hen wounded, can't get rid of the maggots

[plan4him]

I've wondered about her getting too much of the antibiotic cream too. I know she gets some because it spreads around as she moves. I don't know that it would necessarily hurt her, I would think it would probably just "slide right through" her system. We are going to attempt (again!) to wrap it with the vet wrap. it's just at such an awkward angle. We are feeding her lots of good stuff and I reminded my daughter to giver her grit since she can't find it on her own right now.

I don't think the skin would come together to glue, but I think I'll gently check next time we slather her up. It might at least encourage me that it is making progress. The large area of skin was totally ripped off. Either way, I'll be very cautious with whatever we consider. We've come too far to mess it up now!

When it is time to bring her back out, I figure we will start slow and keep her in something (old playpen is a great idea) and keep really close tabs as she integrates back with the other 4. Her limp may still be an issue at that point. She may have to stay confined in the run until she can move good.

Nice to hear that others' chicken's skin has eventually come back!

 

[DTRM30]

My only .02 to add to this conversation is to be careful with the antibiotic cream. My sister is in health care - and has told me over and over - too much antiobiotic cream can actually slow the healing process. She always yells at me if I goop it on too much or use it too long. And she also said (which was mentioned earlier, and is no longer an issue since you arent' using it anymore) - that peroxide can/does damage cells preventing healing and sometimes causing more damage to the area on the cellular level.

If you were administering antiobiotics via injections - you may want to try just using a very small amount under her wing - just enough to keep the area from getting too dry and crusty.

I hope she pulls through for you though ! She seems so sweet ....

 

[ChicksOnBikes]

Hi there!
I just posted a new thread with some pictures of Rachel and her gross wounds, which are healing nicely. After a few days, she was getting really ticked off in the dog crate (she really really wanted out whenever we checked on her).
I did have her to the vets, and the vet gave her Baytril antibiotic for 10days (we crushed and put in yogurt) and the vet recommended silver sulfadiazine (SSD) cream, which is a prescription-only cream, but not very expensive. I think it was $12 or so, the vet called it in to Rite Aid for us.
My mom and I made her a chicken saddle, and then we ordered one from a lady who sells them on this site. The vet said it was really important to keep her from pecking at the wound, as that might impair the healing. The saddle (aka chicken apron) did the trick. We were able to get her back out with her friends a few days ago, and nobody pays attention to her (they are overall nice chickens, but even the "nice" ones will peck at red stuff).
I had wanted to put Rachel in an all-wire dog crate and put the whole crate in the coop, but it was too big. (I had a smaller plastic puppy crate that I used for her, but my dogs are big, and the wire one was too big). The wire crate thing is a great idea to keep them near their buddies while keeping them safe.

I think the peroxide is OK as long as it is quite diluted and used for the first day or two only, when you really want any bad germs killed. Dilute betadine is OK to keep using for a long time. Our vet recommended continuing "irrigation" with dilute betadine or saline for a week or more, I think that helps keep it moist and clean. Supposedly the SSD cream is used in people for burns mostly, but vet said it's good for cuts in birds.

My top recommendation for you is to get the chicken saddle!!! Go to the for sale section in this forum and find it. The price is very good and they're well made. If you are concerned about the wound still being gross, really it doesn't stick much when you use the ointment. I had also thought about taping a no-stick gauze pad under the chicken saddle to keep it from sticking to the wound, but I didn't have to at all. Also she might perk up being near her buddies, so she might like to be in the carrier if she can be near them, even in the coop at night.

ps. the vet appointment was cheaper than I thought, even with the antibiotics and the cream. I think they felt a little sorry for me or something. I just really didn't want to think she was healing if gangrene was setting in and she'd die anyway, that seemed too cruel.

 

[AngelzFyre]

So glad to hear Sammi<and Rachael too!> is doing better! Thanks for the update!

 

[chickens are great 12]

I'm glad to hear Sammi is ok!

 

[Traceyb]

Hi,
I'm new to this forum - though quite an old hand at looking after chickens.
I've been reading through this post and have learned a lot (though I'm in the UK, where we cannot buy antibiotics, we have to go via a vet - VERY expensive!)
I've had experience of a chicken with a maggot infested wound. What we found was - maggots don't like being underwater. If my chooks are unwell, I will usually give them a warm bath, so this is what I did when I found a chicken with a wound. They love a bath and it helps them relax, I've had them fall asleep in the water

So, just for future reference, if you find a maggot infestation, try to get the chicken into a warm bath (A large tub is ideal), with the wound underwater, and the maggots will swarm out

pick them out of the water and drop into a cup of dilute iodine, to kill them. We had to do this just the once - and there were hundreds of maggots! We changed the water a couple of times just to be sure there were none lurking in her feathers, waiting to get back into that wound when weren't looking

Hope you find this information useful.

 

[earth_ma]

Thanks for posting this...I would never have thought of using silvadene on a wound on one of my hens. Good to know.

 

[plan4him]

Here are some current pictures of Sammi. You can see her still sizable wound. She's kinda greasy from the antibiotic ointment (which, incidentally, is not harmful to her as she ingests some, from every thing I've researched)

I'm ordering a chicken saddle as our feed store doesn't carry them.
For a good laugh, google chicken diapers and find a link about hen holster chicken diapers. They show a utube video of putting one on a chicken so you can make it an indoor pet. Very funny! They even have a bikini option!

Here is Sammi's proud owner, my DD2

Thanks Traceyb for the bath advice. Sounds like it would have been quicker than our cream and pick method. Hopefully, we'll never need to take it!

Sammi is getting very restless in her pet carrier. We're trying a few different options of gating her in an area of the bathroom but she acts like she is going to try to jump out, which given her leg injury doesn't seem like a good idea.

 

[Rooneytune]

I have a hen in solitary now with a pretty good roo inflicted injury under her wing. I was able to use a small baby onesie on her to help Keep the flies and dirt out. all I did was cut the arm hole open a little for her wings and then cut the front off just before her feet. I the put a zip tie through both arm holes to keep in above her wing joints (think racer back tank). she wasn't very happy about it for the first few hours, but now she is totally over it.

 

[AngelzFyre]

Sammi's wound looks really good! It's healing up well and looks soooo much better! Thanks for posting that picture