chicken attacked, has open wound under wing

[SeaChick]

I also wanted to say anks" for posting those excellent instructions. We had a hawk attack yesterday and this assured me we have done the right thing for our hen. Thanks!
Stacey

 

[fluffandpuffchicks]

Quote:
Please please please do NOT close the wound. Animal bites and wounds should always be left open as the mouths (or claws) contain bacteria. Closing it will ensure that it goes bad. It's under the wing, there's no 'pouch' to close. This is very important and what any vet will tell you.

Despite the fact she has no skin, she will granulate skin back in if you follow a few simple steps:

First, make sure to clean the wound and remove any 'bits' in it of dirt, etc. First time you can use hydrogen peroxide and water (50/50). Then follow that with iodine and water, mixed til it's the color of weak iced tea. Clean vigorously with that. Pat dry; don't rinse the iodine/water off.

Then just use neosporin ointment under the wing. The bird should be up for 2 days until the wound can dry over. Don't bandage; just clean the underside of the wing. Do not cover up the wound. Keeping her inside will help keep flies out. If you cannot do that, then either use a screw-worm spray (from the feedstore cattle section) on the wound, or corn starch or baby powder on top of the neosporin to make the wound less fly-attractive. IF flies blow it and maggots hatch, smother them in water or honey, reclean, redress. (sometimes it takes twice as they hatch at different times).

No stitches, no superglue, just lots of air and keep it dry.

I've treated a lot of injuries from minor to devestating. I'm going to put an article below in case you need to refer to it, or in case someone else does.

Incidentally, if there was a chance that this was a cat bite, highly consider using penicillin shots. I suspect it was a dog bite. Be sure to look again for puncture wounds on her skin; they hide them well under their feathers.

Lucky girl that you found her!

=================
WOUND CARE IN POULTRY by Nathalie Ross

Here's my usual way of doing wounds. It's worked for some pretty extreme wounds, including one 2x1 wound that went all the way down to the silver covering of the spine of one bird.

First, gather materials:
VetWrap or similar self-adhesive wrap.
gauze wrapping type bandages or squares (depending on what you have to bandage)
non-stick pads (depending on what you have to wrap)
antibiotic ointment (neosporin, Swat for horses if you have flies around)
hydrogen peroxide (h202)
iodine
warm water
a needleless syringe - preferably a big one like 30 cc's
suture material if you need it (this ideally should be left to a vet)
a small pair of scissors like cuticle scissors are helpful
large scissors
(duct tape in some cases)
a good safe blood clotter. I prefer Clotisol as it's not poisonous and clots IMMEDIATELY even in high blood situations. You can even use it inside of beaks. It's water based, lasts ages for a small bottle. Seriously - ages. You can pretty much only get it online, but it's a must-have for a cabinet. Once you use it, you won't go back.
q-tips
papertowels
clean clothes that can be stained

DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO TREAT BY YOURSELF:
First, an important note. It would be ideal if, as poultry owners faced with an injured bird, that the bird be taken to a qualified veterinarian who can not only dress the wounds, access the damage, but also prescribe the correct antibiotics and follow up as necessary. This, first and foremost, is what I recommend for any wound situation that is more than minor. Please take that to heart.

If instead you decide to treat the wound yourself, here are some basic instructions on how to do so. Note that every wound, every case, is different. Use your common sense and imagination on determining when this protocol must be flexed to fit your situation.

PREPARATION:
First, examine the bird and find all wounds. Use your big and little scissors to trim feathers away from the area. Try to only take as many as could touch the wound, no more - they need feather protection and the feathers won't grow back til next moult. Also be careful, if wing feathers are near, not to cut the living flesh part inside feather quills.

If the wounds are under the wing, sometimes you can simply wrap the wing in a t-shirt to keep whatever touches the wing clean. Baby tshirts would be great for this. Neck part at the top of the wing, fitted with a little duct tape on the cloth (not tight please) and just tie the other end of the tshirt.

Make sure to look very carefully against the skin for puncture wounds. There might not be look, and puncture wounds are tricky and hard to find. Note the location and severity of all wounds.

Cleansing:
Take your syringe and fill with H202 (straight) or h202 slightly diluted with water. Use the syringe to vigously clean the wound area including in the wounds. If the wounds are puncture wounds, use diluted water/h202, not straight. You only use h202 the first time as it tends to burn tissues and keep them from healing if you continue. But it's great for bubbling out bits of dirt from inside the wound. Do this cleansing about three times per wound.

