Calling on You for Help!

[analyticalblonde]

Looks kinda nasty.....am betting beak to ear and/or lobe.
Anyone else thinking Mike Tyson?

Oh man... @aart ... I'm hoping it's not that bad! I will know soon though once hubby comes home to help me clean it up and give a good looking over.

 

[townchicks]

Wow, that's a nice set up. I agree, hardware cloth around the perimeter would be wise. Those lucky chickens sure have a great view.

 

[analyticalblonde]

So hubby and I did our first triage last night. Used sterilized water with a saline packet from Walgreens and drench the wound but the blood had dried on so hard I couldn't get it off. So, I drench the wound with multiple sprays of Vetericyn. She didn't like all of the wet because when we put her down, she started to scratch at her head and shake off the fluids. She did this a few times and I was cringing the whole time hoping she wouldn't reinjure her wound. I inspected the wound area and there was no damage done to her ear - the wound is right below her ear which is good news! So the damage is to her ear lobe. A part of her ear lobe is hanging from her head which has been torn off. This is darkened either by the dried blood or it is dying flesh - hard to tell. We will be monitoring her and putting the Vetericyn on the wound until I believe the wound has healed. My hubby wanted to trim the flesh off last night but I told him I thought it was still too soon and maybe it wouldn't need to be removed because a member on this forum mentioned it may just fall off or grow back into a scar. This is something I am not sure of because I don't have experience with this type of injury so I really am in the dark as to when/if the flesh should be removed. Can anyone tell me how long I should wait?

 

[Eggcessive]

That is great the it is only the lobe damaged. You should know if it is dead tissue in a day or two. Is there anything red or that would invite pecking, so that you could let her be with her flock some? BluKote Spray is for minor wounds and scrapes, and can be used once there is a scab to help prevent the others from pecking at a red wound. It turns the skin dark purple. If she has to be kept separate for a couple of days, I would let her visit with the other chickens in a dog crate.

 

[aart]

Can anyone tell me how long I should wait?

I'd keep cleaning it daily until all the dried blood is gone, the wound has started to heal, and any dead flesh becomes apparent.

 

[analyticalblonde]

That is great the it is only the lobe damaged. You should know if it is dead tissue in a day or two. Is there anything red or that would invite pecking, so that you could let her be with her flock some? BluKote Spray is for minor wounds and scrapes, and can be used once there is a scab to help prevent the others from pecking at a red wound. It turns the skin dark purple. If she has to be kept separate for a couple of days, I would let her visit with the other chickens in a dog crate.

Hi @Eggcessive

She has been with the flock the whole time. There hasn't been any picking on her from the other girls. However, when hubby and I clean her wound, when we put her down, she shakes her head and uses her foot to scratch at it. She doesn't like the saline solution and spray that is soaked into her wound and surrounding feathers. My hubby had a thought that maybe she may have scratched her ear and accidentally tore her own earlobe when we saw her doing this after cleaning. Is this possible? A small area on her head is slightly red from the tear and we are keeping an eye on it and her. We have not isolated her from the flock at this time.

 

[analyticalblonde]

I'd keep cleaning it daily until all the dried blood is gone, the wound has started to heal, and any dead flesh becomes apparent.

Hi @aart

This is good advice...I am patient and do want to wait. It has started to heal; I can tell when I clean it. But I have to be very careful of the flap of earlobe that is hanging off and down. I don't want to tear it any more than it already is. I will continue to monitor and keep looking for skin color changes.

 

[Eggcessive]

She might have scratched it, if there was something itchy, such as mites or an ear infection. Since there was so much damage, I would suspect that she might have gotten it cut on a nail or piece of wire fencing. Sounds like you really have a handle on this.

 

[townchicks]

It's certainly possible for her to damage the skin from scratching, dogs do it all the time (think hot spot). It seems unlikely to me, though, that she would tear off a flap like that with her own foot. More likely she got caught on something, or grabbed from the outside of the wire. You will probably never know exactly what happened.