Chicken filleted her side under wing

[chickendreams24]

View attachment 1530953 So I took the bandage off of Chai, our patient, and have been spraying with chlorhexidine several Times a day. She’s separated in garage and very lonely.
Her jagged wing feathers seem to be digging into the wound a bit causing some minor bleeding. Someone recommended AluShield spray bandage. I’m wondering if that would help close off the raw flesh and protect it a little more. But then it would prevent the chlorhexidine from getting to the injured tissue. Thoughts? I cannot get those feathers out of the wound without reopening everything.

Personally I would take those feathers that are in the wound and moisten the wound and remove them. They won't allow the wound to heal and are likely introducing and raising her chances of infection. You'll want to pull those feathers. I would anyways.

Absolutely if you can give her some time out with her flock safe in a crate on clean shavings it will benefit her. Just make sure she can't dust bathe and no one can peck her wounds. Of course she also has to have food and water available during that time as well.

 

[HeidiN]

We washed and washed trying to get those feathers unstuck, but were unsuccessful. I guess we’ll try again.
I noticed towards her tail, not part of the wound, there’s a pocket of fluid under the skin. It’s not an area where the wound would drain to, so I’m not sure what to think.

 

[Loona]

Put her in a bin of warm water, add some CH and soak for 10-15 minutes and gently wash her wound side completely. Pat her as dry as you can and put her under a heat lamp to dry off completely. Cut off all the feathers that keep getting in the way.
Why are the feathers sticking to her wound? Is it honey? I love natural things, but with a wound that size, honey is not going to help. You are aiming for scab formation. Don't use any liquid bandage. The idea is to keep site clean and dry. The CH will keep it from getting infected.

Clean it two or threes times a day and pat it dry. You need to pay careful attention to all the edges making sure no pus forms on or under the skin. If you see that, clean the area gently with cotton balls drenched with solution and pat dry.

Did you buy spray Chlorhexidine? Is it already diluted? I would think so but don't know. I only know the type you mix with water. I just made solution, poured it on the wound continuously drenching it and wiping it. When it was all clean, I wiped it dry with gauze or paper towels. Maybe keep the saddle on to keep the wings off.

If you keep it clean and dry, you will soon enough see the scab begin to form. My hen had a really big wound just like yours. I was nervous about it at first but I took the advice and confidence of people here, and it did heal and I didn't spend 600-1000 bucks! Wow, that was so outrageous.

I also separated the roosters. If they did it to one hen, they could certainly re-injure her or do it again to another. If you think she squeezed through a pallet, def remove that. But your hen's wound looks just like mine did, and it was def from the rooster.

 

[HeidiN]

Yes, I bought a jug of CH and diluted it as you said. The feathers stuck to the wound from the first day and have been difficult to unstick. We bathed her and got all the honey off 2 days ago, but Those feathers are stuck to the fascia pretty good.

I’m pretty sure we don’t have any roosters. After inspecting her wounds more thoroughly, I think a hawk tried to grab her. There’s an additional slice in her leg that is separate from the side wound, likely from a back talon. She had a saddle on, which I think probably protected her from being taken, hawk probably couldn’t get a good hold on the fabric.

 

[Loona]

Oh wow, geez, more of an attack wound than just ripped skin. Now I see, these are young birds and you can't tell yet? It certainly couldn't be roosters then, prob more like you said a hawk. You may have to administer antibiotics for a few days if a puncture wound is there. Do you have some clavamox from pets or amoxicillan or other antibiotics from an Rx? You can use that.
Yeah, you're going have to get the feathers off even if it's already imbedded. Soak it or put a little vaseline on it and pry them off with tweezers. It's ok if some skin comes off. It will heal over.
Clean it gently, dry it, put on her saddle on. Sorry you're going through this. I know how it feels.

 

[HeidiN]

Every time I try to do this, the wound gets bigger. It’s almost like the feathers are keeping the skin from tearing all the way down.
A friend of mine had a chicken fillet her back running under a trailer to get away from their dog. He could not catch the chicken to clean the wound or do anything for her. He said the wound was as big or bigger than the one of our bird, and healed up fine with no kind of intervention, even though she rolled in dirt shortly after the incident. I think I’m going to just have to hope the scab will from under the feathers (as it appears to be doing) and they will fall off with the scab when the new skin is ready. I will keep spraying with CH daily and Vetricyn. I tried bathing her today, but I don’t have a basin deep enough for her to soak, as she won’t sit down in the water, and just tried to get out of the water. I may try again later today, but I really don’t have time to doctor chickens.
We never use antibiotics, so I have none left over or on hand. I don’t think you can buy them OTC from feed stores anymore.

 

[HeidiN]

It’s been a week now, and Chai is doing good. Her leg is still sore, but new skin is starting to grow on her side and under the flap of skin on her leg. I have been keeping her In a cage, within the chicken run during the day and bringing her in the garage at night, as I don’t think she can roost yet.

I am wondering when would be a safe time to let her be loose with the flock? We’ve been keeping the flock locked up in their run so that she doesn’t go crazy and injure herself pacing the cage and wanting to free range with them. They’re all antsy to get out and eat grass and bugs. Would you continue to keep her isolated till her wound is completely healed? It is concealed under her wing, but we do have a lot of curious peckers in our flock.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would use caution letting her out with the flock. Maybe some supervised visits while you can intervene. If you could take an old white tshirt and make her a little apron, it might make it safer. Once her wound scabs well, and is not so deep, BluKote works well to hide wounds, but it is not for deep wounds. I hope it goes well.

 

[HeidiN]

A little over 2 weeks since the attack, and Chai is doing amazing. The embedded feathers came off with the scab and her wound is looking really good! I haven’t let her loose with her flock yet, but we take her hospital cage out daily to spend the daylight hours with her friends. I’m thinking in a few days she will be ready to rejoin them without the cage. Waiting for the last of the redness around the edges of the wound to be gone. I really am amazed at the healing capacity and resilience with a little TLC. Now, if solving feather picking issues could only be this easy! Another thread, another day.

 

[Eggcessive]

That is very good to hear. I am so glad that she is on her way back to full recovery. If you get a chance to share a picture of the healing, it helps other to see how well wojnds heal.