*Graphic Picture* Massive wound on chick...any ideas?

[BirdyMe]

I'm afraid I'm going to have to put this fine little lady down.




This happened on Saturday night. I've had this monster raccoon roaming around...I think he was a mutant. x) He took the chicken wire of my pen and literally ripped apart. And he also took chicken wire that was heavily stapled into a timber and just popped the staples right out. He got into my chick pen, and took out most of my beautiful chicks, and my poor, precious, blind rooster. He also took out several of my other adult chickens. We caught him yesterday night and took care of him.

Anyway, this little Barred Rock is 9 weeks old. The coon managed to tear most of the skin off- so much so that I couldn't sew her back together. We've been keeping her bandaged up with gauze and vet-wrap, and we've been keeping the muscle moist with Vetricyn and antibiotic ointment. She's had no trouble with infection....but she's not healing very quickly.

She's incredibly perky and content- eating, drinking, bright eyes, moving around a little bit. I've got her inside in her own box, where she won't get dirty or picked on.

Has anybody ever dealt with a wound like this before? Will new skin grow back over the muscle? Should I just put her down? Is there anything else I need to be doing for the wound?

Thank you!

 

[CorinneP]

Oh that looks bad .. Boy sounds like your taking great care of her though .. If shes eating and drinking well and you have the time I hope you keep trying.. If nothing else to see if it can be done .. though I hope I never have to deal with it it would be great to know she healed. So I dont give up to early if I should ever have to deal with something this serious. We do have Coons : (

 

[MadHens]

Wow, I am shocked she survived that! I know I read a post recently about wound care and how if you keep it covered and don't let it get scabby or anything, that skin can regrow (or something like that). It's a very time-consuming process and is probably only effective for some types of wounds. I'll have to see if I can find the link.

 

[86121]

My mother is a vet tech, and she says that it wont heal very quickly regardless as skin takes forever to re-grow.
She did say though that every now and then it should get some exposure to air as that should help it heal faster.
She also said to keep her on something dry and soft, as well as provide a good roost (in case you haven't already) as this should help keep pressure off of it.
I hope she ends up making it, if you feel culling her would be best though then by all means do, ill just keep my fingers crossed!

 

[BirdyMe]

Oh that looks bad .. Boy sounds like your taking great care of her though .. If shes eating and drinking well and you have the time I hope you keep trying.. If nothing else to see if it can be done .. though I hope I never have to deal with it it would be great to know she healed. So I dont give up to early if I should ever have to deal with something this serious. We do have Coons : (

Coons are bad. Plain and simple. x) I'm going to keep trying for a while, to see if she's going to start healing. Maybe I haven't given it long enough yet. I'll keep you posted on her progress.

Wow, I am shocked she survived that! I know I read a post recently about wound care and how if you keep it covered and don't let it get scabby or anything, that skin can regrow (or something like that). It's a very time-consuming process and is probably only effective for some types of wounds. I'll have to see if I can find the link.

If you do find the link, I'd appreciate it if you could post it.

My mother is a vet tech, and she says that it wont heal very quickly regardless as skin takes forever to re-grow.
She did say though that every now and then it should get some exposure to air as that should help it heal faster.
She also said to keep her on something dry and soft, as well as provide a good roost (in case you haven't already) as this should help keep pressure off of it.
I hope she ends up making it, if you feel culling her would be best though then by all means do, ill just keep my fingers crossed!

Okay, I'll leave her unbandaged for a little while tomorrow....I've just been a little wary of the muscle drying out....would that be a really bad thing? I'll also get a roost in there for her...though I don't think she'll be able to balance onto it. Still, it's worth a try.

Thanks all for the opinions! If you find anything or have anymore ideas, let me know. She's turning into such a sweet little girl and I don't want to give up on her unless it's necessary!

 

[sundancenbare]

Chickens are resilant. Be sure she gets medicated food. Put ointment on it and keep it clean. It will heal just will take some time. It would not hurt to feed her electrolytes from time to time but give her a chance. She probably won't grow feathers there but has a pretty good chance of recovery

 

[86121]

Coons are bad. Plain and simple. x) I'm going to keep trying for a while, to see if she's going to start healing. Maybe I haven't given it long enough yet. I'll keep you posted on her progress.



If you do find the link, I'd appreciate it if you could post it.



Okay, I'll leave her unbandaged for a little while tomorrow....I've just been a little wary of the muscle drying out....would that be a really bad thing? I'll also get a roost in there for her...though I don't think she'll be able to balance onto it. Still, it's worth a try.

Thanks all for the opinions! If you find anything or have anymore ideas, let me know. She's turning into such a sweet little girl and I don't want to give up on her unless it's necessary!

