Chicken cut on neck

[ChickyNicky05]

Hello, I let my six girls out this morning since it was so nice out. I make sure to check on them periodically because sometimes they wander a little too far. I went out and only saw 5 of my girls. I found my Black Sex Link, Raven (about a year and a half old), hiding in the coop with blood on her feathers by her neck, blood on her nose, and her eyes closed. I washed her neck with soapy warm water and wrapped her up in gauze. I didn’t see the wound I was too afraid to reopen it by moving the feathers too much. It did not look like it was still bleeding. She opens her right eye normally but the left eye she has kept closed. I saw her open it once and it did not look injured so I’m not sure why she’s keeping it closed, maybe it was scratched. I can’t get to a vet until Monday. She is in her own coop now with food water and some food mixed with water. She has been opening her mouth and moving her tongue every few minutes, I tried to get her to drink water but she hasn’t yet that I’ve seen. There is a vet 2 hours away that may be able to see her today but I’m not sure if I should go all the way out there for a chicken? I don’t know what it will cost or if she will last. Does anyone have any thoughts? She pooped and it was small. She ate some of the food mixed with water. She seems to just be standing in one spot with her eyes closed and her head hung.

 

[coach723]

Without seeing the wound (pictures are very helpful) it's hard to advise. Treating for shock is important, so do your best to keep her warm and hydrated, and keeping her in a low light, quiet area until she perks up. Hydration is much more important than food initially. Sounds like you have tried to clean the wound, so that's good. If it's minor then just some plain neosporin or veterycin spray would be good. Without seeing it, I can't really tell you more. Keep her where she can't be pecked by other chickens, wounds and blood will draw others to peck them and will make it worse.

 

[ChickyNicky05]

Without seeing the wound (pictures are very helpful) it's hard to advise. Treating for shock is important, so do your best to keep her warm and hydrated, and keeping her in a low light, quiet area until she perks up. Hydration is much more important than food initially. Sounds like you have tried to clean the wound, so that's good. If it's minor then just some plain neosporin or veterycin spray would be good. Without seeing it, I can't really tell you more. Keep her where she can't be pecked by other chickens, wounds and blood will draw others to peck them and will make it worse.

I have moved her into the house in the spare room. She is drinking on her own. Once my fiancé gets home we’re going to try to get a better look at the wound. I haven’t seen it myself yet I was too afraid to hurt her trying to get a look by myself. I’ll have my fiancé hold a flashlight while I move the feathers around. I’ll post it I manage to snap a shot of it when we find it. I’m worried about the eye she is keeping closed- I have a vial of sterile water that maybe I could drop into her eye if that would be helpful?

 

[coach723]

You can flush the eye with sterile saline. It may have debris in it, or it may be injured from a peck. Flush it well and try to get a good look. You can use terramycin eye ointment (tractor supply or feed stores carry usually), or plain neosporin in the eye twice a day to help prevent infection while she recovers.

 

[ChickyNicky05]

You can flush the eye with sterile saline. It may have debris in it, or it may be injured from a peck. Flush it well and try to get a good look. You can use terramycin eye ointment (tractor supply or feed stores carry usually), or plain neosporin in the eye twice a day to help prevent infection while she recovers.

Thank you! We cut back the feathers and it isn’t that bad, looks superficial. The eye is the worst, it’s really swollen. We did try to get some sterile saline in there but didn’t get much in. I am going out to get some neosporin to put on it. Thank you for the info!

 

[coach723]

You are welcome. If the eye is getting gunky and hard to open you can use warm, wet compresses to loosen it up. Hope she recovers.

 

[ChickyNicky05]

So Raven survived the attack, she was in the house for about 3 weeks recovering. She is blind in the eye that was swollen but eats and drinks fine. She started losing feathers around 3 weeks which I thought was from being stuck inside in a cage 24/7 so I brought her outside with the other girls. She surprisingly got back into the flock with little issues. She’s been out there for two weeks. I have noticed though that her comb is very shriveled, she is not laying, and seems to still be losing some feathers. Any ideas on what I should do? My fiancé said we aren’t spending money on bringing a chicken to the vet, so I’d like to help her as much as I can on my own...

 

[ChickyNicky05]

UPDATE- there was no cut on the neck that we could find? Thinking the blood on her cane from her nose???? I cleaned a lot of dried blood from her face that day

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you post some photos of her? She may be molting.

 

[coach723]

Agree that she may be molting. Stress from an illness, injury, or in this case attack, can trigger a molt sometimes. If that's what it is then increasing the protein in her diet can help with the growth of new feathers. Pictures may help to say for sure if that's what's going on. It's always a good idea to check for mites/lice with feather loss also, just to be safe.