BCM scalped by something?

[Jtaranc]

Tonight when my girls went up I did my normal head count and was down a BCM. I went looking for her and found her in my pasture where my 2 pyrenees and sheep are. I picked her up and she was wet which was odd and I brought her inside to check her over and found this.

What in the world did this? I thought maybe my pyrenees picked her up and that's why her back was wet but this is a very very clean cut. My girls have always been good with chickens.

Do we think this looks like dog wounds? Only time I've seen scalping was when a hawk picked up a chicken. This is literally
the back of her neck.

I called my vet, I work in animal emergency so I cleaned and closed the wound. Hen is eating and will be kept inside while she recovers.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Do you have a rooster? Although this is really extreme, I don't really think a rooster can have done that.

 

[Jtaranc]

Do you have a rooster? Although this is really extreme, I don't really think a rooster can have done that.

I do but he's 2 years old and never done anything like this. He's scared of his own shadow.

It's such a clean cut I would've needed a surgical blade to recreate that.

 

[WingItRanch]

It definitely doesn't look like a dog. I would have guessed a bird of prey that got spooked by your LGD except for the clue that she was wet. Are you thinking the wetness was slobber? Maybe fox or something?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I guess it might have been a glancing blow by a passing hawk ...

I would rinse it well rwice daily with either buffered sterile saline solution in a spray bottle or Hibiclens, followed by coating it with Original Neosporin ointment (the one that does NOT contain pain reliever) or its generic equivalent to keep it from drying out and lay that strip of skin over the top of it, and think about what I could do to keep this from happening again. Good luck!

 

[Jtaranc]

It definitely doesn't look like a dog. I would have guessed a bird of prey that got spooked by your LGD except for the clue that she was wet. Are you thinking the wetness was slobber? Maybe fox or something?

My pyrenees absolutely HATE hawks. I've seen them leap into the air when they fly by. The copper marans wander, I was thinking the pyrenees interrupted the hawk and then carried my chicken back up to the house and that's where the wetness came from. She has no wounds on her back it's just wet.

6 months ago I came home to a hawk dragging my other BCM by her scalp and trying to fly off with her. The hen made it, the wound was a lot smaller.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

God, that's horrible.
Had a similar (not quite as bad) experience with a young Barred Rock pullet who I raised and gave to a neighbor. Neighbor calls me one day and tells me to come visit, one of them scalped herself. I was floored! Turns out, she got caught in wire fencing and in a panic, ripped off a golf ball's diameter of skin off the top of her head. Doesn't sound huge but this was a 8-week-old bird, so it sort of was. Her bare skull was exposed. It was horrible. Neighbor didn't really want to intervene much, so just separated her and cleaned it and left it at that. It somehow didn't get infected. The skin closed back over it, but she never had any feathers there again. She's doing fine to this day as far as I know, but she didn't have hanging skin like this.

Honestly, can you take the poor creature to a vet? If that has any hope of healing it likely needs stitches. I know some people don't think chickens should go to vets, but IMO, it's that or maybe put her down? I'm no expert but genuinely don't see a way to heal a de-gloving wound like that without antibiotics and stitches.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

God, that's horrible.
Had a similar experience with a young Barred Rock pullet who I raised and gave to a neighbor. Neighbor calls me one day and tells me to come visit, one of them scalped herself. I was floored! Turns out, she got caught in wire fencing and in a panic, ripped off a golf ball's diameter of skin off the top of her head. Doesn't sound huge but this was a 7-week-old bird, so it sort of was. Her bare skull was exposed. It was horrible. Neighbor didn't really want to intervene much, so just separated her and cleaned it and left it at that. It somehow didn't get infected. The skin closed back over it, but she never had any feathers there again. She's doing fine to this day as far as I know, but she didn't have hanging skin like this.

Honestly, can you take the poor creature to a vet? If that has any hope of healing it likely needs stitches. I know some people don't think chickens should go to vets, but IMO, it's that or maybe put her down? I'm no expert but genuinely don't see a way to heal a de-gloving wound like that without antibiotics and stitches.

I see now you called the vet. Sorry for not finishing reading lol, couldn't bear to look at those pictures any longer. Best of luck with the hen!

 

[Jtaranc]

God, that's horrible.
Had a similar experience with a young Barred Rock pullet who I raised and gave to a neighbor. Neighbor calls me one day and tells me to come visit, one of them scalped herself. I was floored! Turns out, she got caught in wire fencing and in a panic, ripped off a golf ball's diameter of skin off the top of her head. Doesn't sound huge but this was a 7-week-old bird, so it sort of was. Her bare skull was exposed. It was horrible. Neighbor didn't really want to intervene much, so just separated her and cleaned it and left it at that. It somehow didn't get infected. The skin closed back over it, but she never had any feathers there again. She's doing fine to this day as far as I know, but she didn't have hanging skin like this.

Honestly, can you take the poor creature to a vet? If that has any hope of healing it likely needs stitches. I know some people don't think chickens should go to vets, but IMO, it's that or maybe put her down? I'm no expert but genuinely don't see a way to heal a de-gloving wound like that without antibiotics and stitches.

I am a vet tech and work in an ER. I called my vet and I've already cleaned and closed the wound. She's gotten antibiotics and is actually eating. Infection will be the big thing to avoid....

 

[TheOddOneOut]

I am a vet tech and work in an ER. I called my vet and I've already cleaned and closed the wound. She's gotten antibiotics and is actually eating. Infection will be the big thing to avoid....

That's great, she's in good hands then. Apologies, I honestly skimmed the written parts of the post because the photos made me nauseous. It's a good sign she's eating.