Chicken attacked, extreme neck injury. Advice? Graphic images

[hbwilcox]

Hello Everyone,
I just joined in hopes of some solid chicken wound advice. Last night one of my young hens was attacked resulting in major neck wounds. I doused her in betadine immediately, squirting it inside her neck wounds. I wrapped her in a towel and then made her a little crate within the coop so the others can't get to her but she isn't alone. I setup a heat lamp in case she was in shock since it was in the upper 30's last night. These photos are from immediately after the attack. Unfortunately when I put her in the crate she shook and literally all the skin flapped off of her neck. Her entire neck muscle is exposed. She is alive and alert this morning. I was thinking of cleaning it again and then using the skin flap as a first layer of bandage, wrapping gauze and vet wrap around that. Thoughts? I just think it's way too much neck exposed to leave to open air heal. Is it good or bad to wrap it? I will try to get photos of her now, with her skin "flap" hanging.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hello! Here's what I did for my cockerel. Trim the feathers as possible around the wound. Clean the wound with saline, spray with bacitryn and then put triple antibiotic ointment on it. Do that twice a day. If you see swelling or a bad odor you'll need to give her antibiotics. She should make a full recovery!

Feed her whatever she wants, keep her warm and give her sweetened water to help with shock.

 

[Eggcessive]

@azygous has had some experience with putting the skin flap back in place against the wound, and see if it heals. Of course, look for signs of infection. Something gentle such as hydrogel would be best for wound care. Most of these head and neck wounds eventually heal fine, but it takes times. Do you know what she was pecked and attacked? Is she new to the others, very meek, or do you have rowdy cockerels or roosters? A wire dog crate with food and water are good for separation, but keeping them with the others so that she doesn’t become a stranger to them. You may find human hydrogel at your local drug store, but here is one for animals:

https://www.petsmart.com/dog/health...GYCesubTFzhyCi9HY0fLAr_QYBkdxDa8aAuCCEALw_wcB

 

[azygous]

Wound care protocol:

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.