Pussy Puncture Wound

[Sylvestor12]

A while ago a predator attacked and killed one chicken and two got back. But anyways, one that got back was hurt and was all scraped up but I nursed her by putting her next to the food and water and helping her stand up. I thought that everything would be okay once the scratches and stuff healed since it was all surface stuff. However when that healed up all the way she was still limping so I scourged her to find a puncture mark that seemed to have healed to some degree. It was dry, and not infected but after a while I discovered that it got infected so I started getting warm saltwater, Bacitracin, and tissues. I would gently roll my finger around the hole to squeeze out as much as I could. Then, I'd flush out the wound with the saltwater to get even more out and I'd dry her off. Finally I'd rub in some of the Bacitracin. I've been doing that for a while now and there hasn't been any wound change. However my hen, Comet, is starting to loose weight and isn't moving to go get her food but will eat it when I put her in front of it. Do you know what I should do? Oh, and this puncture wound isn't deep, it's like it started to heal and evened out deeper in but the skin didn't heal over it. That's why I gently rolled my finger to get the puss out. I need to do something though because this is really taking a toll on her.

 

[Manningjw]

After reading the title i was reminded of my charge nurse telling us never to text a doctor about a "pussy" drainage because "pussy" doesn't read like pus-y if you catch my drift. Generally we use the term purulent to describe that kind of drainage - now that I have the joking aside...

It sounds like you are doing a good job of taking care of the wound, flushing it and putting a topical antibiotic is a good idea. I would recommend, if at all possible, to have the wound covered by a dressing which likely will be difficult on a chicken depending on location.

Further wound care I am not sure about without seeing it myself. Based on it not being deep I don't think it would need packing. If the wound edges are healed and curled over (not approximating) it could need debridement to close properly but I don't know that a chicken would have that sort of problem, their skin is very thin. Without seeing it, I imagine it just needs more time and wound care, possibly oral antibiotics to clear the infection.

 

[Sylvestor12]

Thanks for the info! I've kept at this and we've been giving her intramuscular shots of Penicillin and the wound seems to have begun closing with less and less pus* as time goes on. Do I need to give her yogurt or something to get her bacteria back?