Another chicken got bitten on the stomach. Will she live?

JuliaSunshine

Songster
Apr 3, 2022
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West coast Canada
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The pic didn't show another inch of cut at the end. The cut is so big that I'm not sure if she'll live or I should put her down.


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Poor girl!

What happened? Did a predator get her?

If vet care is an option, that would be best.

Otherwise, clean the wound with Chlorhexidine, apply triple antibiotic ointment.
 
Someone working at a vet office said she needs stitches.

A dog bit her today. The person I mentioned said I could use crazy glue. I'll give that a try.


How is she doing?

That's a very large wound to try to glue together and a lot of times if not cleaned well, the wound will get infected if you close it.

Can your Vet Tech friend come over and help you with this?
 
How is she doing?

That's a very large wound to try to glue together and a lot of times if not cleaned well, the wound will get infected if you close it.

Can your Vet Tech friend come over and help you with this?
Yes she came over. I couldn't do it myself. She cleaned and glued the wound but left a bit of gap so it can drain.
Hopefully my pullet can recover from it.
The other chicken almost died after getting penicillin shot but we gave CPR to her for 10 minutes to bring her back. That was such a drama.... calling, clapping and cheering for her to come back at the same time.
 
Things didn't go well with the pullet with a cut on the stomach. The opening from the dog bite two days ago is almost 4 inches long from near her crop to next to her leg and the glue didn't work so it opened up again. She can't sit down even during the night probably because it hurts too much. She ate a little bit once today and drank water.
Getting her stitched up is not an option. I wonder how she can heal from this kind of wound.
I rinsed her wound with saline solution again and put Manuka honey on it. She got penicillin shot yesterday and today but I'm not sure today's shot was properly injected or not.
Should I keep rinsing the wound everyday?

I don't want her to suffer unnecessarily. How do you know whether it's better to put down a suffering chicken from injuries or wounds or not?
 
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Things didn't go well with the pullet with a cut on the stomach. The opening from the dog bite two days ago is almost 4 inches long from near her crop to next to her leg and the glue didn't work so it opened up again. She can't sit down even during the night probably because it hurts too much. She ate a little bit once today and drank water.
Getting her stitched up is not an option. I wonder how she can heal from this kind of wound.
I rinsed her wound with saline solution again and put Manuka honey on it. She got penicillin shot yesterday and today but I'm not sure today's shot was properly injected or not.
Should I keep rinsing the wound everyday?

I don't want her to suffer unnecessarily. How do you know whether it's better to put down a suffering chicken from injuries or wounds or not?
Is there a way to get current photos of what the wound looks like now?
Any bad odors, angry red tissue or pus?

If you want to try to treat the wound, then I'd get some Hibiclens (Chlorhexidine) and clean the wound really well. Trim the feathers away from the wound so it stays cleaner.
Normally you would not wrap a wound on a chicken, but since this is underneath her, this is what you will want to do. Once you clean/swab the wound with Chlorhexidine, apply a small amount of triple antibiotic ointment onto a nonstick gauze pad, apply to the wound, then wrap the pad onto her using vetwrap/sports wrap. You are going to need to change the dressing daily, so you will need supplies.

Wrapping her may be more comfortable, but she may also benefit from you providing some rolled up towels for her to prop against so she can rest.


What dose of Penicillin G are you giving? Dose for Penicillin G is 1/4ml injected into the breast muscle 1/4" deep given once daily for 3-5 days alternating sides.

The wound is not in a good spot and it's going to take a long time to heal, so you will need to spend time daily tending to her wound care and seeing that she stays clean, is eating/drinking. Only you can determine the extent of her injuries and whether she's in great deal of pain/suffering and needs to be put down.
 
Is there a way to get current photos of what the wound looks like now?
Any bad odors, angry red tissue or pus?

If you want to try to treat the wound, then I'd get some Hibiclens (Chlorhexidine) and clean the wound really well. Trim the feathers away from the wound so it stays cleaner.
Normally you would not wrap a wound on a chicken, but since this is underneath her, this is what you will want to do. Once you clean/swab the wound with Chlorhexidine, apply a small amount of triple antibiotic ointment onto a nonstick gauze pad, apply to the wound, then wrap the pad onto her using vetwrap/sports wrap. You are going to need to change the dressing daily, so you will need supplies.

Wrapping her may be more comfortable, but she may also benefit from you providing some rolled up towels for her to prop against so she can rest.


What dose of Penicillin G are you giving? Dose for Penicillin G is 1/4ml injected into the breast muscle 1/4" deep given once daily for 3-5 days alternating sides.

The wound is not in a good spot and it's going to take a long time to heal, so you will need to spend time daily tending to her wound care and seeing that she stays clean, is eating/drinking. Only you can determine the extent of her injuries and whether she's in great deal of pain/suffering and needs to be put down.
Thank you very much for all the helpful tips.
I'll take a picture of her tomorrow morning when I wash her wound with saline solution.
Her wound smells bad... Today was worse than yesterday. It's like rotting meat.

I gave her 1ml of penicillin for the last two days but the person who helped me came over today again and told me to just squirt it onto the wound after rinsing it twice a day.

I have to take a ferry to go to town and I'll try to get Hibiclens once the current storm is over.

She keeps making a sound that another hen used to make while she was sick for months.
So I now know that means a chicken is in pain.
The cut is so long and it's like her right side underneath is all open.
I wish I hadn't tried to glue the wound the second time. I was told that you have about 24 hours to do it and it was past that but I forgot.

I think a rolled towel is a great idea. I put a roost in her cage but I don't think she can jump let alone walk well.
I don't want her to suffer and also I'm not sure if I can keep attending to her wound for weeks.

Last winter I looked after the sick chicken I mentioned above for a couple of month and she died in the summer after I got so attached to her. I thought the sound she made due to her pain was just cute, not knowing why.

Anyways, this pullet is still eating and drinking. I gave her some scrambled eggs and oats as she didn't eat normal feed much. At least she liked the treats.

It's so hard to see my chickens dying from sickness or getting killed by predators. They usually hang out very close to me all day long as they free range and feel safe near us. I interact with them a lot giving treats or watching them. They became pets even though that wasn't really my intention.
Every time a chicken dies I want to stop having them at all but my husband is firm on keeping them. But he can't be as attentive as me so I do more for sick chickens.
I wonder how others handle sick and dying chickens.
 

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