The muscle drying would be a bad thing, just make sure to coat it with the cream when you have it open and uncovered. Keep an eye on it and make sure she is not picking at it herself. Dont leave it exposed for to long, but just enough to let it get a little bit of air.
I have also read something about Vitemin C and E in the water being very good for faster wound healing.
I also read that exposure to sunlight helps promote healing and overall health. I dont see it hurting to much if you set up a little pen in the grass and let her in it with the bandage so she can sun bathe for a tiny bit. Or put her pen next to a window so that she does not move around so much and use the muscle?
I also found some links (I know there for people but hey it may help)
http://www.symptomfind.com/health/how-to-make-wounds-heal-faster/ <-human
http://www.optiderma.com/en/they-talk-about-it/skin-articles/how-to-heal-open-wounds-faster.html <-human
http://shilala.homestead.com/woundcare.html <- strickly about poultry
http://briggs-country-farms.wikispaces.com/Wound <- also poultry

Hopefully something in there can give you some more tips that you can use or toss lol.
Best of luck to you!!

 

[Chitchens]

This happened to me and my hen lived! Don't give up yet, the best thing is that she's alert and eating and drinking. Last year my columbian rock cross hen Cana was attacked (by a coon I think) it pulled her underneath the wire gate and ripped one of her breasts completely off. She looked a lot like your hen in the picture. Maybe worse. I almost gave up on her, but she was alert and drinking so I gave it a try. What I did everyday (and the hen hated it after awhile) was rinse the wound out with saline everyday. It will smell horrible, and look horrible, but she might make it. Then I put a chlorhexedrine paste onto her wound. Directly onto the raw flesh. For awhile I wrapped it with gauze but the hen hated it and it wasn't terribly practical and it was good that the wound get air. The best thing about the chlorhexedrine paste was that it wouldn't allow the wound to dry out. It took 30 days of rinsing it out with saline and putting paste on it before I saw a real improvement (although I figured that if she were still alive after day 2 than it must be working) I had that chicken living in my living room for 2 months but the skin did eventually grow back over and she even has a couple feathers there too. You can get the chlorhexedrine at any vets office and it wasn't expensive at all. I really hope that your girl makes it!

 

[BirdyMe]

Chickens are resilant. Be sure she gets medicated food. Put ointment on it and keep it clean. It will heal just will take some time. It would not hurt to feed her electrolytes from time to time but give her a chance. She probably won't grow feathers there but has a pretty good chance of recovery

They really are! I have been keeping her on electrolytes the past few days. I'm looking for a good vitamin supplement for her now.

The muscle drying would be a bad thing, just make sure to coat it with the cream when you have it open and uncovered. Keep an eye on it and make sure she is not picking at it herself. Dont leave it exposed for to long, but just enough to let it get a little bit of air.
I have also read something about Vitemin C and E in the water being very good for faster wound healing.
I also read that exposure to sunlight helps promote healing and overall health. I dont see it hurting to much if you set up a little pen in the grass and let her in it with the bandage so she can sun bathe for a tiny bit. Or put her pen next to a window so that she does not move around so much and use the muscle?
I also found some links (I know there for people but hey it may help)
http://www.symptomfind.com/health/how-to-make-wounds-heal-faster/ <-human
http://www.optiderma.com/en/they-talk-about-it/skin-articles/how-to-heal-open-wounds-faster.html <-human
http://shilala.homestead.com/woundcare.html <- strickly about poultry
http://briggs-country-farms.wikispaces.com/Wound <- also poultry

Hopefully something in there can give you some more tips that you can use or toss lol.
Best of luck to you!!

We've got her unbandaged right now. I thought she would pick at herself, but she's really not, which is good. Thank you for the links! I read them all, and they were extremely helpful!! We're giving her some pumpkin oil in her food for vitamin E for now, and we'll also put a little on the wound.

This happened to me and my hen lived! Don't give up yet, the best thing is that she's alert and eating and drinking. Last year my columbian rock cross hen Cana was attacked (by a coon I think) it pulled her underneath the wire gate and ripped one of her breasts completely off. She looked a lot like your hen in the picture. Maybe worse. I almost gave up on her, but she was alert and drinking so I gave it a try. What I did everyday (and the hen hated it after awhile) was rinse the wound out with saline everyday. It will smell horrible, and look horrible, but she might make it. Then I put a chlorhexedrine paste onto her wound. Directly onto the raw flesh. For awhile I wrapped it with gauze but the hen hated it and it wasn't terribly practical and it was good that the wound get air. The best thing about the chlorhexedrine paste was that it wouldn't allow the wound to dry out. It took 30 days of rinsing it out with saline and putting paste on it before I saw a real improvement (although I figured that if she were still alive after day 2 than it must be working) I had that chicken living in my living room for 2 months but the skin did eventually grow back over and she even has a couple feathers there too. You can get the chlorhexedrine at any vets office and it wasn't expensive at all. I really hope that your girl makes it!

I'm glad your girl lived through it! That's encouraging to hear! But wow, 2 months? Looks like I have a new house pet!

 

[Chitchens]

Well, she probably didn't really have to stay inside that long, but I needed to make sure that the wound wouldn't tear open again if she moved quickly to get away from the boss hen or the roo, and I was worried that the hens might peck at her wound since there wasn't anything covering it and it was bright pink skin. She probably could have gone outside after a month, I was just worried that the rooster would injure her since she couldn't run very fast because of the wound. She's been my little buddy ever since then. She follows me around the yard and always wants to be petted. She really did turn into a pet. People would say, she's just a chicken just cull her, but everytime I watch my one breasted little hen grazing in the yard I know it was worth it.