advice on healing an abscess pocket?

[TeamChaos]

A few months back, one of my girls got pretty tore up by some roosters. I brought her in, cleaned up the wound- it was a cut where the skin was peeled back under her wing, probably from a rooster spur- and after a few days, when it looked like it was on the mend, I let her rejoin the flock. Yesterday I picked her up and she had a hard, bone-like protrusion from the site of injury. After cutting away the feathers, it was clear it was a hard chunk of packed dirt. I was able to pull it out (about the size of a walnut- 1/3 visible above the skin, the rest under) and I irrigated the pocket and no puss came out. I loaded the pocket up with vetricyn and I sprayed the top w/ blukote and I have her inside away from the flies. How do I heal a pocket that deep? Do I need to put gauze in the top of it to encourage it to heal from the bottom up?

 

[sourland]

It actually sounds as if she is on the right track. You are right. What you want is healing from the inside out. No pus and the presence of granulation tissue are very good signs. Keep the flies away from her and periodically check and apply Vetricyn to continue the healing process. It's amazing how well chickens can heal from grievous wounds.

 

[TeamChaos]

Thanks for the reply, Sourland! Their ability to heal is astounding. I'm frustrated w/ myself for letting her go back with her flock too soon, but it had a nice scab on it and she isn't a very friendly chicken. I mean, she tolerates people but she feels safer and comfortable with her flock mates and I was worried that keeping her in longer to heal the wound completely would mean re-entry problems w/ the rest.

If anyone reading this knows what I'm talking about- I've taken a peach pit sized lump out of my rooster's wattle (it popped out easily) and now this girl, the top part of the "walnut" was above the skin and all I had to do was wiggle it and add a little pressure and it popped right out too- am I calling it the right name? Would they technically be abscesses or is there a more appropriate clinical term?