Follow up by rinsing out the h2o2 with a water/iodine mixture made to be just the color of slightly strong iced tea. You want it warm. Fill your same syringe that you used with the h2o2 and flush the wounds rather vigorously.

At this time, if there are any pieces of flesh that need to be removed, remove them. This is where I use a q-tip dipped in a bottle-cap full of clotisol (so you don't contaminate the original bottle).

Doing this on a table that's ok to stain is best. I've done this on my truck's tail gate as I can clean it afterwards. Place a lot of papertowels under the birds for these two cleansing phases to keep the drainoff from going everywhere.

Use another clean papertowel to dry the wound. You want to leave some iodine solution inside the wound - it doesn't have to be skin-dry. Just dry enough for some ointment to stick.

DRESSING:
Once the wound is well cleaned, then you'll want to dress it. I use Neosporin and q-tips most often for this job. If there are flies in the area at all, I will use Neosporin inside the wounds (ointment) and use Swat wound ointment for horses instead. (It has fly repellent that's safe for poultry in it.) I fill punctures with neosporin. If they're deep, I stick the top of the tube into the wound (and throw away the tube after I'm done with everything). Pack it. You usually want air in a wound, but puncture wounds can sometimes heal on top first and leave a pocket inside. The antibiotic ointment (not creme) is a little insurance against too much bacteria and thus abcesses.

If the wound is one that absolutely must be stitched, then pack it with the antibiotic ointment. If you're using a flyproof ointment, wipe the wound and then use the fly-proof on top. Otherwise just wipe slightly so there's a little antibiotic ointment on the important top part of the wound. You don't want to stray too far from just the wound, keep the bird dry.

On closing wounds with sutures. Puncture wounds shouldn't be sutured. Bad bacteria love a place where there's no oxygen. Suturing closes the wound and encourages festering within. As much air as you can get to a wound, the better, except that the interior of punctures should have some antibacterial action going on.

I've had some serious wounds in my flock before. The only time I've sutured was when a very large flap of skin was torn from the front of a neck (read as 3 inches by 10 inch flap). Another recent case involves a possible rather large hole in a crop which, should it leak food, should be sutured. Otherwise try to leave things open. Poultry can regrow an amazing amount of skin back if there's muscle underneath. New skin will granulate and grow in to fill in gaps that would surprise you.

On the areas that are just uncovered, I usually use antibiotic creme (versus ointment) because it's water based. Sometimes I'll just put a thin smear of antibiotic ointment, however, if that's what I have. Or fly-preventative ointment if there are flies in the area.

DRESSING WITH BANDAGES:
If at all possible, try not to cover with bandages. The average bandage keeps air out and moisture in and not in a good way. If you must bandage (a dirt floor area, extreme fly issues, etc) then try to keep the bandage to a minimum and very airy. That's why I'm not a big fan of nonstick bandages. They tend to trap moisture and cause a very warm airless area. But sometimes you have to use them. If so, cover the wound with the bandage. Wrap twice with very gauzey gauze wrap. Then put one layer only of VetWrap over. If you must secure (to keep the bandage from falling, for example) you can use very thin strips of duct tape like you would tape a birthday present. Using as little as possible, but a very strong tape like duct tape, helps let the air in.

Sometimes I've even used just one layer of a very clean paper towel rather than use a non-stick. Afterwards, if you have to remove it, you can soak with warm water and pick the bits out if it sticks. Gauze tends to embed in wound seepage.

Think out of the box when it comes to covering areas that are wounded. With my geese who had multiple puncture and surface wounds on their chest, and a high fly area, I used one white sheet that I formed into a sort of front-bib and tied behind their back. T-shirts are also awesome to cover a bird's body. Buy the appropriate size, slip the neck over their neck, their legs through the arm holes, cut two holes through which you slip their wings. Gather the bottom end (cut so that you don't cover their vent) at the top of their back and duct-tape the cloth to make it stay fitted. T-shirts are very airy, cheap, washable, and absorbent.

