ADVICE PLEASE- INJURED HEN

[farminbigs]

I am hoping to find some kind of guidance, here. I have a hen who was injured, a large gash on the side of her thigh and she is missing a large chunk of skin. That chunk of skin is actually hanging from her body. We have been flushing out the wound and applying ointment and she is on antibiotics. So far, no signs of infection and the wound seems to be healing slowly, but we are perplexed as to what to do with the hanging piece of flesh. There is really no use of trying to suture it back on and the vet told us it would be inhumane to try to remove it. We couldn't afford to have the vet care for the wound so they basically gave us antibiotics and sent us on our way so we are finding our way on our own, which is fine because I am sure this will happen again someday. So what do we do with this chunk of skin, which still has feathers on it? Leave it? Will it eventually die and slough off? Should we snip it off? She is on pain killers from the vet, but it is by no means anesthesia. My gal is doing well, otherwise. Eating, drinking, sleeping, preening, she even laid an egg this morning! She's one tough cookie. We just want to learn as much as we can to help her recover quickly.

Thank you in advance!!

 

[Sarevan]

Is the flap of skin still have a blood supply? How large is it? Can you take a pic of injury and the flap of skin? Can she move freely without the skin coveriing the wound?

What I have done with pigs that have a flap injury and the tissue has a good blood supply I piece it back over the injury. After cleaning the area with a mild iodine solution. Add the antibiotic amd bandage in place, with a small tube to allow for drainage from the wound. There is a very high chance of infection of doing this that can kill the animal no matter the amount of antibiotics and cleaning you do. IF it is able to heal there is a good possibility that the scar tissue will never be as flexible depending on where it is located may even cause a limp.

If it is a large flap of tissue and you remove it, the wound will slowly fill in from the sides with new skin. There may never be feathers to cover the area again. New tissue will look granular, like chicken fat don't scrub it. There may also be clear drainage which is good the body attempting to heal itself with white blood cells makimg structire for healing.

 

[farminbigs]

Thank you for your response. I might be able to snap a picture tomorrow... There is still a blood supply, but it is a sizable chunk of skin and a lot of the skin is pretty nasty looking. She is already beginning to heal quite nicely without the flap covering it. The flap just kind of hangs there and folds into itself. We have thought that it should be snipped off from the get-go, but the vet heavily advised us against doing this. This is the same vet that told us bringing her home would mean a most certain slow and painful death.. But we are seeing signs quite to the contrary. She hears her sisters and wants back out to be with them and laid another egg this morning. We have had an experience with our cat with trauma and an infection and believe me- the difference is night and day. Our cat didn't make it, died of septic shock. She was lethargic and had oozy pus and wouldn't eat or drink. This hen is one feisty gal.

 

[pwand]

How thick is the skin where its attached?

 

[farminbigs]

Ugh! Sorry for the late response! The piece of skin is fairly thick! Think of how thick the skin would be if you were skinning your bird. That's basically what happened to her. Now it seems the flap has managed to fold into itself and started healing- I can envision it just being a flap of skin with feathers hanging off for the rest of her life. Maybe it will eventually die off, but my instincts keep telling me to cut it off! The wound itself is already healing up nicely without that flap and it seems like we could just cut it off. I'm sure it would bleed a little, but we already have the supplies on hand to keep it clean after we cut it, and it would scab over and eventually just blend into the area that is already healing. My only concern would be how it would be painful for her... But we do still have the painkillers the vet gave us and I imagine it they would at least take the edge off??

*edited for spelling errors

 

[pwand]

Ugh! Sorry for the late response! The piece of skin is fairly thick! Think of how thick the skin would be if you were skinning your bird. That's basically what happened to her. Now it seems the flap has managed to fold into itself and started healing- I can envision it just being a flap of skin with feathers hanging off for the rest of her life. Maybe it will eventually die off, but my instincts keep telling me to cut it off! The wound itself is already healing up nicely without that flap and it seems like we could just cut it off. I'm sure it would bleed a little, but we already have the supplies on hand to keep it clean after we cut it, and it would scab over and eventually just blend into the area that is already healing. My only concern would be how it would be painful for her... But we do still have the painkillers the vet gave us and I imagine it they would at least take the edge off??

*edited for spelling errors

I would cut the flap of skin off. Give her the pain killers as you have some. You don't need the other birds pecking at it and cause her to bleed again.

 

[farminbigs]

Well, she is still in quarantine until she no longer has an open would. Do you think I would have trouble with it bleeding?

 

[pwand]

I'm not sure. Can you post a picture?