We have a hen that we think was most likely attacked by a hawk. Her tail was almost completely severed at the base and she has a severe puncture wound under her left wing that we didn't even discover until we brought her inside to flush out the wound. We aren't practiced in chicken medicine and don't have the $$ to have her treated by the vet so we consulted forums and advice from a local poultry grain store. We didn't stitch the tail wound or dress the puncture wound, kept it open with her wing covering it after it was cleaned with hot soapy water and we applied peroxide and then neosporin/bacitracin. The tail wound we cleaned well with hot soapy water and then flushed with peroxide. Applied neosporin/bacitracin to that and put her in a large cage lined with newspaper and a soft towel and have been keeping her inside in one of the bathrooms. A day later we applied more peroxide and bacitracin/neosporin to the tail wound. It looked like it was starting to heal well, but I've since discovered she's been picking at it especially one side, where it looks like it's opening and perhaps becoming infected. She's also not eating very much at all and I can't get her to drink water. The first few days she was eating a little yogurt and her regular mash and she drank a little water but it's been a week now and her water intake has dropped to nearly none and food intake the same. She also has developed diarrhea. I put some iodine on the tail wound and tried to keep it bandaged but she pecks it off and it's not in a position to really stay well adhered. Her vent area is right in the thick of things as well.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do at this point? Any advice would be appreciated.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do at this point? Any advice would be appreciated.