Warning, graphic turkey injury - need help on care

[saracarver3]

Hello, new member and new to poultry keeping (2-3 yrs.). I’ve never dealt with anything like this. I have a rooster who is a bully and I believed he defeathered my Tom’s tail and entire back end. There are some gashes as well. I had a hard time evaluating the wound by myself tonight. I cleaned with Veramycin (spelling?) spray and applied Med honey and just laid a piece of gauze over it. Tomorrow I’m going to clean the wound more. Any idea on a dressing for this? Or further wound care? Thanks so much!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Oh poor guy
@Eggcessive should have an idea. Can't imagine turkeys and chickens are very different in this case

 

[RosemaryDuck]

Hello, new member and new to poultry keeping (2-3 yrs.). I’ve never dealt with anything like this. I have a rooster who is a bully and I believed he defeathered my Tom’s tail and entire back end. There are some gashes as well. I had a hard time evaluating the wound by myself tonight. I cleaned with Veramycin (spelling?) spray and applied Med honey and just laid a piece of gauze over it. Tomorrow I’m going to clean the wound more. Any idea on a dressing for this? Or further wound care? Thanks so much!

Oh wow, that's pretty bad. It looks more like a predator attack to me then a rooster attack. I would try to clean it up as best you can, get all the blood off and see where there's open wounds/etc and then go from there. I'm sure some others can add info here. You're also going to want to stanch that bleeding from the bleeding feathers or he'll bleed out. Broken feathers are basically like taps that let the blood pour out. You can use styptic powder (like for dog nails) to stop it.

 

[Qualien]

After cleaning the wounds you can use coffee grounds as a blood stop if anything is still bleeding. Use iodine or something similar to clean the wound daily, and leave it open to air as much as possible (don't wrap it). Silver sulfadine is a fantastic healer if you have it, but it is quite expensive. mostly what he needs is time, and protection from infection. You'll want to keep him separated from the other poultry if possible until the wounds heal over, this is to prevent further aggravation of the wounds and cannibalism by the other poultry.

 

[Qualien]

Also, when cleaning try to keep feathers away from open wounds, move them away, or trim them to keep them out of open wound areas.

 

[saracarver3]

Oh wow, that's pretty bad. It looks more like a predator attack to me then a rooster attack. I would try to clean it up as best you can, get all the blood off and see where there's open wounds/etc and then go from there. I'm sure some others can add info here. You're also going to want to stanch that bleeding from the bleeding feathers or he'll bleed out. Broken feathers are basically like taps that let the blood pour out. You can use styptic powder (like for dog nails) to stop it.

I know! When I went out there and took pictures I saw. The rooster has already pulled tail feathers out in the past . I don’t know what else would have gotten him and not the others.

 

[saracarver3]

After cleaning the wounds you can use coffee grounds as a blood stop if anything is still bleeding. Use iodine or something similar to clean the wound daily, and leave it open to air as much as possible (don't wrap it). Silver sulfadine is a fantastic healer if you have it, but it is quite expensive. mostly what he needs is time, and protection from infection. You'll want to keep him separated from the other poultry if possible until the wounds heal over, this is to prevent further aggravation of the wounds and cannibalism by the other poultry.

Ok, does tractor supply carry supplies like blood stop or the Silvadene cream? I don’t know if there’s any farm supplies near me open today

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hello, new member and new to poultry keeping (2-3 yrs.). I’ve never dealt with anything like this. I have a rooster who is a bully and I believed he defeathered my Tom’s tail and entire back end. There are some gashes as well. I had a hard time evaluating the wound by myself tonight. I cleaned with Veramycin (spelling?) spray and applied Med honey and just laid a piece of gauze over it. Tomorrow I’m going to clean the wound more. Any idea on a dressing for this? Or further wound care? Thanks so much!

Keep it clean with the Veterycin spray. You have Med Honey which is fine to use or you can use Plain Neosporin on the wound.

I would not cover the wound with gauze unless he's picking at them. Keep him separated out so others can't pick at the wounds.

 

[Ascholten]

My vet uses corn starch to stop the bleeding when she clips the Too's Toes and accidentally goes a bit far on one. The feathers if you cant staunch them you'll have to remove the broken quill or they can eventually bleed out. Anchor / Brace the body part and a quick tug generally does the trick on them. This is much easier with two people obviously.

Aaron

 

[saracarver3]

Update: it wasn’t the rooster! Found dog prints and my female turkey was killed. Found carcass. I thought she was in a tree sleeping but found her this morning. I’m so sad. Snowball seems to be ok so far. I cleaned it really well with warm water and chlorahexadine solution and applied triple antibiotic. Rip Sugar ...here’s a picture before the massacre. I guess I need to look into trapping and build a fence.