28 Degrees Too Cold for Ointment?

[Anon112]

I have a hen with a bad slash on her back/side (under her wing). This injury happened sometime on Friday. I brought her inside on Friday night and she spent Friday night and Saturday night inside. Today I put her out with the flock and she will be with a little group of hens only tomorrow. I kept her in a part of my house that is not really heated---probably in the 40s in that part of the house.

Outside right now it is in the mid-30s, but into the morning it is supposed to drop into the upper 20s. Most of tomorrow temps will be in the upper 20s.

While she was inside, I was applying betadine and then triple antibiotic ointment to her injury twice a day, which does seem to be healing but is still "open"/"wet" and has not scabbed over.

Is it a good idea or a bad idea to apply more antibiotic tomorrow morning? On the one hand, the injury is under her wing, so not very exposed to wind. But I also don't want to make her chilled by putting something wet on her body.

Thoughts? (I do not have a little shirt or something I can put over her, and the injury is in an awkward place to try and bandage over it).

 

[Debbie292d]

As long as she's eating/drinking fine, I'd let her back out with the rest, but I wouldn't put that on at night. I'd put it on in the morning when she's mobile. Under her wing the other chickens can't see it so that part's a good thing, and also, it'll stay warm.

 

[Anon112]

As long as she's eating/drinking fine, I'd let her back out with the rest, but I wouldn't put that on at night. I'd put it on in the morning when she's mobile. Under her wing the other chickens can't see it so that part's a good thing, and also, it'll stay warm.

I put some on her around 4:30pm and then put her out with her flock. It's going to be in the mid-30s until about 3am when it takes a turn for the upper 20s as a cold front moves in.

So you think that even with temps in the upper 20s (which it will be all day tomorrow), she'll be okay with some ointment in/on the wound?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I have a hen with a bad slash on her back/side (under her wing). This injury happened sometime on Friday. I brought her inside on Friday night and she spent Friday night and Saturday night inside. Today I put her out with the flock and she will be with a little group of hens only tomorrow. I kept her in a part of my house that is not really heated---probably in the 40s in that part of the house.

Outside right now it is in the mid-30s, but into the morning it is supposed to drop into the upper 20s. Most of tomorrow temps will be in the upper 20s.

While she was inside, I was applying betadine and then triple antibiotic ointment to her injury twice a day, which does seem to be healing but is still "open"/"wet" and has not scabbed over.

Is it a good idea or a bad idea to apply more antibiotic tomorrow morning? On the one hand, the injury is under her wing, so not very exposed to wind. But I also don't want to make her chilled by putting something wet on her body.

Thoughts? (I do not have a little shirt or something I can put over her, and the injury is in an awkward place to try and bandage over it).

If it's under the wing, swabbing with the Betadine during the day may be sufficient. The wing is pretty good about holding in moisture. I'd wait until it warmed up slightly though.

I wouldn't bandage.

 

[Anon112]

If it's under the wing, swabbing with the Betadine during the day may be sufficient. The wing is pretty good about holding in moisture. I'd wait until it warmed up slightly though.

I wouldn't bandage.

So as today has gone on the temperature has actually dropped. It was in the 30s last night, then into the upper 20s this morning, and now down into the low 20s. It will get down to about 15 tonight, then climb into the low 30s tomorrow afternoon.

Today she was out with her crew and looked okay, but before I could intervene one of the roosters jumped on her to mate. When I had felt her crop right before letting them all out to free range it felt like she ate some today, but not a lot. She was foraging in the forest for about 30 minutes, but then found a sage bush to stand in for about 15 minutes looking puffed up and not all that happy. She came in with the group and is currently roosting with her flock.

Do you all think it would be prudent to bring her inside? I looked at the wound this afternoon. It is still very "wet" on about half of it (the half that is most sheltered by her wing/feathers). I smelled it and could not detect any smell except, well, a normal chicken smell. Nothing sour or off smelling.

At this point she hasn't had betadine rinse or antibiotic ointment since yesterday evening. Between her being out and about and also the rooster having his feet on her back, I'm nervous about infection. I also don't love that she didn't seem to have eaten a normal amount today.

I did bring some mash out and she ate probably several tablespoons pretty voraciously, so she does have some appetite.

I think that part of the problem is I'm not very confident in telling the difference between a chicken who is actually healing okay and one who is just really good at masking.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You may want to bring her in at night, then let her out late morning when it's warmed up.

If you have photos of the wound you wish to share that would be good.

If it's looking wet or goopy, I'd re-clean really well with the Betadine. I'd look really close to make sure you are finding all the wound. My hens was pretty deep and it extended further inside the wing (body side) than I first realized.

 

[Anon112]

You may want to bring her in at night, then let her out late morning when it's warmed up.

If you have photos of the wound you wish to share that would be good.

If it's looking wet or goopy, I'd re-clean really well with the Betadine. I'd look really close to make sure you are finding all the wound. My hens was pretty deep and it extended further inside the wing (body side) than I first realized.

You are clairvoyant!

I did bring her in last night, and discovered that the wound is a lot deeper and longer than I'd originally thought. It also looks like some feathers got pushed into the wound and are starting to stick to the healing skin, so I need to do some clipping.

It was hard to get pictures of the injury because I'm just one person and it's tricky holding up a wing, holding a chicken still, and snapping a photo. There's a lot more to the injury than what is in these photos, but they give a general sense of the color of the wound.

She is eating, but maybe has a reduced appetite? Her crop was not very full when I just checked it (4:30pm), but there was some food in there and she is drinking. She ate a bit this morning when I brought her breakfast and took a few indignant bites of food when I put her back in her box after a saline rinse and applying some antibiotic ointment.

The wound is warm to the touch but not hot. I'm not sure if it's normal healing inflammation heat or infection heat. She is not acting lethargic or holding still/puffing up. Every time I go in she tells me off, and if I didn't know she was injured I wouldn't be able to tell.

 

[Anon112]

Just an update to say that I'm going to take her to a vet tomorrow. At the very least they can help me clip/clean up the wound and also possibly give her some antibiotics/pain killers if they deem it necessary.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad you'll be able to see the Vet, I'm sure they will be able to clean that out really well for you and get her on the appropriate medications if necessary.

Keep us posted on how she's doing.