The lost chicken has returned??

[Miss Cheep]

So when I go outside I usually count my chickens. And there is usually six, but this time there was seven! We had a chicken go missing two or three months ago and haven’t heard or seen of her since. Then last night our neighbors dog got attacked by a skunk and mysteriously the next day the lost chicken returned. The chicken is all scraggly and beat up. I caught her and she was infested with lice and has a open wound where the bottom of her beak meets her neck. Her neck feathers are bloodstained, and she did not struggle much after I caught her. I have dusted her with DE and put her in a dog cage so she can’t run off. Advice on what to do next? Could she have possibly be attacked and survived?

 

[Silkiesaz]

So when I go outside I usually count my chickens. And there is usually six, but this time there was seven! We had a chicken go missing two or three months ago and haven’t heard or seen of her since. Then last night our neighbors dog got attacked by a skunk and mysteriously the next day the lost chicken returned. The chicken is all scraggly and beat up. I caught her and she was infested with lice and has a open wound where the bottom of her beak meets her neck. Her neck feathers are bloodstained, and she did not struggle much after I caught her. I have dusted her with DE and put her in a dog cage so she can’t run off. Advice on what to do next? Could she have possibly be attacked and survived?

I don't have any advice sorry. I just wanted to say if she disappeared and returned that would be amazing!

 

[Isadora]

Skip the DE. You're going to want permethrin to treat the lice.

 

[Shadrach]

Clean her up especially around the wound with plain warm water first.
Inspect her again looking for any skin punctures and/or tears.
Buy some Chlorhexedine spray and spray any wounds you find with the spray making sure the Chlorhexedine goes on the wounds.
If you have triple antibiotic cream apply this about 15 mins after the Chlorhexedine.
I think you have nutridrench where you are. Give her that.
Buy some tinned Mackerel or other oily fish and feed her this as well as any ordinary chicken feed she will eat.
She should recover well provided there was no internal damage if she was attacked.

 

[LizGio]

Make her some scrambled eggs and give electrolytes

 

[Shadrach]

What Isadora wrote above; Permethrin.
DE isn't going to sort out a mite and louse infestation.

 

[Shadrach]

Almost forgot. Ask her where she's been for the last couple of months.
I hope you can get her sorted out.

 

[Miss Cheep]

Clean her up especially around the wound with plain warm water first.
Inspect her again looking for any skin punctures and/or tears.
Buy some Chlorhexedine spray and spray any wounds you find with the spray making sure the Chlorhexedine goes on the wounds.
If you have triple antibiotic cream apply this about 15 mins after the Chlorhexedine.
I think you have nutridrench where you are. Give her that.
Buy some tinned Mackerel or other oily fish and feed her this as well as any ordinary chicken feed she will eat.
She should recover well provided there was no internal damage if she was attacked.

I don’t have Chlorhexedine spray, but I do have veterciyn spray. Will that work?

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree that DE is not going to be enough to treat the lice. Permethrin garden dust or spray used every 10 days at least twice will help. Keep the hen quarantined for at least 30 days in case she has been exposed to any diseases, and look for symptoms. Could she have been broody and hid some eggs to hatch away from the coop? Could she have been living in someone else’s flock in the neighborhood?

 

[Shadrach]

I don’t have Chlorhexedine spray, but I do have veterciyn spray. Will that work?

That will do.
You just need to keep the wound clean and watch out for any signs of infection.