Chicken attacked by a coyote, big neck wound, please HELP

[mgcc]

Hello, my chicken got attacked by a coyote today. I was able to scare him away before he killed anyone but one of my chickens was severely affected with a big gash all around her neck. He pulled all her feathers around the neck out pulling along her skin. I can see her tendons and fatty tissues are exposed. She is doing fine and is appropriately alert and interactive. She is walking around, and has normal range of motion of her head. Things I've done:
1. separated her from the rest of the flock
2. irrigated her wound thoroughly with saline
3. inspected to make sure no main veins or arteries were punctures - she is not actively bleeding
4. given her oral amoxicillin
5. given her oral aspirin

She is eating and drinking water without issues, but I am worried about the extent of her wound and whether skin and feathers will eventually grow. I am also worried about putting vetrycin or neosporin in such a large wound with exposed tendons. This is my first flock of chickens and my first predator attack. I do plan to take her to the vet but they are closed today. Any help and guidance will be deeply appreciated. I am so sad and frustrated because I want her to heal and be well.

 

[azygous]

Here's what you do in the event of a predator attack to treat the survivor.

1. Treat for shock as the number one step. Give warm Gatoraid or mix a half teaspoon of sugar into a fourth of a cup of warm water with a pinch of salt and baking soda. Have the patient drink it all or syringe it into the beak.

2. Flush the wound well with saline. This is better than soap and water as it maintains the PH of the tissues. But warm soap and water will do. You need to wash away the bacteria from the wound.

3. Inspect the wound carefully. If it has a skin flap dangling, keep that. Do not cut it off. Look for bite, tear or puncture marks indicating a puncture wound. If you see this, the patient will need an oral antibiotic such as amoxicillin. Bacteria from the predator’s mouth can be injected deep into tissue and can kill in as little as 24 to 48 hours. You can order this https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/250mg once a day for ten days. Or you may be able to find this or something similar at TSC or a pet store.

4. Spray with Vetericyn wound treament and let dry. Use a topical antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin or a generic without pain killer in it to coat the wound. If there's a skin flap, lay it across the wound that has just been coated with the ointment. Then smooth on a generous amount over the top of the skin flap to hold it in place.

5. It's useless to try to stitch a wound on a chicken. Don't even try. It's also useless to try to bandage a wound other than on the feet. The chicken will not tolerate it. It will be pulled off faster than you can blink an eye.

6. Clean the wound every day following the above steps. Keep the wound covered with the ointment. Never allow the wound to get dried out or it will not heal.

 

[mgcc]

Thank you to everyone again for your input and help calming this mama chick down!
We went to see the vet and she is one lucky chick!! We scared the coyote right in time before he could do true damage. She does have exposed muscle and fat tissues, but no organs were punctured or injured. She should make a full recovery in a couple weeks, yay!
The vet recommended:
meloxicam for pain,
continue oral amox/clav for 2 weeks and
silver sulfadiazine cream to apply as needed to her wound.
She will be in isolation until her skin grows back to prevent other chickens from pecking at her wound.
I feel so relieved and full of hope. Chickens are truly resilient little birds and I adore their fluffy little butts!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Why not give aspirin? Is there anything else I can give for pain? Do you think its okay to spray Veterycin on her exposed tendons? Fortunately its winter in Albuquerque and there are no flies. So exciting to hear there is hope!!! Thank you so much. I may be able to sleep tonight after all

The first thing that comes to mind is that aspirin is a blood thinner and we don't want that. The second is that you don't really want to mask the pain. You want her to hunker down and rest. Nature, as I understand it, kind of takes care of it for her. There are hormones and such that put the bird into (this is my very poor way of expressing it) kind of a semi-comatose state for dealing with the pain. If we give pain medication they can hop around and be too active and not get the rest they need to let their bodies heal, if that makes sense. At least that's the way I understand it. If I'm wrong I wish someone more knowledgeable like @azygous, @Wyorp Rock or @ChickenCanoe would chime in and say I'm way off base.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

1. separated her from the rest of the flock
2. irrigated her wound thoroughly with saline
3. inspected to make sure no main veins or arteries were punctures - she is not actively bleeding
4. given her oral amoxicillin
5. given her oral aspirin

She is eating and drinking water without issues, but I am worried about the extent of her wound and whether skin and feathers will eventually grow. I am also worried about putting vetrycin or neosporin in such a large wound with exposed tendons.

Some photos of all of the wounds would be good.

I agree with @BigBlueHen53 I would not give aspirin to an injured chicken that has wounds and possible internal injuries. It does act as a blood thinner.

If you feel you don't want to apply neosporin to the wound, then spray it with Vetericyn or Diluted Chlorhexidine a few times a day.
Seeing the vet is a good idea, if pain medication is needed, then they can prescribe Meloxicam.

 

[alinas2010]

I appreciate your help today, and for checking in even later in the day. This means a lot to me! I can’t tell you how preoccupied I’ve been all day. Im even scared for my other chicks and hope the coyote doesn’t come back. We built them a fort knox coop today after the incident!

Of course I understand completely, my girls are very important to me, I would be a mess. If anything, it’s nice to not feel alone in times of distress.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Don't give aspirin. Otherwise you're doing fine, I think. Irrigating with saline is good. You can coat the wound with original Neosporin - it should NOT have pain reliever in it. Or spray with Veterycin. If she's eating, drinking, pooping and acting normal she should do well, just watch for flystrike. Chickens can heal from some amazing wounds! Good luck with her! And yes, the feathers will grow back.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oops, about the Veterycin. As far as I know, you can use it on the open wound, it will protect it and seal it from impurities in the air and keep it from getting infected. It will also keep it moist. We had a hen that got attacked by a dog and she had a big open wound on her back. It looked horrible, I don't know what all was exposed, maybe even bone. We sprayed it with sterile saline morning and night, gobbed Neosporin on it, then sprayed it with Veterycin. It took about three weeks but it healed completely. I'm sure your girlie will do fine too.

 

[mgcc]

Some photos of all of the wounds would be good.

I agree with @BigBlueHen53 I would not give aspirin to an injured chicken that has wounds and possible internal injuries. It does act as a blood thinner.

If you feel you don't want to apply neosporin to the wound, then spray it with Vetericyn or Diluted Chlorhexidine a few times a day.
Seeing the vet is a good idea, if pain medication is needed, then they can prescribe Meloxicam.

Thank you so much! I’ll try to get better photos of the wound tomorrow. I’ll also take her to the vet first thing in the morning so they can give me any medicine she needs and do a better evaluation of all her injuries. Appreciate everyone’s help in this post will let you know how what the vet says!

 

[alinas2010]

Thank you to everyone again for your input and help calming this mama chick down!
We went to see the vet and she is one lucky chick!! We scared the coyote right in time before he could do true damage. She does have exposed muscle and fat tissues, but no organs were punctured or injured. She should make a full recovery in a couple weeks, yay!
The vet recommended:
meloxicam for pain,
continue oral amox/clav for 2 weeks and
silver sulfadiazine cream to apply as needed to her wound.
She will be in isolation until her skin grows back to prevent other chickens from pecking at her wound.
I feel so relieved and full of hope. Chickens are truly resilient little birds and I adore their fluffy little butts!

This makes me so happy to hear how wonderful!