Bady torn skin- emergency please read!

[GreenEggGal]

One of my boyfriends favorite birds has a very bad tear on the top of her right hock, I am usually the go to person at home for pet injuries but this one is too serious. It is so deep that the skin is separated from the muscle. She is popular with the roosters so it might be from them but it could be from the neighbors dog who was running loose yesterday, doesn't look like a dog bite to me though. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to fix it or is it time to cull her?

 

[CMV]

That is small potatoes...

Is there enough skin left to seal it back together? If so I would clean the heck out of the wound and seal it up with super glue.

 

[Barbedwirecat]

I use a chlorhexadine (Hibenclens in CVS/Walmart/Pharmacy) or an iodine scrub on wounds. Make sure to irrigate the wound with running water (luke warm) or sterile saline. Separate her in a pet carrier/kennel/bathroom or whatever you can, you need to keep her away from the others for about a week, preferably inside if you can (or you may have maggots), but outside if you cannot. DO NOT BANDAGE. Let it get oxygen and breath to heal. Repeat the rinse/scrub once a day. You should notice an improvement within a week.

I had a young rooster that had been attacked by a raccoon and a lot of his skin and muscle tissue was ripped into his back, you could even see his spine. I kept him in my spare bathroom and kept it clean as described above. He recovered fully in 2 weeks and even grew his feathers back. We used to do this for wounds when I worked at the vets office as a tech.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!!

 

[terryg]

I've had great success with products found at the local pharmacy - you can see how I treated a hen that was caught by my dog and defeathered here (really, she looked like a supermarket chicken, but grew all her feathers back and returned to laying!):

http://www.hencam.com/henblog/2008/06/buffys-ongoing-recovery/

Hens can recover from severe wounds. If it doesn't become infected, or pecked at by others, she'll be fine.

 

[GreenEggGal]

I don't think that there is enough skin, its a pretty wide hole but I will give it a try. The edges of each side of the skin are pretty ragged and I have no antibiotics for the infection she will probably get but I guess that is my only option.

 

[CMV]

Do not worry about infection. Chickens are much more resilient than the rest of us mere mortals. Is there enough skin to pull it all together? It will heal much quicker if you can get it sealed shut. If not, then she is going to be quite a while recovering in your house. She will need to be separated from the rest of the flock until she heals.

 

[Barbedwirecat]

If you keep it clean, you shouldn't have an issue with infection. The reason I recommended the Hibenclens is it remains bacteriostatic (antibacterial) to the area for 12-24 hours. If you are worried about infection are you able to go to your local feed store and purchase antibiotics? I don't normally recommend them as they typically heal really well on their own as CMV stated.

 

[Phantom_Rooster]

I apologize for hijacking this thread, but I think it is dead by now anyway. I have a chicken with a tear in the skin in about the same area as the one pictured. It doesn't look as bad though. It is simply a rip through the skin about 1 1/2" long and is open about 3/4" wide. Should I pull the skin back together for it to heal? CMV mentioned super glue. She left that open to the imagination. CMV, if you read this, please tell, what do you mean? Should I take him to the vet for stitches or can I just pull the skin together and tape it or use a band-aid? The affected area is bald in that area for now anyway. He is going to a coop away from the others for now. Thanks in advance.

 

[Phantom_Rooster]

From reading other posts about skin tears, am I to assume that an opening in the skin will just heal itself over? Let's say there is a chunk of skin missing about the size of a quarter. Will it just close up if it doesn't get infected?

 

[GreenEggGal]

I just found all of your replies. Thanks for all the help. Though its kinda late now a little follow up: The chicken lived and healed on her own, there wasn't enough skin to pull together but she just grew some new skin under the scab, I just had to keep the wound clean. I am sure yall have all moved on by now but maybe this will give hope to someone else with a wounded chicken.