Chicken has infected wounds and abscess from fox attack- need advice!!!

[Painted Calls]

So I called the avian vet yesterday and they said they actually don’t have any more openings this week, so I ended up taking her to the emergency vet last night. The vet wanted to sedate her in order to really clean and debride the wounds as she said the tissue didn’t look good, and she also has a crop puncture which I found out right before taking her to the vet last night when I gave her some water and she drank a ton and all of a sudden it started pouring out of her wound onto the kitchen floor. Somehow I never noticed it leaking when she drank before though and I watched her drink several times after she got injured!! So I don’t know if me trying to clean the wounds out punctured it somehow?? Anyway, it was going to be extremely expensive, far more than we anticipated (almost $1000) to go through with all the treatments the vet suggested and there was no way we could spend that much on a chicken so we just had her do a minor cleaning of the wounds and give antibiotics, which still came to $340, still more than we would have liked. The vet strongly suggested we take her to a primary vet in a few days to get the wounds cleaned again because she isn’t sure they’re going to heal without debridement. However, we can’t possibly spend more on this chicken, I’m starting to think maybe we should have just put her down, like is all this money, time and effort worth it for a chicken?? She is my favorite one, but they can be replaced.. but now we’re too far in and I want to give her the best chance of living as possible so that the money we spent last night doesn’t go to waste.. soo I need some more advice now please!!! Anything I can do for the crop puncture? She must be getting some food and water in as she’s still pooping (although I don’t know if normally) and acting happy and alert. Her one wing is drooping a lot more than it was though. But I’ve read we should feed her soft foods, right? And how should I continue cleaning the wounds on my own? Still the saline and iodine? Is there any way I can debride the wounds myself? We really cannot take her to the vet again. Any thoughts are appreciated, you guys have helped me a lot already, thank you!

Sedation would not have been necessary. Some vets really make me angry.

You can absolutely debride them yourself. Get some good pictures tomorrow in good lighting of her wounds.

 

[Iovemypeeps]

Sedation would not have been necessary. Some vets really make me angry.

You can absolutely debride them yourself. Get some good pictures tomorrow in good lighting of her wounds.

Oh ok so good thing we didn’t go through with that! What about the crop puncture? Is there anything I should do about that?

 

[Iovemypeeps]

I will send more pictures soon.

 

[Painted Calls]

Oh ok so good thing we didn’t go through with that! What about the crop puncture? Is there anything I should do about that?

I would clean it really well and take pics. Depending on how clean it is, I'd be tempted to remove feathers around it, clean it well, push the edges together, and dab a bit of super glue on it to close.

 

[Iovemypeeps]

I would clean it really well and take pics. Depending on how clean it is, I'd be tempted to remove feathers around it, clean it well, push the edges together, and dab a bit of super glue on it to close.

Ok, the puncture is very deep though, and the vet didn’t want to close it last night I think because it’s infected? Or maybe if she had sedated her she would’ve cleaned it out well and then stitched it up, but she was going to see. She was worried it would turn into a fistula though, which is why she said we should go back to the vet in a few days. I just don’t know how she’s going to keep the antibiotic in if her crop is draining. Or get enough to eat and drink! I’ve been letting her eat and drink as much as she wants because I thought that would be good and didn’t know about the crop puncture till last night and now I’m reading that they should only eat small amounts so as to not stretch out the crop and let it heal. And also they shouldn’t eat normal foods, she’s been eating bread and stuff

 

[Iovemypeeps]

I would clean it really well and take pics. Depending on how clean it is, I'd be tempted to remove feathers around it, clean it well, push the edges together, and dab a bit of super glue on it to close.

I’m also not very sure how to clean it really well?

 

[FeatheredFriends&Horses2]

Not sure about the crop puncture, but for the abscesses I would treat in a similar manner to bumblefoot. I'd soak her for 20-30 minutes in a warm Epsom salt bath to get all the gunk loosened up. Then I'd lance the abscesses and clean them out with an antibacterial. Like some have mentioned, chlorohexadine is good. After that, I'd get the area dried up and apply neosporin, NOT THE KIND WITH THE PAIN KILLER, then bandage it to keep it from further contamination. One thing to remember with abscesses, they are caused by bacteria, a lot of which are anaerobic. The more exposed to air those bacteria are, the faster they'll die. Bacteria thrive in warm moist environments. I hope this helps and I'm sorry your chickens were attacked!

 

[Weeg]

@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @casportpony This si a tricky situation. The experts will be mor help here then me. I think it is possible to treat it yourself, give her a fighting chance!

 

[FeatheredFriends&Horses2]

I'm not going to tell you what to do or judge you for your decision, because I know every bird, family, and situation is different. But if it were one of my hens with a crop puncture, I'd probably put her down.
Here would be my rationale...
I don't have an avian vet in my area, I know you do, so there's one of the differences in situation. If you can see her losing water out if her crop, I'd be worried about dehydration. Then there's the risk of infection.
If you decide to put her down, I'm so sorry, I know it can be a very hard thing to do. If not, I really hope she gets better! Hopefully I don't sound like too much of a Debbie-downer!

 

[Iovemypeeps]

More pics of back wound