Injured hen.

[famerzellman]

Two days ago my brother found one of my hens head stuck in between the post of dog chain link fence we use for a run. She had torn her skin off all of her skin around her neck trying to get it unstuck before she was found. When I got out of work I rushed home to see what the damage was and to make the decision wether to put her down or give her a chance. Well she was standing, in pretty bad shape, but wanted to give her a shot. So I quickly disinfected the massive wound and tried to place the skin back on where it was open and bandage it up. The skin was to jagged to put together from how she ripped her own skin off. The skin kept falling down below her ear. Ive heard you should leave the wound open so the wound can still drain and the dead skin would eventually dry up and fall off (I hope) So here’s my question/problem when i changed her dressing today there was a tiny bit of green on the dressing (usually means infection) what should I give her for antibiotics? She’s also falling to one side now when I’m holding her but can stand on her own in her crate. Is this normal? She drinks very little and hasn’t eaten. How do I get her to eat and drink more? When should I leave the wound fully open without the dressing on? will she fully heal or did I do her a dis service keeping her alive?
I provided a picture of her sleeping in the sun with her neck cast on and how she looks.
Thanks,
Amanda

 

[christwodog]

If she's not drinking on her own, you may have to give her water with an eyedropper, usually if you place a drop or two on the side of the beak they will swallow the water. Try to do it on her right side, that's where the crop is. They can get dehydrated easily and then things can head south quickly. As far as antibiotics, I have given penicillin injected into the breast muscle. It was 1.25 ml for a 4 lb hen but it was not for an injury-related infection. There are alot of posts with info on treating injuries with good success. Stay away from hydrogen peroxide, you can use triple antibiotic ointment or neosporin without the pain relief.
I've seen much worse injuries heal up nicely, so keep the faith and try to make sure she's getting water. If she's not interested in her food, try a hard boiled egg.

 

[azygous]

Do you have any oral antibiotics on hand? Leftover people prescriptions work fine.

A large wound requires daily treatment. Washing with mild soap and water, followed by a dressing of antibiotic ointment. Vetericyn is also an excellent wound treatment as it promotes growth of new tissue.

If you can get the flap of skin clean and it's not trapping bacteria, you can leave it to dry up and fall off. Otherwise, I would trim it out of the way. New tissue will grow in from the edges of the wound toward the center.

Most important, the wound should be kept moist with an ointment and not allowed to dry out.

Your hen may be lethargic from an infection or she may be struggling with pain. Try a whole baby aspirin (twice a day) and see if that helps her feel more like eating and drinking. If she won't eat you may need to tube feed her to get her energy level back up so she can eat on her own. Most important, she needs hydrating. Get some fluids into her. And some electrolytes would also be in order if her behavior is due to shock and stress from her experience.

You've done well for your hen. She is worth saving. The injury isn't so bad that she can't fully recover from it.

 

[famerzellman]

If she's not drinking on her own, you may have to give her water with an eyedropper, usually if you place a drop or two on the side of the beak they will swallow the water. Try to do it on her right side, that's where the crop is. They can get dehydrated easily and then things can head south quickly. As far as antibiotics, I have given penicillin injected into the breast muscle. It was 1.25 ml for a 4 lb hen but it was not for an injury-related infection. There are alot of posts with info on treating injuries with good success. Stay away from hydrogen peroxide, you can use triple antibiotic ointment or neosporin without the pain relief.
I've seen much worse injuries heal up nicely, so keep the faith and try to make sure she's getting water. If she's not interested in her food, try a hard boiled egg.

Great thank you!!

 

[Shadrach]

Nothing to add to the good advice given above except to point you at this article about getting meds, food and water into a chicken that won't eat or drink.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

 

[famerzellman]

Do you have any oral antibiotics on hand? Leftover people prescriptions work fine.

A large wound requires daily treatment. Washing with mild soap and water, followed by a dressing of antibiotic ointment. Vetericyn is also an excellent wound treatment as it promotes growth of new tissue.

If you can get the flap of skin clean and it's not trapping bacteria, you can leave it to dry up and fall off. Otherwise, I would trim it out of the way. New tissue will grow in from the edges of the wound toward the center.

Most important, the wound should be kept moist with an ointment and not allowed to dry out.

Your hen may be lethargic from an infection or she may be struggling with pain. Try a whole baby aspirin (twice a day) and see if that helps her feel more like eating and drinking. If she won't eat you may need to tube feed her to get her energy level back up so she can eat on her own. Most important, she needs hydrating. Get some fluids into her. And some electrolytes would also be in order if her behavior is due to shock and stress from her experience.

You've done well for your hen. She is worth saving. The injury isn't so bad that she can't fully recover from it.

I have pictures of the spray I’ve been using on her. I will go to the store and get some cream to keep it moist I believe there’s a scab already formed on the wound so I’m assuming it has gotten dry. I changed the dressing and clean and spray it twice a day.
I will add pictures of the wound itself tonight when I change the dressing.

She’s getting electro lights in her water right now. I go over and try to get her to drink as much as I can but she will only drink very small amounts and that’s me kinda forcing her. I’ll definitely get an eye dropper to help get more into her with an aspirin.
Thank you for all your advice!

 

[famerzellman]

Nothing to add to the good advice given above except to point you at this article about getting meds, food and water into a chicken that won't eat or drink.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...dications-to-all-poultry-and-waterfowl.73335/

Thank you very much!!!

 

[famerzellman]

Here’s the picture of the wound now after using Neosporin twice a day after cleaning it. She’s having a little trouble with neck movement favors one side. I’m assuming that’s normal with such a bad injury. There is a little green on the non stick pad so I’m assuming a start of an infection. I’m going to go get her some antibiotics today. She ate some applesauce and drink little bits of water still but she’s up and moves. Anyway just wanted to post the pictures and give an update.

—-Warning graphic photos —
Thank you everyone!

 

[coach723]

She very likely is very sore, so that is probably contributing. If you can get amoxicillin (fish mox is available without prescription) or injectable penicillin G procaine, those are both useful for wounds. The only thing I would add is that I would try to gently cut back some of the feathers that are getting in the wound. That will help keep it clean and hopefully heal up better. Just use a small pair of nail or embroidery scissors and cut back what is needed. I always leave wounds open unless it's necessary to cover them for cleanliness or protection.

 

[nightowl223]

You're getting excellent advice here, so there's not much more for me to add. Just cleanliness, keeping her hydrated, medications for pain, and antibiotics, and sheshould pull through. I have seen much worse injuries heal up - had one hen that, as a pullet, had her head completely scalped from right above her eyes and ear canals all the way down to about where your hen's skin has been ripped off. She healed amazingly well, and is a darned good mama for an Araucana Easter Egger (I still think Silkies and banty Cochins are the best mamas, IMO, and after that, Light Brahmas, and then the rest of the breeds all vying for fourth place, LOL!)

If the injury had been caught sooner, I would have cleaned inside each loose skin flap, cleaned the bare muscle and other tissue, and stitched up the wound, to help save as much of the skin as possible, and immediately started penicillin for 3-4 days, followed by either amoxicillin or another, stronger antibiotic for up to 10 days. If you were familiar with suturing, I would have suggested that, had it been caught sooner, and been better cleaned out early on.

BUT, having said that, this wound was left open for hours, getting who knows what worked into the torn skin and the tissue underneath, and that leads to a greater possibility of infection of it's closed up. That makes suturing the torn skin together problematic, especially if the skin was dying during that time, too.