Wound or contagious infection?

[Speckledfarmer]

Found my alpha girl today with a nasty black sore on her neck. Cleaned it and applied some triple antibiotic cream. Looking for opinions on what she may have. Wound from fighting/protecting or something contagious like pox? She has a bit of black on her waddle too. Thanks in advance.

 

[Judy]

I would assume it's a wound. I've never heard of a pox lesion in the feathered areas, only comb/waddles.

 

[Wyandottes7]

My guess would be that it is a wound.

 

[BantamLover21]

I'm pretty sure that it is a wound. Fowl Pox doesn't usually affect feathered areas of the body, only unfeathered areas like the face, comb, wattles, and legs.

 

[Speckledfarmer]

Thanks everyone. She is still acting "alpha" and I haven't noticed anyone else pecking at it so I will leave her in with the rest for now. Does it look like it needs to be stitched?

 

[Judy]

I would not stitch it. What happens with any dirty wound when you suture it is that you sew the germs inside. It needs to heal from the inside out. I'd spray it with BluKote or put a little Neosporin or similar on it, after a gently cleaning. Be sure you avoid any wound cleanser or ointment that has a "caine" drug in it, such as cetacaine, benzocaine,etc., as these are toxic to chickens in small doses.

They usually heal up well with little attention. You may have to separate her for a few days to keep the others from pecking at the wound. If you have BluKote, hopefully the color will prevent pecking.

 

[Speckledfarmer]

Again, very helpful thank you. Will pick up some Blue-kote tonight. I checked on her this morning and she seems to be doing well.

 

[Speckledfarmer]

She healed up nicely! Thanks everyone for the advice.

 

[BantamLover21]

She healed up nicely! Thanks everyone for the advice.

I'm glad she's fine now.