Severe Head injury. I can see her skull :(

[Marrionna]

I have a couple of chickens I added to a coop during the night and I woke up to a very terribly hurt hen and the rooster fighting the others. He is hurt as well just not to the extreme. The hen(grey/black) head is very nasty and I can see her skull. It’s A large area that looks bad and I can see about the size of a nickel of her skull. She’s awake and aware, eating and drinking, and moving and walking a bit(she was never really a run around type of gal so I can’t really tell if she’s less active than normal). The male (red/orange) has some missing feathers on his neck and here and there. He bled a little bit otherwise is ok. I think that he’ll be just fine with some time and blu kote spray. The hen however I’m worried about bc of how bad she looks. Any advise on how to treat her?

 

[slordaz]

they can heal from it but sounds more like a coon attack, my rooster looked like that after a huge racoon attacked from defending his hens he didn't have his spurs yet big enough to defend well as was only 8 months old but once injured your other chickens will then keep pecking, thats to much damage for not being a predator, I would secure them in hospital ward as it takes cleaning and antibiotics would do that for a couple of days before applying blue Kote, they do recover as long as there isn't to much never damage.

He's still with the flock as only rooster and was amazing when we caught the critter as was trap savvy and to big for normal traps, we finally borrowed one big enough for say like a wolf, but would be setting baited traps around your coop and increasing the security
here is a picture of the coon we finally caught, mind you that trap is wolf size not the ones you would normally use

If they are fighting like that is was most likely improper introduction

 

[Ebony Rose]

Flush well with saline or water (saline preferred), remove foreign matter such as leaves, stones etc. Spritz with blue-kote (antiseptic + colorant to camouflage the wound from others in the flock), Important to note that blue-kote comes in many colors, I personally have blue & purple... use any color but red. I'd start on broad-spectrum antibiotics immediately as there's no telling what ripped into your bird, as you cannot blame chickens for picking on a bloody mess... it's simply what they DO, and it's an after-the-fact response. I've seen birds heal from MUCH worse. I'd separate the injured bird(s) in something like a dog kennel, placed in a look-don't-touch area, like the coop, to avoid the need to reintegrate (or integrate, if this step was skipped before combining the flocks). If the injured bird had already established their place in the pecking order, then this arrangement will help to maintain that position.
Be sure to thoroughly examine the injured bird, as I'm convinced that that much damage wasn't from just the chickens picking on your new HEN... Had it been the new rooster that looked like this, I might have been sold on that idea... but it was the hen.

 

[Marrionna]

View attachment 1891240 they can heal from it but sounds more like a coon attack, my rooster looked like that after a huge racoon attacked from defending his hens he didn't have his spurs yet big enough to defend well as was only 8 months old but once injured your other chickens will then keep pecking, thats to much damage for not being a predator, I would secure them in hospital ward as it takes cleaning and antibiotics would do that for a couple of days before applying blue Kote, they do recover as long as there isn't to much never damage.

He's still with the flock as only rooster and was amazing when we caught the critter as was trap savvy and to big for normal traps, we finally borrowed one big enough for say like a wolf, but would be setting baited traps around your coop and increasing the security
here is a picture of the coon we finally caught, mind you that trap is wolf size not the ones you would normally use

If they are fighting like that is was most likely improper introduction

There is no way that a predator can get in the coop that they were in. We’ve had break ins before so we had upped the security so I am positive that it was the roo that hurt her. Also I had read to add them in at night while they are more docile and that sometimes works for introducing new chickens. We had tried this a couple times before and had one of the bigger ones be a bully so we tried without the bigger one and this happened. This was not their first time meeting. They’ve also been together just not able to touch when we had them in a crate inside the coop during the day. I don’t know what else we could have done different. They’re different ages so we couldn’t introduce them as babies.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I had a little Cochin Bantam frizzle hen who was scalped like that by a rooster. Amazingly she survived and lived till 10 yrs old. Clean her up like was mentioned. I used bluekote on her and kept her away from flies. Hopefully your hen will heal also with out problems. Maybe keep another calm hen in with her once you apply the bluekote. For company. We ate the rooster by the way she wasn’t the only one he injured but she was by far the worst.

 

[coach723]

Had a hen with a very similar injury, it was done by other hens, her flock mates. She got hung up on her crop bra (she has pendulous crop) and was walking abnormally, which drew an attack. In your case it was likely caused by adding new birds. I flushed it well, used veterycin spray, and then covered it with plain neopsporin. Also trim back any feathers that are getting in the wound to help keep it clean, you can use a small pair of scissors. Reapply daily or even more often if necessary to keep it covered and prevent from drying out. I also put her in a wire crate in the run/coop so she was still visible to the flock the entire time. She stayed there until healed enough to not be a pecking risk. I would recommend that you do that with any new birds before putting them together with the established flock. It gives them a chance to get acquainted and used to each other before they get together and can help prevent things like this from happening. It's called the look but don't touch method commonly. Given enough time (amount of time depends on the birds in question and can vary) it usually works pretty well. Picture below of my hen after about 3 - 4 weeks of healing, as long as there is no infection, she has a very good chance of recovery.

 

[Ebony Rose]

Were they in a look-don't-touch living arrangement for at least a week or two (preferably 1 month to quarantine them if they're coming into your flock as anything older than a new chick)? Chickens are extremely territorial and suspicious of anything / anyone new on their home turf. It's one thing for them to see and hear a bird for quite some time and then have them in their space, it's quite another to wake up to a new neighbor... and competition for resources at that! I'm not laying blame here, I'm merely asking if these conditions were met to ensure that your existing flock didn't feel threatened.

 

[Chickassan]

I agree with @coach723
Clean it, neosporin it.
Keep her away from flies and segregated but still visible.
I would not blue-kote that, simple reason it freaking burns.
She has a great chance of recovery even though it looks bad.

 

[Sydney65]

I don't have chickens, nor will I guess what did it. Looks like you've received words of wisdom from the experienced. Mine are more a virtual hug and reassurance.-
I rushed a neighbor's dog to the vet once w/a similar injury. Though I was in a panic, the vet told me it looked worse than it was,that the dog had basically been scalped,which was why it wasn't bleeding profusely. Best of luck!

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry they were attacked by the others after you added them at night. I hear people recommending that a lot, but it can be dangerous when you are not around to watch them in the early morning. The rooster looks okay, and may be able to get by with some iodine or BluKote to hide the wound. But he still may be attacked if he is placed inthere.

The hen will need to be kept separated with the dog crate, and kept from flies. Wound care should be done twice a day with cleaning and plain Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic Ointment. Wounds like this will usually heal, but it will take weeks to grow back skin and feathers. Hopefully when she heals you can try to add her to the flock slowly with a lot of supervision.