Chicken filleted her side under wing

[CannedMonster]

After flushing the wound again and trimming more feathers, hoping we could put a couple sutures in, we decided the skin is no longer stretchy enough to close the gap. I flushed it with iodine again and left it open for an hour, and the skin has now sagged down more. I packed it with raw, organic honey and bandaged it back up, I think it needs support for now.
Now that I have a better look at the extent of the injury, I think it must have been a hawk attack. I really hope she makes it, but don’t want her to suffer. She is eating, just unsteady in her feet as the top of her leg is also sliced open. No muscle tissue has been affected, thankfully. View attachment 1528773

That looks a lot like Agatha’s wound.
Skin pulled off basically.
I didn’t notice hers at first either, they really do hide it well.
I sprayed it twice a day with Veterycin and trimmed a piece of dead skin with sterilized scissors
After a week it was completely scabbed over and I let her rejoin the flock.
I’ve heard honey and even granulated sugar are good for packing in wounds and helping healing.
There’s a doctor doing research on it in the UK and he’s coming up with some really positive results.

This is before it was cleaned:

 

[HeidiN]

Thank you Loona. I cannot swallow a vet fee, especially an after hours emergeny premium. I really wanted to stitch the leg, but it’s so hard to see what goes where. I will try to get some
Chlorhexidine asap. What breaks my heart is she won’t put weight on her leg now, due to the bandage that’s trying to hold the skin in. She won’t lie down with that leg tucked under either. Maybe I should unwrap the leg.

 

[Loona]

After flushing the wound again and trimming more feathers, hoping we could put a couple sutures in, we decided the skin is no longer stretchy enough to close the gap. I flushed it with iodine again and left it open for an hour, and the skin has now sagged down more. I packed it with raw, organic honey and bandaged it back up, I think it needs support for now.
Now that I have a better look at the extent of the injury, I think it must have been a hawk attack. I really hope she makes it, but don’t want her to suffer. She is eating, just unsteady in her feet as the top of her leg is also sliced open. No muscle tissue has been affected, thankfully. View attachment 1528773

You can try to suture it in a place or two but that's about it. It does help but like you said, it's not stretchy enough to go back where it was. Shrinks quick. One thing I would advise is to not use anymore iodine. NONE. I myself had always used Betadine for wounds on my horses, so I did use it, but she said it is the worst thing in this case because you want skin to grow back and iodine will prevent that. So will peroxide. Chlorhexidine is ALL you should use. The only honey that has any viability for wounds is Manuka honey. But nothing holds a candle to daily cleaning w/Chlorhexadine, and that's it. Another one of my hens had her vent ripped off by a fox and I only used Chlorhexidine to clean it. It scabbed up and when the scab fell off her vent looked great. I swear by this stuff now.

She will def feel a bit sore, but it too will subside as the days go by. Keep her isolated for a while so others don't pick at her wound. Cleanse the wound daily with a light solution of Chlorhexidine. It is amazing stuff. Keeps infections from forming and helps healing. I remember this stuff from a long time ago when my dog got mauled by other dogs. Ripped skin and holes w/tubes when she came home. Vet had me clean it with that. All healed nicely.

 

[CannedMonster]

My dentist gave me a chlorhexidine gluconate rinse to use when getting a dental implant.
It’s good stuff.
I didn’t know it was available on Amazon.

 

[Eggcessive]

Chlorhexidene is even sold at Walmart and most drug stores in the first aid aisle for as little as $5.I would not suture the leg, but let it heal from the inside out. If it were fresh and you took her to a vet they might stitch it with a drain inside to drain any fluid. But a dirty wound should be left to heal. The tissue will granulate and fill in gradually over a couple of weeks. Wash for infection. Prevent maggot infestation by keeping flies away. Keep it covered with plain Neosporin, and clean with saline or the chlohexiden plus water if needed. Vatericyn is also good for cleaning the wound.

 

[chickendreams24]

In addition to rooster spurs and predator attacks roosters/cockerals can also tear a hen up there with their toenails if over grown.

If you have any birds you question the gender of you can post them here and we can take a look.

Of course you'll probably never know. I would suggest taking a look around especially if they free range for anything that she could have possibly become hung up on.