SUTURES:
If your bird requires stitches, suture material with thread attached can be found at many feedstores or purchased online ahead of time. The size you want is for dogs and cats. Sutures aren't stitched like a pillow case, but each stitch is its own knot. The semi-circular needles of suture needles are ideal for going into and out of the skin. Note: stitching is not easy - skin is tough, usually the needle is slippery, and it's rather tough to do. Overestimate the amount of suture material you need as you'll make knots and cut off the excess bit sticking up.

MAINTENANCE:
Many wounds, if properly cleaned and dressed and left airy, do not need much maintenance. Oddly, one of the best ways of telling whether or not a wound is doing well is by using your nose. Smell the wound at the time of cleaning. Wounds have a particular almost sweet but not cloyingly sweet smell. Remember the smell. Then smell the wound daily to see if you smell rot. If you do, there's not enough air to the wound and possible infection going on.

Wounds will seep a little - that's natural and the body's way of dealing with wounds. Usually the seepage will be mostly clear and smell of wound. However, if there's any opaqueness to it, or clotted texture, that's infection. Also there will be some natural inflammation as the body tries to bully off the bad bacteria and bring in healing materials to the wound. However excessive inflammation, discoloration (especially black or green), should be noted.

If a wound needs cleaning or examining, take off what bandages you can gently. If they stick to the seepage from the wound, use warm water to soak the bandage parts remaining away from the drainage.

Then examine the wound, determine what needs to be done, and redress from the iodine stage onward.

ANTIBIOTICS:
Many wounds do not require additional antibiotics other than topical (on the skin) antibiotic dressings. However in the case of animal bites that weren't caught immediately, cat bites, and wounds that have been sitting or are particularly deep, it may be a good idea to treat with antibiotics. If you make this decision, please be sure to get one that is appropriate for wounds. The packages at the feedstore are not.

Penicillin G Procaine (Aqueous Pen-G) is commonly found at many feedstores in their fridge section. It's awesome to keep in your own fridge for a rainy day. It's a very thick antibiotic and requires a thicker gauge needle. I would use no thinner than a 22 gauge, preferably something more thick at a length of .75 to 1 inch. At many feedstores, you can buy 3 cc syringes that are together already with needles. These are nice to have on hand as well as that 30 cc syringe that you'll use to flush wounds.

Instructions on how to give an injection are available separately as well as how to treat with antibiotics. If you do choose to use injectable antibiotics, be prepared to go the entire recommended course. Penicillin G Procaine is a concentrated penicillin (they're not all created equally) and only is required to be given every other day. Based on the type of antibiotic you expect to use, buy that many syringes plus two.

HEALING:
Birds in healing mode need help being stabilized, nourished, and hydrated. We all know how delicate birds can be, but it's surprising how resilient they can be at times. However, wounds will often depress a bird or cause them to go into shock. A stressed or shocked bird may not be able to digest foods they're commonly given. For that reason, I recommend only giving easily dissolved feeds when a bird is in the first stages of recovery. Think crumbles, pellets, etc. You don't want to make a drastic change in their diet ever, much less when they're already stressed. If a bird is reluctant to eat, try wetting the pellets/crumbles. You can also add a boiled egg yolk (one per six cups of food) mashed into the crumbles. I like to also give probiotics (yogurt, Fastrack, Probiocs, acidophilus, or whatever I have available) during this time to combat a secondary intestinal disorder from stress and change of way of eating. Yogurt is simple. You can mix 1 tablespoon per two cups of feed.

The added protein in an egg yolk helps the bird to heal. Adding a capsule of vitamin E to that mash (one per 2 cups of mash) also helps healing. If the birds are stressy, or not able to eat normally, I'll use a vitamin/electrolyte mix in their water for the first few days. I never ever use an oral antibiotic for wound treatment. Period.

CONCLUSION:
It's unfortunately common that poultry are victims of predation and wounds. They are delicate and, with their ultra-fast metabolisms, can die readily if they decide to. Remember that an injured bird can often have internal injuries we never see. If you lose them, just remember you tried your best. However you might be surprised, with proper wound-care, how many of these birds recover to absolutely normal lives. Just be patient as healing takes a while. Usually separate the birds, but if they can be near their peers they take heart from it and will do better.

Good luck with your flock, and I hope this information has been helpful.
Nathalie Ross
(Please do not reproduce without permission of the author. The author is not a veterinarian and does not intend to dispense information that at all should replace the advice of a qualified avian vet.)

this helped

 

[chris.hamm]

Great info. One of my brilliant birds dug her way under the fenced in area of the coop and got herself stuck. In the process she rubbed a large patch raw. I thought I had it all cleaned up but checked on her the other day and the wound has gotten larger and is actively weeping. Off to the store to pick up a few supplies and will try and get her back to healthy again.

