Severe neck wound

rusty acres

Songster
5 Years
Aug 22, 2017
93
86
146
Mead, WA
Today I noticed one of my Speckled Sussex was lagging behind the others off by herself. Usually she is with the other SS. She kept her distance from the others on the several occasions I observed this afternoon, so I was concerned she might be sick. Tonight I went to check on them after they'd gone to bed for the night, and I found her huddled in the corner on the floor instead of up on the roost bar. I set up the separate coop with food and water for her in case she was ill, but when I picked her up to move her, I observed a very deep wound on the back of her neck. I'm pretty sure it's not survivable. It's cold tonight and I didn't want to get her wet by cleaning it, so I just glopped on some antibiotic ointment. My husband suggested I should put her out of her misery, but I didn't have the heart/stomach. I've never had to kill an animal before. The injury could've been from my cat, but I think he would've finished the job. So I'm thinking this was from persistent pecking from other chickens. She's the low bird on the totem pole and I've observed her getting pecked on several occasions by one of my ISA browns. I just can't believe I didn't notice the wound sooner. I was just handling her yesterday to do a follow up inspection after a lice infestation earlier this month. She seemed fine up until today. :hit
 
We had a turken with a very bad head wound and she survived. My suggestion is to keep it as clean as possible and keep the other chickens from pecking at it with some no peck remedy. We used Neosporin on our chicken and the no peck remedy. If she doesn't seem to be suffering don't give up on her. We didn't think our turken would survive yet she healed amazingly well and made a full recovery.
 
Does the wound look fresh? Is she alert? Can you take any pictures of the wound? Do you have a rooster who may have cut her with a spur while mating? Do you have hawks or other predators? Even a sharp nail or piece of fencing could cut skin. I would spray Vetericyn wound spray on the wound, or you can clean it with betadine, chlorhexidene, or saline. Then continue the plain neosporin ointment on it twice a day. Seee if she will eat and drink, but water is really important. Most wounds will fill in gradually and heal, but it depends on whether she has suffered other injuries.
 
I've got a hen in my living room right now that's recovering from a severe gash to the abdomen. It has been almost two weeks now and she is looking fantastic.

Keep her in a warm quiet place and make sure she's eating and drinking. I put a vitamin and mineral powder blend in my hen's water, and since she didn't want to eat at first, only drink, I soaked some pellets in warm water to make a mash.
I applied Vetericyn to the wound once a day until I saw signs that it was beginning to heal.
 
The more I think about it, I would say it isn't a fresh wound. There was no blood, just a big open deep area. She was out foraging today, but kept her distance from the other girls. I'll check on her in the morning, clean the wound, and apply more antibiotic ointment. I hope she makes it, my poor girl.
 
The more I think about it, I would say it isn't a fresh wound. There was no blood, just a big open deep area. She was out foraging today, but kept her distance from the other girls. I'll check on her in the morning, clean the wound, and apply more antibiotic ointment. I hope she makes it, my poor girl.
It sounds like your instincts to treat this hen are right on, keep up the good work and post us nosey folk a picture if you find time for that! I'm glad your hen has found herself a good observant keeper.

Also before introducing her back into the flock you will need blue kote or the purple stuff as the other hens will try to peck at her wounds.
 
Well, she did ok overnight. I cleaned just a little bit with Vetericyn spray because it's 44 degrees here and I didn't want her to get wet. Then put a good amount of antibiotic ointment on. And put some Vet Rx (?) drops in her water. I'll check on her as soon as I get off work. I took some pics but it was hard to get it all in the shot while holding her.
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