DIY suturing

****! I had to put her down anyway. Two days after putting her and the other hen back with the flock, I found that the wound on the back of her neck wasn't just ripped open, it looked like some skin was actually missing. There wasn't enough skin to suture back together.

I suspect that my mean EE rooster did that to her because he was mercilessly flogging the other hen I reintroduced. I've got the rooster separated and living in his own temporary 4'x4' cage until I figure out what to do.

Sounds like the rooster needs to go down too, if he's beating up on your girls. But that's not why I'm responding. I too have a hen with a large puncture wound on her back (coon attack) that is now 8 days old. The first 4 days I didn't notice it because it was matted with feathers. She couldn't stand up, laying on her side all the time, so I examined her and found the wound. It's 1"X1/4" and nearly 1" deep. I've cleaned it up externally and can easily get a Q-tip down into the wound. I've irrigated it with hydrogen peroxide, followed with a water flush, for a few days, and swabbed out a bit of brown goop (thinking it's probably dried blood, dead cells, and bacteria). It does not look infected as it's not oozing and the surrounding skin is not too red/swollen, but it's still a wide open deep wound. I've treated it only with irrigation and swabbing triple antibiotic ointment down into the wound. She seems alert, not in pain, is isolated from the flock , and is eating and drinking.

My question is whether I should suture up the wound. I've got surgical sutures on their way and will need to watch some videos on tying the knots. Should such a wound be closed up or left open to heal on its own? I can't see the wound ever pulling together on its own, but I can imagine scar tissue will eventually fill it in. Any advice is appreciated.