Chicken attacked by fox working on recovering

[Maximus7]

Our chicken was attacked last week and a fox bit her on the neck pretty good and left a bite mark dead center on the top of her neck.
we got her inside and hand fed her in an isolated coop area for several days and she's been looking better.
since a couple days ago though she's not really eating much anymore, she's still drinking some water but turns down all the treats and food she was eating for several days (meal worms, scratch, seed mix). still pooping and walking around but just not eating.
Also we are trying to bandage her neck to protect it but gauze seems like it's uncomfortable for her, any ideas?

 

[coach723]

Can you post some pictures of the wound? Hard to make recommendations if we can't see it. Is there any bad smell around it? I would not bandage it at all, I would keep it open to the air but covered in antibiotic ointment, reapplying as needed.
Bandaging can actually help keep bacteria in there. There also may be punctures hiding in feathers, and those are easily infected if not flushed out well. I would check all around her neck, and everywhere else, thoroughly to make sure no injuries were missed. You may need to get her on an antibiotic if there is infection. Do you have anything on hand? Amoxicillin is good.

 

[Maximus7]

Can you post some pictures of the wound? Hard to make recommendations if we can't see it. Is there any bad smell around it? I would not bandage it at all, I would keep it open to the air but covered in antibiotic ointment, reapplying as needed.
Bandaging can actually help keep bacteria in there. There also may be punctures hiding in feathers, and those are easily infected if not flushed out well. I would check all around her neck, and everywhere else, thoroughly to make sure no injuries were missed. You may need to get her on an antibiotic if there is infection. Do you have anything on hand? Amoxicillin is good.

I can add a picture later but it isn't infected as far as we can tell and we checked around her neck and there were two other small punctures that have since scabbed over.
we have been using antibiotic ointment once a day but had it wrapped up so she could be in our outside coop (kept separate from the others) because she seemed super depressed stuck inside alone. we bring her in overnight and take the wrap off.

 

[coach723]

If it's scabbed over, then you don't need to bandage it at all as long as others can't peck at it. If she's outside where she can see and be seen by the others, that usually reduces stress from being separated, some of them don't deal with separation well. If they can't see her then try using a wire crate for her so she can be in the run in the middle of everyone, but still safe and see if she perks up. If that isn't the issue, then I would be concerned that infection somewhere is making her feel unwell. Look for any swelling, redness, discharge or bad odor around any of the wounds. Punctures are really bad for closing at the top first and sealing bacteria inside. You might want to feel around those, manipulate a little, see if you can feel anything under the skin that might be pus or infection.

 

[Maximus7]

Here's some photos of the wounds and skin around

 

[coach723]

I can't really see in the last 3 pictures, but the first one looks pretty deep and like it's not really healing. I would be inclined to flush that one out really well with a chlorhexidine solution (hibiclens) and then I would pack the hole with the antibiotic ointment, and I would reflush if needed, and apply the ointment several times a day to keep it filled/covered with it and moist. If there is any bad smell at all (I would put your nose right there and take a good whiff), then I might instead pack it with sugardine (that is plain white sugar mixed with a little bit of betadine, to make a paste). It's antibacterial, works really well on wounds, and will help it to heal from the inside out (I've treated some really bad bumblefoot with it with very good results). Redo that also as needed. If you have amoxicillin I would do a round of that, if you don't have any antibiotics then fingers crossed the sugardine, ointment, and flushing it out well will get it.

 

[Maximus7]

I can't really see in the last 3 pictures, but the first one looks pretty deep and like it's not really healing. I would be inclined to flush that one out really well with a chlorhexidine solution (hibiclens) and then I would pack the hole with the antibiotic ointment, and I would reflush if needed, and apply the ointment several times a day to keep it filled/covered with it and moist. If there is any bad smell at all (I would put your nose right there and take a good whiff), then I might instead pack it with sugardine (that is plain white sugar mixed with a little bit of betadine, to make a paste). It's antibacterial, works really well on wounds, and will help it to heal from the inside out (I've treated some really bad bumblefoot with it with very good results). Redo that also as needed. If you have amoxicillin I would do a round of that, if you don't have any antibiotics then fingers crossed the sugardine, ointment, and flushing it out well will get it.

Awesome thanks for the advice!