(WARNING: nasty photo of injury) What got her and is there any hope for recovery?

Hogs and Horns

Songster
12 Years
Dec 17, 2011
55
12
106
Sorry this photo is brutal. The white parts are the hydrogen peroxide bubbles.

I came home last night from work and found our poor New Hampshire red hen had been attacked during the day. This is the first time any predator has attacked our girls, and I'm clueless. From the location and size of the bites (on her back, at the base of her tail), I'm guessing she was attacked by something on the ground that chased her rather than a bird of prey.

1. Is there any hope for her?

2. I poured hydrogen peroxide on it last night. I washed it with soapy warm water and poured more peroxide again this morning. She is in a dog crate inside the house to keep it clean, prevent flies from getting on it, and separate her from the other hen. (Other hen is secured in the coop....no free-ranging.)

3. The local vet said he doesn't treat chickens.

4. There is a farm supply store in the next town over. I will buy VetRX, Rooster Booster, and Blu-Kote later this morning.



THANK YOU for any help you can provide!!!
 
Instead of hydrogen peroxide, clean with diluted betadyne. Hyrdrogen peroxide can damage healthy tissue.
Use antibiotic ointment (without pain reliever in it-that's toxic to chickens) or Vetericyn gel instead of blue kote. Blue kote it is not for open wounds like this.
Make sure she's drinking and eating -fluids are of utmost importance and you may have to tube her.
Of course there's hope. Chickens are remarkably resilient when given care. I would clean her wounds daily for the next few days, then dry the wound and apply antibiotic or vetericyn. Don't cover the wounds. Keep her warm and quiet. You've done the right thing by bringing her inside. The Rooster Booster will help.
Let us know how she's doing!
 


This is how she looked Saturday afternoon. Thanks to your kind advice, I am using diluted Betadine to clean her twice a day. Then she gets Vetericyn hydro gel twice a day. She gets a few drops of warmed VetRx directly into her throat at night, and I added Rooster Booster "vitamins and electrolytes with Lacto Bacillus" to her water. Her stools are not yet normal, still too soft, but she's eating and drinking. She's under a heat lamp in the house.
 


This is a photo of her on Sunday morning. I trimmed more of her feathers because they were still getting in the wounds. Unfortunately, I took this photo after I began spraying the Vetericyn gel. There are (what appear to my untrained eye) a couple of nearly transparent sacks on the surface, near the upper right edge of her wounds. I suspect they could hold pus. This morning, I punctured one and cleaned it again with diluted Betadine and sprayed it with Vetericyn. What do you guys think? Could the small sacks be indicative of infection or are they something else? What else can we do for her? Thank you SO much for your wonderfully kind help!!!
 
I read somewhere that betadine can also cause tissue damage, so you might want to research using something like Chlorhexidine instead. FWIW, to the best of my knowledge, betadine is not supposed to be diluted.

Primary closure may not be appropriate for a grossly contaminated or infected wound. Therefore, if closure is a suitable goal, it may be delayed until the contamination or infection is controlled. The wound can be managed short-term as an open wound until it appears healthy. At that time, the wound can be safely closed with minimal risk of complications. The time between initial debridement and final closure vary according to the degree of contamination or infection. Minimally contaminated wounds may be closed after 24–72 hr. Longer periods may be required for heavily infected wounds.
Wounds that are closed >5 days after the initial wounding are considered to be a secondary closure. This implies that granulation tissue has begun to form in the wound before closure.
Open Wound Management

When a wound cannot or should not be closed, open wound management (ie, second-intention healing) may be appropriate. Such wounds include those in which there has been a loss of skin that makes closure impossible or those that are too grossly infected to close. Longitudinal degloving injuries of the extremities are especially amenable to open wound management. Open wound management enables progressive debridement procedures and does not require specialized equipment (such as may be needed with skin grafting). However, it increases cost, prolongs time for healing, and may create complications from wound contracture.
Open wound management is based on repeated bandaging and debridement as needed until the wound heals. Traditional therapy calls for wet-to-dry dressings initially. These dressings help with mechanical debridement at every bandage change. Until a granulation bed forms, the bandage should be changed at least once daily. In the early stages of healing, the bandage may need to be changed as often as twice daily. After granulation tissue develops, the bandage should be changed to a dry, nonstick dressing so the granulation bed is not disrupted. Both the granulation bed and the early epithelium are easily damaged, and disruption of the granulation bed delays wound healing.
More recently, the concept of moist wound healing has emerged. In this technique, wound healing is combined with autolytic debridement to advance wound healing. The use of moist wound dressings keeps white cells healthier, allowing them to aid in the debridement process. Many dressings are available. Alginate dressings are commonly used in the exudative wound to stimulate granulation tissue. Hydrocolloids are used to maintain moisture levels in drier wounds. Classically, moist wound dressings are changed only every 2 days.
Sugar Dressings

Sugar has been used as an inexpensive wound dressing for over 3 centuries. The use of sugar is based on its high osmolality, which draws fluid out of the wound. Reducing water in the wound inhibits the growth of bacteria. The use of sugar also aids in the debridement of necrotic tissue, while preserving viable tissue. Granulated sugar is placed into the wound cavity in a layer 1-cm thick and covered with a thick dressing to absorb fluid drawn from the wound. The sugar dressing should be changed once or twice daily or more frequently as needed (eg, whenever “strike-through” is seen on the bandage). During the bandage change, the wound should be liberally lavaged with warm saline or tap water. Sugar dressings may be used until granulation tissue is seen. Once all infection is resolved, the wound may be closed or allowed to epithelize. Because a large volume of fluid can be removed from the wound, the patient's hemodynamic and hydration status must be monitored and treated accordingly. Hypovolemia and low colloid osmotic pressure are complications that may be associated with this therapy.
Honey Dressings

Honey has also been used for wound dressings over the centuries. Honey's beneficial effects are thought to be a result of hydrogen peroxide production from activity of the glucose oxidase enzyme. The low pH of honey also may accelerate healing. Honey used for wound healing must be unpasteurized, and the source of the honey appears to be a factor in its effectiveness. Manuka honey may be the best option for wound care. The contact layer wound dressings should be soaked in honey before application. The bandage may be changed daily or more frequently as needed.

-Kathy
 
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Ooooh Manuka honey would be great. The have the +32 active stuff at wegmans. It's expenaive but it is very medicinal. It looks good as far as a big wound goes. Your doing a great job
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Thank you, Kathy! I will get the supplies you mention to follow the advice you gave me. God willing, this little gal will pull through.
 

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