How to heal raw pecked chicken skin and regrow feathers

All poultry farmers will need to learn how to heal pecked chicken skin or roosters at some point.

Every now and then, a chicken will be singled out to be picked on and pecked at. This can cause nasty bright red, raw skin and a loss of feathers.

For hens, this usually appears on their back between their wings or at the tips of their wings.

We also had a rooster who had this on his throat area. It didn’t seem to be due to mites, but I’m not really sure what caused it.

Luckily, we found both a product that helped heal and a way to prevent further damage, and a trick to prevent more pecking.

Treatment for raw chicken skin

A veterinarian on a forum recommended Vetericyn Plus. It’s a nontoxic bleach-like relative that kills germs and helps wounds heal. It’s available at many places, including Tractor Supply, Chewy, and Petco.

Use chicken aprons for raw chicken skin

I made chicken aprons from the hens. I really got lazy and wanted to find a no-sew pattern. After some trial and error, this is what I found worked.

Chicken apron directions:

1. Cut a 9 ½ inch square piece of fabric.

2. Cut a 3 ½ inch diagonal off the top left and right corners.

3. Make rounded openings about 3 ½ inches up from the bottom on the left and right sides.

4. Make slits about 1 ½ inches from the top about 3 inches apart.

Tips:

• Using fabric with some “give” to it helps this no-sew chicken apron stay on the chicken.
• Once you make one diagonal cut on the top and one rounded opening on the bottom, you can fold the fabric down the middle and use those as guides to make the other diagonal and rounded cuts.
• On the first aprons I made, I made “ovals” instead of slits for the wings. The birds slipped out of these easily, so be sure to make slits, not ovals
• Have another person catch the bird and hold it firmly. Spray Vetericyn onto the wounded area. Gently guide the wings through the slits and smooth the apron across the bird’s back. If the bird eventually wiggles out of it, the slits were too long or too wide. If the wings don’t go easily into the slits, the slits are too short. Grab scissors and make them ½ inch longer.

Here’s a picture of one of my girls in her apron.

Healing the rooster’s raw neck

This is what the rooster looked like on May 24th.

The vet recommended spraying the wound twice a day for two weeks. I’m not sure about your rooster(s) but mine is not the nicest guy and really doesn’t like to be handled. That said, my husband grabbed him, and I sprayed him. We managed to do it once a day maybe 4 times, each a couple of days apart.

After 6 weeks, this is what he looked like on July 4th. This stuff works!!

And November 11th without any further treatment. He is a beautiful ruler of the roost!

Don’t miss these other game-changing tips for raising chickens.