 

[HeidiN]

In looking at her more closely, I think it was probably a hawk attack. The wound in the leg is a separate “incision” like back talons grabbed I and the front sliced the side. She was wearing an apron to cover some molting barespots that were getting picked at, which may have saved her life, interfered with hawk getting a good hold on her.

5 1/2 month old Dominique that I posted in another post about gender question. Doesn’t behave like a cockerel, not quite light enough feather coloring, no saddle feathers that look pointed or hackle feathers. Another Dominique wonder said she thought this one is a pullet.

 

[Shadrach]

One of my young hens at one time had an entire flap of skin hanging off one of her sides. The rooster did it with his spur. I took her to the vet, thought she could stitch it up, but no, she said she'd cut the skin off and I'd periodically bring her back to have the edges 'etched' for new growth. 200 bucks each time 4 or 5 times. Um...no.

I came here and got advice and was told chickens do heal very well and 'grow new skin' but you have to keep it clean. The only good thing that came out of the vet visit, was that she gave me some Chlorhexadine solution 2%. Mix with water till you get a light sky blue color. Use this to keep the wound clean.
She said DO NOT use betadyne or hydrogen peroxide. It will hinder the healing process and can cause necrosis.

After bringing her home I was really befuddled about the flap of skin. I mean it was 'still alive' and viable. Why didn't she stitch it for me! She said she worried about infection and the skin dying regardless.

I got some advice here, and was given confidence of how resilient chickens are to wound healing. So I got out a little plastic bottle - hygiene bottle with spray tip - mixed up the Chlorhexidine solution. And, I'm sorry but I had to find the smallest sewing needle and just do something about this flap of skin. I knew I could not sew it all the way around but one area NEEDED a stitch or two. She did give me some Metacam too. So I gave her Metacam and an hour later put some stitches to an area that allowed this flap of skin to hang on to something. I used dental floss!! She hardly even winced when I did this, thankfully.

As the days went on, I routinely cleaned the wound. Paper towels and squirt bottle. I made sure all the dirt was out. I would use a tiny 1ml syringe to suck out any excess solution down in the corner where I stitched it. All that skin survived and did reattach but that flap eventually did dry up, turned black and died off. I did have to cut it where it dried out. But don't cut off any live skin. As the days passed, a scab appeared initially and that scab eventually turned into skin! I was literally amazed how well it did heal up and I'm pretty sure the diluted Chlorhexidine solution is the best stuff to assist in healing and avoid irritation. No peroxide, no betadine, and no epsom salt.

Here is the thread of mine when Sweet Pea's skin ripped off. If you don't have Chlorhexidine on hand, buy some ASAP on Amazon, or see if a farm store has it. Maybe a local vet can sell you some?

Best wishes to your hen

I'll bear in mind your advice regarding betadine.
I can't see the link to your post. I would be very interested in reading it.

 

[Loona]

Mine was wearing a saddle as well. It was definitely the rooster's spur. Some of those young roosters are rough! I would put her in a bin and bath her to get all the honey off of her. Set her in some warm water, they like it, and keep pouring warm water over her back to dilute and wash off the honey. Do you have a heat lamp? If so you can set her in isolation with the heat lamp to dry her off completely and more quickly. The go to Walmart, Eggsessive says they sell it, and when she's all dry, dab the areas with diluted Chlorhexidine. (I read its 2 tbsp per gallon, but I just eyeball it to color) (a little does go a long way). Then pat it dry and let her be. Sweet Pea limped a bit in the beginning too. After a few days she walked more normally.
Yes, I felt compelled to stitch a couple areas. If you don't, just be sure that flap is going to shrink up, dry up and eventually fall off. She was left with a line of rolled up skin, but it did all eventually come together. A big portion of her breast meat was always showing. Once the scab formed, which looked weird, you begin to see the edges coming together with this scab. Keep cleansing it daily, and before long the scab falls off and there is skin.
Really amazed but that's what I was told would happen and it did! She still has a scar from the rolled up skin (had to cut some off because it was dead) (she felt nothing in that area. As it was healing I kept pushing the flap up and it eventually all came together. Just keep it clean and let time and nature heal it.

 

[Loona]

Here it is
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/ripped-skin.1182602/#post-18651819