Any advice on covering vs. not covering the wound. I see a few different opinions. Between the dirt floor of the run and the dust in the pine shavings I'm thinking it may be best to cover with a thin layer of gauze and, possibly, vet wrap to keep the dirt out. I don't really have anywhere to isolate her from the other two hens so it may also keep them at bay?

 

[chickenzoo]

Most wounds do not need stitching or covering. It is best to clean the wound with a bedadine solution or saline. In deep would use a syringe to flush out debris. Apply Blue kote or a wound dressing such as Nitrofurazone, I like blue kote for small or shallow wounds or neosporin if you keep them clean. Apply a fly spray in warmer weather. Chickens are remarkable healers.
Deep wounds and animal bites require an antibiotic.

 

[rfmudflap]

Thank you all! I think this discussion just saved my hen. In a very freak thing, my horse stepped on her and her skin was sliced off of her body in an awful way, as if an apple peeler had peeled off the skin. I had no idea what to do. She is my favorite hen and well... I googled chicken wounds and read this string and now she is bathed, super glued and resting comfortably in the infirmary, (My guest bathroom). I'm hopeful that she'll pull through based on your collective experience. Thank you again for your help and wisdom. Ruth

 

[chickmagnet142]

thanks for such a detailed post!! I had a 3 week old roo attacked today, with a puncture wound under his wing. not sure if he'll make it, but thanks to all this info I'll know I tried my best!

 

[hedylaymore]

My dog caught my poor hen today. She had flown over the fence despite her wings being clipped. She is still alive and is in a big wire dog crate in the house. I had decided to put her down tomorrow until I read all the advice in this thread, but now I think maybe she can make it. I called a vet who treats chickens, and she said to get as many feathers as possible away from the wound, wash it well with peroxide, and then apply Neosporin. This wound is about 2x2 on the thigh, and there is a puncture as well. The dog took the skin off and some of the flesh. The vet said that if we give the hen antibiotics we cannot sell her eggs and may not want to eat them, so we've opted not to use antibiotics. We wouldn't know which hen laid which eggs, so we wouldn't be able to use any from our flock if we gave her antibiotics.

I have already found a good home for my dog. Sad, but she was rabidly determined to get to the other hens once she had tasted raw chicken.

Thanks to all of you who posted on this site. If anybody knows of a guaranteed good livestock guardian dog, please let me know. I'm in South Carolina.

 

[jehnschicks]

Hello! I am looking for some suggestions. One of my chickens got out of the coop and was hurt by a dog. The chicken is eating and I have cleaned the wound with peroxide and have been putting Neosporin spray on the wound. I cannot find a way to stitch the area and you can see bone. It's been about 4 days. I have kept her in a box inside the house. She has been resting and eating normally. We initially covered the wing with a piece of t shirt and tape.

Now I am using a self adhesive gauze wrap. The area does not look to be infected but is still pretty open. Should I continue to cover the area or close it with nukote and bandage. Any help is appreciated.

 

[hedylaymore]

This is very similar to what happened to my hen. My dog got hold of her last week. Now the dog has a new home, and Henrietta is resting in a wire crate on our enclosed, warm back porch. I called the vet and she told me what to do: clean the wound with peroxide, slather Neosporin on it, and keep her warm, quiet, and clean. We cleaned the area for two days and put Neosporin on it, and now we're leaving it alone. The attack happened 5 days ago, and she is acting normal: eating, drinking, and pooping. Yesterday was warm and sunny, so I put her outside for a little while so she could graze and look at the other chickens through the fence. She stayed out about two hours.

We never did bandage her wound. It seems to be healing, and we're just crossing our fingers that it doesn't get infected. So far, so good. The vet said that if she seems to be in pain and distress, to go ahead and put her down. We're increasingly optimistic that we won't have to do that.

We plan to keep her away from the other chickens until she is completely healed. The vet said they would peck at her if they got a chance, and also that she might self mutilate. We haven't seen any of that. She seems content to be near us on the porch.

Good luck with your chicken!

 

[leahschicks]

it seems i have had the same thing happen to my favorite bird i also have a lot of bone exposed can i clean this