled egg bits, and water as often as you can. Let us know if she responds. Put the Neosporin in her eyes as well. Do the eyes seem to be undisturbed?

 

[calam1ty]

This happened before with us as well. We just put the one being attacked in a separate cage in the main coup. For a bit. If its one chicken that keeps on pecking on him its a choice to get rid or separate one of them may be long term. We have 2 coops one big one for the flock and one smaller one for the problem child. We put them in time out for a few days to even a week or so. If it happens again then its time to choose what chicken goes, the bully or the bullied. Its a hard one to make unless you make the bullied one a pet and get it out of the main flock. Either way the bullied one needs to come out and separate it until it heals. Put antibiotic on it like gobs and watch for infection. If possible keep in in the house until it starts to scab over so it does not get dirty or infected from the outside. This injury is very survivable just looks ugly. Chickens have an amazing recovery rate after pecking.

Yep, the injured one is inside the house in a carrier in my room. I'm hopeful, as there's minimal bloodless outside of the initial cleaning/attack. Thank you for the response. My anxiety is slaughtering me.

 

[calam1ty]

The skull is showing, so the skin will take a long time to cover her head. I worry that she might have a brain injury. Time will tell. Do you have a rooster? If not, could she have been attacked because she was try to use a nest box to lay an egg? Do you have enough nest boxes for your hens? I would spray her wounds with Vetericyn wound spray or saline. Then apply plain Neosporin triple antibiotic ointment to the wound twice a day, and do not let it dry out. You can make home made saline by adding 2 tsp of salt to a quart of water. Offer wet chicken feed, a bit of scrambled egg bits, and water as often as you can. Let us know if she responds. Put the Neosporin in her eyes as well. Do the eyes seem to be undisturbed?

We don't have a rooster, and the pullet hasn't laid yet. I'm not sure how to check her eyes, i dont want to force them open. i think i can see them moving around when she "blinks". but I've done/am doing everything you've stated for cleaning and feeding.

 

[Eggcessive]

The eyes should be rinsed with the saline as well. I hope that she will eventually be able to see when the swelling goes down.

 

[calam1ty]

We don't have a rooster, and the pullet hasn't laid yet. I'm not sure how to check her eyes, i dont want to force them open. i think i can see them moving around when she "blinks". but I've done/am doing everything you've stated for cleaning and feeding.

Hey all, after 3 days of drinking, and 2 of those days having some egg yolk, she is now suddenly unresponsive. She is limp, but she is alive. When I touch her she may do nothing, or she might beat me with a wing. More frequently she just twitches her head a little.

What can I do? I have her laid so that she's on an incline, but I don't want to drown her with yolk or water as she's unresponsive.

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you been cleaning her eyes and wounds as recommended? I’m sorry that she is not doing well. If she won’t or cannot drink or eat, it sounds like she may not make it. Do you want to to learn to tube feed her, or do you think it might be better to put her down?

 

[calam1ty]

Have you been cleaning her eyes and wounds as recommended? I’m sorry that she is not doing well. If she won’t or cannot drink or eat, it sounds like she may not make it. Do you want to to learn to tube feed her, or do you think it might be better to put her down?

Yup, cleaned her wounds every day, sometimes twice if it looked like it needed it. She was responsive at 11pm last night, waddling around doing her regular thing. I'm not sure what's caused the sudden decline. I'm not sure what route to go, I've had bad experiences with tube feeding in the past, albeit for a cat and not a chicken. I've watched a few videos on tube feeding for chickens and I don't think it's worth the risk. I don't want to cull incase she does manage to pull through, I'm very unsure what to do.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Yup, cleaned her wounds every day, sometimes twice if it looked like it needed it. She was responsive at 11pm last night, waddling around doing her regular thing. I'm not sure what's caused the sudden decline. I'm not sure what route to go, I've had bad experiences with tube feeding in the past, albeit for a cat and not a chicken. I've watched a few videos on tube feeding for chickens and I don't think it's worth the risk. I don't want to cull incase she does manage to pull through, I'm very unsure what to do.

I guess just....... see what happens? I always post about this, but a few years ago, I had a bird named Angel Bone. long story short: this was back when I lived in the city. she jumped over the fence, got ripped up by the neighbor's dog, FLEW BACK OVER THE FENCE, and for the rest of her life, had an exposed joint showing through her feathers. if you looked at her right as she stretched her wing, you could see the inner workings of her shoulder. she lived like that for a year and a half, and would have probably lived longer, if my mom hadn't slaughtered all the chickens when we moved. I live out in the country now, and my mom says we can have as many chickens as I can hatch