Worrried chicken momma with a scalped baby

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nursecarrie1976

nursecarrie1976

Hatching
5 Years
Joined
Jun 15, 2014
Messages
6
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9
Location
Jordan, Arkansas
Hello, My name is Carrie, I live on Lake Norfork, in Arkansas. This isn't my first experience with chickens, I have had a few Rhode Island Reds growing up in California, and a pair of Bantam chickens while living in Missouri. (The bantums had laid eggs and hatched 8 babies, which 5 ended up being roosters) Today, I have three Rhode Island Reds, 2 Plymouth Rock hens, and one large Bronze turkey named Sue. All of them live peacefully in a coop and fenced in yard. The chickens lay 2-4 beatiful eggs per day, and Sue lays 1 egg a day. I recently acquired 2 dominicker chicks that are now approximately 5 weeks old, and I have been caring for the two indoors. I thought they were ready to go in the coop, and two days ago, I introduced them to the others. I didnt leave them in there long due to the 6 foot black snake I found in the coop. (I took care of that after 25 terrifying minutes and a dull hedge trimmer) The next day, I reintroduced the babies to the coop, and all seemed ok. The babies were happy, and jumping and playing. I felt it was safe to finally get them out of the container and my home. The next morning I went to check on the chicken homestead, and found that one of my baby dominickers had been scalped by something. By reading the posts here, I believe my older chickens have done this gruesome act. Needless to say, both babies are back in my house, and I am trying to nurse the scalped baby. I have used neosporin with pain medicine (lidocaine). I later read that I should not have used it, but it was all I had. I also applied betadine to its head last night, and dipped her beak in water to forse fluids. This morning, she seems less lethargic and eating a little. If anyone has suggestions on how I can keep this from happening again, I would truly appreciate the input. Thank you all so much.
 
One way to stop chicks getting pecked on is to separate them until they are big enough to fend for themselves. You could also try putting them in a cage inside the coop in view of the others for a few weeks so they can get used to them. I had a chick get scalped and I put betadine on it and then vaseline with blue food coloring in it and he is a healthy rooster today. He has a bright red neck and head, feathers never grew in that spot, and I named him "turkey neck".
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about the chick. You could post in the Emergencies forum about it if the Neosporin and Blu-Kote don't seem to be working https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/10/emergencies-diseases-injuries-and-cures
You'll want to keep the hurt one separated until it is healed. When adding chickens to a flock, it is usually best to wait until the younger birds are about the same size as the older ones, or as big as they are going to get, and letting them get used to each other from behind wire usually works well .. ie if you can divide the coop or keep the younger birds in a cage in the coop for three or four weeks, nice article from the Learning Center on adding birds to your flock https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/adding-to-your-flock
 
Welcome to BYC
frow.gif
You got some good advice here. Best of luck with the little one!
 
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Welcome to BYC!

So sorry about your baby. X3 on keeping the chicks separate until they are about the same size as the adult flock. That equates to about 3 or 4 months old depending on your breeds. I have some 6 week olds in an enclosure within the run for my chicks and their own caged area within the coop for roosting at night. They are within the adult flock but separated. I will leave them there until they are 3 or 4 months old. Buy this time, they will have been with the flock for several months and old enough to defend themselves if need be.

For now, keep the injured one separate until the wound is healed. The feathers will take a bit longer to regrow. Use an antibiotic ointment on the wound until it heals over. Then when you put the chick back in, use blu-kote on the wound to hide the skin so she is not pecked. Keep the blu-kote on until the feathers regrow.

Good luck with your flock and welcome to ours!
 
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Update on the wounded chick.. He is doing great! (I think its a he, but im not sure) He doesn't look the best, but he will make it.. The other baby, poor baby, died yesterday. I don't know what happened. She was fine the day prior, and the following morning, she was somewhat lethargic. The lethargy progressed over the day, even drank some water. By the evening, she was non responsive. Poor baby fell asleep and never woke up. She was a sweetie, followed me every where. I sure dont know what happened. I put them in the house in a screened container at night, and they both roam free during the day. Since the incident with the baby getting scalped, I haven't put them with the grown chickens. I don't know what went wrong..
 

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