Chicken attacked by coyote

[Firefly77]

So my favorite chicken was free ranging with her 2 sisters today in the front yard. Well my dad happen to hear her screaming and a coyote hade bit into her butt. Ripped 2 good chunks out of her i have cleaned and sprayed the wound with that blue stuff i forgot the name of it.


Well i have penicillin and clean needles i was wondering if i should start her on that for about 4-6 days for precaution so no infection hopefully sets in? If so my syringe is messure in ml how much should i give her and how do i safely administer it to her?

 

[coach723]

Often times antibiotics aren't necessary. If you see signs of infection then I would consider it. Do you have pictures of the wounds you can post? If you flushed the wounds out well, and keep it clean it may heal up fine. If the wounds are deep I would use veterycin spray (widely available in pet departments) or plain neosporin or triple antibiotic ointment on it (no pain killer). Trim back any feathers that may be getting in the wound to help keep it clean. Keep her on clean towels rather than loose bedding also to help keep it clean. You will need to keep her separated from the others until it's not a pecking risk. Make sure she's eating and drinking well, and that poops are normal looking. If you see swelling, redness (beyond what would be expected from the trauma to the tissue) or any bad odor, then I would suspect infection. You may see bruising, which will often appear greenish. This link has some pictures of a pretty big wound and how it looked during the healing process, may help:
http://richie-cunningham.com/2012/04/11/chicken-wound-healing-process/

 

[MountainWoman73]

I would keep her warm and quiet in a small cage for a day before administering anything. In my experience injured chickens will often seem okay at first and then go into shock and die and there's not much you can do. Sometimes they decide to live, though. I have two that have survived our bobcat! Good luck to her.

 

[Firefly77]

Often times antibiotics aren't necessary. If you see signs of infection then I would consider it. Do you have pictures of the wounds you can post? If you flushed the wounds out well, and keep it clean it may heal up fine. If the wounds are deep I would use veterycin spray (widely available in pet departments) or plain neosporin or triple antibiotic ointment on it (no pain killer). Trim back any feathers that may be getting in the wound to help keep it clean. Keep her on clean towels rather than loose bedding also to help keep it clean. You will need to keep her separated from the others until it's not a pecking risk. Make sure she's eating and drinking well, and that poops are normal looking. If you see swelling, redness (beyond what would be expected from the trauma to the tissue) or any bad odor, then I would suspect infection. You may see bruising, which will often appear greenish. This link has some pictures of a pretty big wound and how it looked during the healing process, may help:
http://richie-cunningham.com/2012/04/11/chicken-wound-healing-process/

I have one picture but its hard to see. She had a chunk above her vent taken out about 2 inches long and looks to be about maybe a 1/2 inch deep. Also another skin chunk more to the side of her vent that is about 3 inchs around where you can see her musclrs and such. Im more worried about her pooping and it back washing in her vents. I know its late but im getting ready to see if she layed her egg for the day and she eating drinking and poop looks good. Im gonna get our big dpg crate and fix her up in it. Should i set her in the room so the others keep her company or bring her in? And im also gonna clean her wound and she lost almost all her feathers at her butt so not too many actually touch her wound.

 

[coach723]

If flies are not a risk then crating her within the flock may reduce her stress and make reintegration when she's ready easier. But flystrike is a concern with open wounds, so if that is a risk then I would keep her where flies can't get to her until it's closed up.

 

[Firefly77]

If flies are not a risk then crating her within the flock may reduce her stress and make reintegration when she's ready easier. But flystrike is a concern with open wounds, so if that is a risk then I would keep her where flies can't get to her until it's closed up.

So she is where flies can get to her but with the blue stuff they dont seem to care about her yet so ill just watch it, if i see any flies start to bother her ill remove her to the house. She and her sisters love coming inside even though there not suppose to. Im still living and learning with my chickens as im only about a year and 3 months of owning them and i love them like family. I just hope these next couple days goes well because hayhay is my favorite and she got so much personality .

 

[coach723]

Be very careful and vigilant about the flies, check her several times a day at least. Flystrike can be deadly and can happen very quickly. I hope she makes a full recovery.

