Wounds and dirt bathing... a question

[AmyBella]

My girl had a half-dollar sized patch of skin under her wing torn off by a fox 11 days ago. She is healing remarkably well... the wound is looking better each day. I have kept her in the house except for short, well supervised excursions outside recently. Well, tonight wasn't so well supervised! She managed to take a very vigorous dirt bath and her wound is caked with very fine, dry, dusty dirt.

To rinse or not to rinse... that is the question. This bird hates to be handled - who can blame her after all of the nursing she's had to put up with! So I don't want to stress her, and I highly doubt that I will be able to completely remove the dirt stuck there.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Judy]

She might do fine if you leave her alone. Or you could compromise and smear some Neosporin on the wound right along with the dirt. She wouldn't be the first animal who healed a wound with a dirt dusting. Just watch for new redness or warmth which indicate new infection. It's a judgment call; it really depends what shape both she and the wound are in. I would continue to keep her in most of the time, though.

 

[sallysalmon]

My girl had a half-dollar sized patch of skin under her wing torn off by a fox 11 days ago. She is healing remarkably well... the wound is looking better each day. I have kept her in the house except for short, well supervised excursions outside recently. Well, tonight wasn't so well supervised! She managed to take a very vigorous dirt bath and her wound is caked with very fine, dry, dusty dirt.

To rinse or not to rinse... that is the question. This bird hates to be handled - who can blame her after all of the nursing she's had to put up with! So I don't want to stress her, and I highly doubt that I will be able to completely remove the dirt stuck there.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

What did you end up doing? I have a hen healing from a hawk attack. It’s been a week of isolation and she is healing well. The wound doesn’t seem to be open anymore but it’s still healing and deep. She took a dust bath yesterday and I’m wondering if I should rinse her or let her take care of it herself. Continuing to spray with poultry antibiotic spray to keep from infection.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

What did you end up doing? I have a hen healing from a hawk attack. It’s been a week of isolation and she is healing well. The wound doesn’t seem to be open anymore but it’s still healing and deep. She took a dust bath yesterday and I’m wondering if I should rinse her or let her take care of it herself. Continuing to spray with poultry antibiotic spray to keep from infection.

Start a new thread and I'm sure some folks will chime in to help, this thread is 9 yrs old