Chicken Injured by Predator (Graphic Images)

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LadyDragonborn

Chirping
Jan 3, 2019
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Our rooster Hei Hei was found four days ago with a really bad injury to his back. My husband believes a dog may have attacked him. I am not sure that he will survive his injury, but I have washed it out with iodine, diluted iodine, and I have put a Triple Antibiotic ointment inside and on the outside of the wound. I have also isolated him inside our house away from outlr hens and trimmed a few of the feathers laying across it. It is a pretty deep gash. On day four it still looks pretty bad. The inside has a yellow hue and there is a small spot of green.

Also, it appears that he
1.) either has some severe caked up feathers -from dog saliva or blood or something?-
Or 2.) Has a raunchy looking scab forming over the top.

It looks like feathers, but my husband thinks I should leave it alone. He has some experience with birds, and fears I may cut a blood feather and him bleed to death.

Anyway, if someone could show some pointers my way on what to possibly expect or if some of you that are more experienced more with chickens and these instances could tell me how you think it looks... if it looks infected etc.

The first picture is today, and the second is the day I found him. Sorry you cant see the inside the wound very well on either picture. Thank you all.
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Possibly warm cloth to remove the scab clean it with betadine or other scrub even mild soap and water decide from there puss in would? most birds can recover from these type wounds you are able to trim feathers away without killing him... By the way Welcome to Backyard Chickens
 
In the future, not that we want to encourage predator attacks, you need to wash the wounds immediately with soap and water and get some antibiotic ointment on them so infection doesn't set in.

So, that's the first thing you need to do. Fix a basin of warm water with mild soap and let the chicken soak. No need to remove the broken feathers.

After soaking all the dirt and dried blood off, examine the wounds carefully. Look for swelling and redness around them that indicates infection. This can kill a chicken in a day's time, will require an antibiotic if you see signs of infection.

If the chicken is acting lethargic, he may be suffering from shock. Give him electrolytes to counteract it. Be sure he drinks plenty of water. You may need to keep him indoors if it's very cold. Cold will make shock worse.

Keep him in a clean place for awhile so his wounds can heal and not get dirty and infected. Keep ointment on the wounds so the wounds do not dry out. Chickens can heal up pretty quickly from severe wounds. Unless they get infected, he should recover just fine.
 
He mostly looks plucked to me. Don’t be afraid to trim feathers. They will grow back.
Chicken puss is yellow and thick. The greenish color you see could be a bruise.
If you think it was a dog or other animal that mouthed him keep the wounds clean. A simple saline rinse is good now that you’ve done the iodine rinse.

I personally like honey or sugar for wounds. I have linked my thread on treating my hen with a large wound.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/yikes-large-wound-on-hen.1141144/#post-17736677

Give it a read and feel free to ask questions. More pictures could be helpful but it sounds like you have a good handle on things.

Make sure he drinks. That’s more important then food at the moment. But if he’s eating and pooping I’d just keep the wound clean and an eye on him.
 
I’m sorry but I cannot see the wound. Only where the predator pluck feathers. In treating a wound it’s good to clear a perimeter around the wound to keep the feathers from trapping dirt and debris. Do you think you could clean it up a bit and then take more photos?
Please don’t use hydrogen peroxide. We don’t know what type of first aid items you keep on hand. Luke warm soapy water is good in a pinch.
 
He is eating and drinking and pooping well. Even crowing in the mornings startling me at times! Lol.
He's definately acting more like himself than the day I found him. He has also flapped his wings a few times at us lol. (He done this outside at us before he got hurt.)

Thanks everyone for the replies and advice! :)
 
I am trying to post updated pictures from today. Its almost been a week though and he still isnt healed up :( I have him inside still, and he is still eating and pooping and crowing. I tried to trim back some of the feathers and wash it out with soap water and diluted iodine again yesterday, but I ended up making him bleed just a little bit so I decided to leave it alone and see if it heals up. I heard that a wet wound delays healing. There is something in the very bottom of the wound that looks a little gross and Im hoping its not infected.
 
Here are the photos from today.
 

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I believe it's essential to keep ointment on it to prevent infection and stop the wound drying out resulting in necrotic tissue. If you haven't been putting anything on it it sounds likely either there is now necrotic tissue or infection is setting in, but without photo's impossible to say. Have you given him any antibiotics?
 

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