4 wk old meat bird injurd- tips/advice

[PedalThumper]

Hi,
One of my 4 week old meat birds got hurt- a cut to his left rump- we suspect while moving on pasture. I have separated him out and have cleaned the wound and put a little liquid bandage on it to keep it clean. I am hoping to put him back out as soon as it scabs over. It started bleeding again after we got him in his temporary cage- sorry pic makes it look a bit worse than it is. I have him set up w food, water, and heat lamp. Any tips/advice?

 

[BarnyardChaos]

That doesn't look too awful, and I think it will heal just fine. I'd put some Vetericyn or Blu-Kote or something similar on the wound to stop infection and help prevent the other birds from pecking at it. (They are attracted to the color red and will peck at it.) It wouldn't hurt to limit his feed for awhile, just to allow his skin growth to catch up the the muscle and bone growth so the wound doesn't split open wider. I've had this happen to mine, and a few days of isolation with limited feed did the trick. The skin healed over, and I put her back with the rest of the birds. Her growth eventually caught up to the others.

 

[Eggcessive]

Is the skin pulled down, and can it be pulled back up to cover the rest of the wound? I would apply a little saline or Vetericyn, and dry then, put plain Neosporin on and under the skin and pull it up to cover itself. Place him in a wire dog crate on a clean towel for bedding. Keep him from flies. Is he able to stand and walk, and is he eating and drinking?

 

[PedalThumper]

Okay, thanks for the input- will look for blu-kote at the farm store

 

[PedalThumper]

Is the skin pulled down, and can it be pulled back up to cover the rest of the wound? I would apply a little saline or Vetericyn, and dry then, put plain Neosporin on and under the skin and pull it up to cover itself. Place him in a wire dog crate on a clean towel for bedding. Keep him from flies. Is he able to stand and walk, and is he eating and drinking?

He is in a dog crate with towel, food and water- he is standing, eating and drinking. He's in the garage. Because the skin is at the bottom of the cut, I dont think it will stay pulled up. May use sterry strip

 

[Eggcessive]

Sometimes if it is pulled up you can use antibiotic ointment to glue it in place. It is like a skin graft. I don’t recommend steristrips or a dressing. The clean towel can be placed over any bedding to keep debris out of the wound. BluKote is good to hide red wounds, but I would not use it until the wound scabs over.