They snatched her bald!

[Viergacht]

I've got a flock of 9 hens, all different breeds, three sets of ages - 3 three year olds, 3 one year olds and 3 nine month olds. The pack order pretty much sorts by age with the older ones on top and the younger ones on the bottom. They free range in our large back yard all day and go into a coop at night; the coop is on the small side but it's all I can afford for right now. They've all been together since early spring with no problems. My one year old Australorp Callie is the bossiest of her age group and often hangs out with the older clique of hens. There's the usually amount of pecking but I've never noticed any extreme aggression.

Welp, this afternoon I went to feed them and Callie's head has been pecked bald! It also looks like someone bit off the rearmost spike from her comb. She doesn't seem hurt otherwise, but I took her inside, washed the area off with surgical scrub and put some antibiotic cream on it just in case, and I'm keeping her the isolation cage inside for now. She's acting fine, she's usually pretty chill, and doesn't seem to be in pain.

I have no idea which hens would have done this to her. Possibly she made a power play and got put in her place by one of the older ladies (do chickens do that)?

Any advice on what to do next from folks with more chicken experience? Should I keep her isolated for a few days to make sure they don't peck the wound back open? I want to give her a day or two at least to make sure there's no infection. I've read so much about chickens being attracted to wounds that I'm a bit scared, especially since her pale skin shows up so much against the dark feathers. My sister jokingly suggested to coloring her skin in with a magic marker, hah hah, but I don't think a bandage or little cap would stay in place and might make things worse. And is there anything I can do to prevent this happening again?

 

[rosemarythyme]

She's not really injured so I wouldn't isolate her. If you really want to "color" the skin there you can use Blu Kote which is also an antiseptic. I would keep an eye on the flock and their behavior in the next few days to see if you can figure out who did it, or if maybe there's been a change in the pecking order.

 

[Gwethrien]

I totally had a beta make a failed power play and ended up with a bald spot and light bloody comb I cleaned her up and sent back out there (there was only three of them at the time). She learned her lesson and Lettie remains head hen, even though she is most unreliable egg producer but I guess they have different standards.

 

[Gtstricky]

Check out this vid....