 

[Firefly77]

Be very careful and vigilant about the flies, check her several times a day at least. Flystrike can be deadly and can happen very quickly. I hope she makes a full recovery.

So today i checked on her dismorning, the biggest wound that shows the most looks good not to much swelling. On the other hand tge one above her vent thats the deepest is a bit puffy and i dont know if its from the would of her butt but there is a slight clearish liquid that drains from it a bit no smell when i slightly pushed on it. Alot more swlling above it. She wants to be with the rest of her sisters and even wants to get out and free range. Should i give her another day see if the swelling goes down? Or should i go ahead with the penicillin?

 

[coach723]

It's really a judgement call on your part, I can't see the wound. No smell is a good thing. I might try just flushing it out again today with some chlorhexadine solution or saline and recheck tomorrow. If you have veterycin you can flush with that and a syringe.
If your penicillin is G procaine then you would give .15ml per pound injected in the breast muscle once a day for 5 to 7 days. There is a LOT of varying dosing info - someone may come in with a different suggestion, that is what I use. Some say 1/4 or 1/2 CC, but I prefer to do it by bird weight to get a more accurate dose. At the dose I use a 5 lb bird would get .75 ml/cc . Penicillin is generally well tolerated. If the bird has been unsymptomatic for 2 days at the 5 day mark I stop, if not I go the full 7 days. In one case I actually gave it for 10 days. I'm not saying that's the right thing to do, but my bird is fine. The particles in penicillin are very large and settle out so you have to shake the bottle really, really well before drawing it out. And use a 22 gauge needle (or 20 if that's all they have) or the particles may clog it, they will clog a 25 g. needle. Alternate sides of the breast each day. Here is some info on meds, and how to give an injection, if you've never done it before. It really is not difficult:
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/medicine-chart
https://sites.google.com/a/poultryp...oultry-podiatry#chickens_penicillin_injection (scroll down to 'give injection' and below that is 'treat with penicillin injection'.)

 

[Firefly77]

It's really a judgement call on your part, I can't see the wound. No smell is a good thing. I might try just flushing it out again today with some chlorhexadine solution or saline and recheck tomorrow. If you have veterycin you can flush with that and a syringe.
If your penicillin is G procaine then you would give .15ml per pound injected in the breast muscle once a day for 5 to 7 days. There is a LOT of varying dosing info - someone may come in with a different suggestion, that is what I use. Some say 1/4 or 1/2 CC, but I prefer to do it by bird weight to get a more accurate dose. At the dose I use a 5 lb bird would get .75 ml/cc . Penicillin is generally well tolerated. If the bird has been unsymptomatic for 2 days at the 5 day mark I stop, if not I go the full 7 days. In one case I actually gave it for 10 days. I'm not saying that's the right thing to do, but my bird is fine. The particles in penicillin are very large and settle out so you have to shake the bottle really, really well before drawing it out. And use a 22 gauge needle (or 20 if that's all they have) or the particles may clog it, they will clog a 25 g. needle. Alternate sides of the breast each day. Here is some info on meds, and how to give an injection, if you've never done it before. It really is not difficult:
https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/medicine-chart
https://sites.google.com/a/poultryp...oultry-podiatry#chickens_penicillin_injection (scroll down to 'give injection' and below that is 'treat with penicillin injection'.)

So i know you might now really care but i went ahead and decided not yet on the penicillin. Above her vent where her tail feathers where at the top of that meat is kinda hard not as warm as it was. I been keeping it clean and watching her outside . I let her back in the coop to be with her sisters. (probably will regret it later but she most happiest with them).i was out in the coop doing a bit of cleaning .put out a string with some watermelom on it for them to peck at and she loved that. She ready to get back out the coop and free range but i really wanna ride the coyote first.

Forgot the mention as well i lightly pushed on the wounds to see if anything came out or if any sighs of infection and they both seem good. So im not sure how long it take to heal but i guess just contue to keep it clean and watch it everyday? And she should be out of the way on if the stressed would of kill her or am i wrong?