Neck Injury, chicks pecking when reintroduced, reintegrated into the flock

[CoastalSpice]

Hello,
I need some advice on two injury-related matters:

This 12-and-a-half week old chick "Lark" got caught in poultry netting 10 days ago. About an inch of neck skin was ripped leaving about a 1-inch gap. Because it was a neck wound and I could see exposed muscle I did not have the courage to attempt stitches. After 10 days of care and quarantine I let her back out this morning with her 8 siblings. They ignored her for about the first 5 minutes. However, the first friendly sibling noticed Lark's healing neck wound after about a minute of companionship. In response Lark drooped her head to allow inspection by the sibling. The sibling stared at it for about 10 seconds then pecked it. Two other chicks saw this and immediately came over to investigate. Both inspected the pink wound and pecked. I then separated all three which just created more interest by the rest of the flock. I immediately picked Lark up and brought her back inside. Lark is happy, gets sunshine during the day, and is eating just fine!

The wound appears to be healing well after using triple neosporine when the injury was first observed, then switching to Second Skin on day 3. It appears the new skin is developing from the outer edges and progressing inward. The darkest pink in the middle appears to be where the new skin has not covered yet.

Question 1. Does it look from the pictures that the wound is healing okay? If so, what are your suggestions?

Question 2. Does the middle darker pink area represent the part of the wound that has not generated new skin yet?

Question 3. Will Lark be able to be reintegrated or reintroduced back to the flock? I did notice this morning after 10 days of being in a large rabbit cage she is a little smaller in size and her sibling's motor skills are more developed.

Question 4. How much longer should Lark be quarantined? Is the small pink spot in the middle of the wound susceptible to dirt?

Question 5. Would applying iodine to the wound be a good "disguise" to minimize drawing attention to Lark's neck?

Any thoughts, suggestions, or shared experiences would be most appreciated!

r/
New BackYardChickens.com poster


The dark spot is where the exposed muscle was when the injury was first noticed.


Back side of the neck.


Closeup on right side of head.


Other right-side view of head (picture should be rotated up)

 

[Wyandottes7]

Question 1. I think that the wound is healing fine. I'm by no means an expert on chicken wounds, but it does not look infected or problematic. I'd continue putting antibiotic ointment on the wound, to make sure that it continues to heal properly.

Question 2. Yes, I think that you are right. Eventually, the skin should cover that pink area; it just might take a while. Slowly, the size of the wound will shrink, and the pink area will no longer exist.

Question 3. She should be able to be introduced successfully. You should watch her to make sure that she is not being picked on terribly, but if she isn't too much smaller or weaker than the others, she should be fine.

Question 4. I'd quarantine her until the wound no longer looks pink. Chicks will peck at pink or red colors, and that could cause further damage. Once it begins to scab up or shrink, you could introduce her to the other birds. But, I'd err on the side of waiting too long, instead of throwing her into the rest of the chickens when the skin has only just healed.

Question 5. I do not think that this would work. One idea is getting a product called BlueKote. This spray is blue, and acts as an antibiotic as well. It should prevent other chicks from being too interested in the wound.