Badger injury...what to do now?

[Pindsey]

I’m looking for some advice. Our chickens were attacked by a badger two weeks ago - our rooster survived but most of our girls had to be put down, but we kept one alive as she seemed the strongest and only had a puncture wound. In fact, she had a hidden wound on her breast that was more significant. But we gave her antibiotics and painkillers from the vet, and kept her isolated (we bought more girls to keep our rooster company). I’ve been spraying the wound with Leucillin Antiseptic spray regularly, covering it with Sudocreme and giving her all sorts of nutrients and treats, but she isn’t eating much. Today, it looks like she has pecked through her inured skin and has revealed what looks like her chest cavity but it doesn’t smell anymore. She is stronger than ever, but can she really survive like this? If we took her back to the vets, could they stitch the wound up? We don’t know what to do. We’d like her to survive, but not if she is in pain or if she is going to catch a nasty infection. It’s just baffling because she is otherwise, healthier than ever. But her poops aren’t great. Any advice would be greatly received.

 

[Yardmom]

How is she doing?

 

[arwoon]

Keep her from messing with it, probably too late to stitch it up. I cut a little t-shirt for my hen so she would stop messing with one of her Injurys. I think it should heal up ok (it may take awhile)/

 

[Pindsey]

How is she doing?

Miraculoulsy, she seems to be doing really well...she is obvioulsy still in isolation, she is eating and drinking, but pottering about in the run happily. I'm giving her pain relief every day still and I'm spraying her wound with the antiseptic spray. But I cannot seem to get anything to stay on long enough to stop her from pecking it...it is just in the wrong position! Whatever I put on her just gets caught in her foot, either that or she is intentionally trying to pull it off with her foot and gets her foot trapped. I've literally tried all sorts; I've ripped tshirts, bought mini dog coats, turned chicken saddles upside down, tied tea towels, bandages...I've literally spent hours trying to find some way of covering the wound up, but she just keeps getting to it. In fairness, with all of her pecking, she has now removed all of the black skin herself and the inside seems to be healing itself. The attack happened more than 3 weeks ago now, so I'm praying that she is on the mend and will manage to pull through.

 

[iturnknobs]

Miraculoulsy, she seems to be doing really well...she is obvioulsy still in isolation, she is eating and drinking, but pottering about in the run happily. I'm giving her pain relief every day still and I'm spraying her wound with the antiseptic spray. But I cannot seem to get anything to stay on long enough to stop her from pecking it...it is just in the wrong position! Whatever I put on her just gets caught in her foot, either that or she is intentionally trying to pull it off with her foot and gets her foot trapped. I've literally tried all sorts; I've ripped tshirts, bought mini dog coats, turned chicken saddles upside down, tied tea towels, bandages...I've literally spent hours trying to find some way of covering the wound up, but she just keeps getting to it. In fairness, with all of her pecking, she has now removed all of the black skin herself and the inside seems to be healing itself. The attack happened more than 3 weeks ago now, so I'm praying that she is on the mend and will manage to pull through.

I'm not a doctor by any means, but maybe discontinuing the pain medication may prevent her from picking so much. Same reason I don't use them with broken bones or joint injuries for myself. I always know when too much is too much.

 

[MissE]

Do they make the cone of shame for chickens? Maybe one for a toy size dog would work. Anything to keep her from pecking at it.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

http://thewhimsicalfeather.blogspot.com/2012/10/an-e-collar-on-chicken.html?m=1

This is perfect! Great suggestion @MissE

 

[Itz_Kitkat]

How is she doing??

 

[Swbertrand1]

Miraculoulsy, she seems to be doing really well...she is obvioulsy still in isolation, she is eating and drinking, but pottering about in the run happily. I'm giving her pain relief every day still and I'm spraying her wound with the antiseptic spray. But I cannot seem to get anything to stay on long enough to stop her from pecking it...it is just in the wrong position! Whatever I put on her just gets caught in her foot, either that or she is intentionally trying to pull it off with her foot and gets her foot trapped. I've literally tried all sorts; I've ripped tshirts, bought mini dog coats, turned chicken saddles upside down, tied tea towels, bandages...I've literally spent hours trying to find some way of covering the wound up, but she just keeps getting to it. In fairness, with all of her pecking, she has now removed all of the black skin herself and the inside seems to be healing itself. The attack happened more than 3 weeks ago now, so I'm praying that she is on the mend and will manage to pull through.

This is totally random, but what you're trying to stop (her pecking at her wound) MIGHT be stopped by using something I saw someone attempt to use on a Wry Neck chicken patient.
It was essentially a long collar, and they were trying to get the chicken to keep its head up. Something like that might work, almost like one of those cones that are put on dogs to keep them from licking stitches and such.
Here is a thread showing something similar, though this is not the post I had in mind; look for post #4 in this thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wry-neck-from-injury.1324771/#post-21608294