Warning graphic injury.Will she be bald ?

[crtrlovr]

From some of the pix I've seen on here and watching my own Ruby heal, I'm amazed at how resilient chickens really are to injury, and how they can be so fragile at the same time. I had an RIR pullet that somehow got between the back coop wall and the garage it butts up against. The coop is a 10X10 dog kennel overwrapped top and 3 sides w/ small hex poultry wire, but we did not wrap the back side b/c we didn't think anything could get back there. Obviously I was wrong. She got back there, couldn't get back out, and the others ripped most of the skin off her neck and head. I brought her in, treated her w/ antibiotic ointment and made a warm bed for her. She stayed in about 2 wks. and the skin healed really quickly. I figured she'd always be bald, but surprisingly the feathers grew back quite well and there's only a line scar/ridge area that is the tipoff to the old injury area. She was really afraid of all the other chickens for a while (not that I blame her a bit!) and it took a while to reintegrate her, but now she chest-bumps and protects her place in the flock with the best of them! I hope your hen does as well.

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

Chickens are pretty remarkable. We had one of our young OEG hens attacked by a hawk and it ripped everything away from around it's neck. All that was left was a small piece of skin covering her throut. You could see her spine and esophogus and all the tendons in there. But there was no blood. We left her be and she is still doing just fine running with the rest of the flock. Her wound healed over and is now starting to grow back. She has some ruffled feathers still on the one side of her neck but she has made a great recovery. It has been about 3 weeks now since the incident. Just watch for infection.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I had a cochin pullet about 2 months old that was "scalped" on the side of her head and neck . I kept her separated from the others except I did put a small chick in with her for company. The chick thought she had found a mama and the little pullet enjoyed the company. I just kept polysporing on it everyday and within a few weeks it was completely healed. The feathers have almost come back in completely now.