Can this Rascal survive these attack wounds?

[Elise_Jones]

Questions upfront, story with pics below (warning: images are gory):

1: Have you seen a chicken survive with wounds like these?

2: What besides the cleaning and clipping described below would you do to keep her clean?

3: How can we keep this feisty girl from going crazy while she is contained for healing?

Hello everyone - an unknown predator entered our fenced backyard this morning and killed Buttermilk, one of our three 4-year-old chickens. While Hawkeye was thankfully unscathed, we found a huge pile of black feathers and had almost accepted that Rascal had been carried off when we discovered her huddled up in a corner of the yard, with the terrible wounds pictured.

We flushed Rascal’s wounds with a gallon of water mixed with a tablespoon of bleach and a teaspoon of baking soda, clipped the surrounding feathers, and removed the remaining debris. Although she has always been feisty, she sat very still through all this. When her eyes closed for increasing lengths of time, I was afraid we would lose her. After the cleaning and some rest, I put her in a box with some food and water and was away for just a minute or two.

When I came back, Rascal had jumped out of the box and was exploring the sunporch. It was pathetic watching her walk around with hanging skin and gaping wounds, looking for an escape. I was afraid she would hurt herself, especially when she started flying at the screen.

When her escape attempts didn’t work, Rascal went exploring under the wicker couch, where I soon discovered she had laid an egg! She was so anxious to be outside I finally took her for a walk in the back yard, but she kept trying to jump out of my arms.

We have her in a cage inside the coop for the night, where I think she will be more content with (while protected from) Hawkeye. While I am grateful to have the cage (about 3x2 feet and tall enough for Rascal to stand comfortably), I worry while contemplating keeping her in it for the next week or two that restricting her freedom wiIl dampen her resolve to survive. But if we put her outside, she’s likely to get an infection and will surely be pecked.

I love this chicken dearly. We have lost her other three companions that we raised from chicks during the pandemic to illness. What advice can you share to help us increase her chances of pulling through?

Thanks in advance for your wisdom and compassion.

 

[Elise_Jones]

I forgot to mention - Rascal ate her feed and drank water freely after we cleaned her up.

 

[nuthatched]

She should bounce back fine.
Irrigate the wounds with saline, Apply an antisepticand monitor it. Butterfly bandage might be able to be used to close the flaps.

 

[Elise_Jones]

Thank you for the info. Rascal is pulling through so far. Her energy is lower than usual, but she’s still feisty - like when she doesn’t want to be sprayed with the antiseptic. Hoping this tend continues!

 

[MysteryChicken]

We flushed Rascal’s wounds with a gallon of water mixed with a tablespoon of bleach

Don't use bleach on a wound, even diluted? It's a household cleaning agent, not meant to be used on bodily wounds, or internally.

 

[MarlaMac]

Chlorhexidine is much better than bleach. Bleach is caustic and should never be used.

Warning -clorhexidine comes super concentrated so look carefully at the mixing instrucitons.

If you don't have clorhexidine, saline rinse will do until you can get some.

She should recover well. I hope she is mending well.

 

[Elise_Jones]

Thanks, all, for your concern and suggestions. After three days, Rascal's wounds have darkened considerably, and she is showing more and more of her usual feistiness. We are hopeful that she will make it!

Chicken Chick advises cleaning deep wounds with Dakin solution, which we used till we could get some Vetericyn spray, which we are now applying three times a day.

 

[Eggcessive]

Saline is also good to spray on wounds, and can be made at home by mixing 2 tsp of salt with a liter/guard of water. Triple Antibiotic Ointment should be used on the wounds after cleaning to keep the tissue from drying out. Taking pictures of the wound healing is very good for others to be able to see. I hope that she recovers.

 

[Elise_Jones]

I appreciate all the thoughts about keeping Rascal’s wounds clean. After a week they are looking much better but a new challenge emerged today.

We have been keeping her away from our other chicken, but she has started pecking her wounds herself. We have cleaned them, applied Neosporin, and affixed some gauze, but she had been pecking at it a lot.

Where she had returned to her usual energy quite quickly after the attack, she did not eat as much today and was less feisty. She did take some scrambled eggs and a few blueberries late in the day. We will start giving her electrolytes again tomorrow.

Any other ideas for keeping her from pecking her own wounds?

 

[Eggcessive]

I usually do not cover wounds, just using the Neosporin ointment. Try doing that. Perhaps she was like to spend some time with her flock inside a wire dog crate with food/water for something to look at each day.