Chicken lost half her skin

[mrswalker]

you need to get a baseline weight. If she starts losing weight you need to address that. Can you go buy a food scale?

I have one, what I mean is that I can't weigh her on it because she won't allow it. This girl is a real fighter, I can only help her when I have her wrapped in a towel.

 

[bobbi-j]

I think you’re doing the best you can for her. The will to survive is strong. I am concerned that the smell could indicate infection, but the antibiotics should help that. As far as if it’s time to let her go, you’ll know if it comes to that, and I want you to know that it won’t be because of anything you did or didn’t do. You can only do so much, and right now you are giving her a good, fighting chance. That’s more than she had before you got her.

 

[mrswalker]

I think you’re doing the best you can for her. The will to survive is strong. I am concerned that the smell could indicate infection, but the antibiotics should help that. As far as if it’s time to let her go, you’ll know if it comes to that, and I want you to know that it won’t be because of anything you did or didn’t do. You can only do so much, and right now you are giving her a good, fighting chance. That’s more than she had before you got her.

Thank you for this. I can't tell if it's reasonable to expect her to keep doing so well, but I'm going to just keep supporting her in surviving as long as she's making a go of it. I appreciate your words

 

[JacinLarkwell]

If they're fighting, let them fight. It's when they stop and wilt away that it doesn't end well

 

[ackie]

Her previous owners got a puppy and let it run without supervision, it mauled her and they ignored her for four days

 

[ackie]

you can weigh her on a human scale. just weigh yourself with the towel, and then weigh yourself with her wrapped in the towel and subtract. I'm sure it's not as accurate but its something.

 

[cassie]

The smell is due to an infection. I would use an antibiotic ointment on the exposed tissue. I once had a goat rip a good sized chunk of hide off her side. She had a section about one foot square on her side with no skin at all. I took her to the vet and he trimmed it up and cleaned it. He sent me home with a jar of antibiotic ointment. I think it may have been furacin (sp), Anyway, I was to apply the ointment liberally to her side once or twice a day. I did. The doe healed up and she was left with a scar less than the size of a quarter. You had to look carefully to be able to see it at all. If nothing else use BluKote. It works to fight infection. If the chicken is eating and drinking and if you keep treating the wound she will probably be all right.

 

[azygous]

Look at her eyes. Eyes on a sick or injured chicken tell us their health status. She appears to be in pain and shock and sepsis, if not organ failure.

Organ failure is what happens when there isn't enough skin to protect the body from dehydrating. Skin is the most important organ of the body, and it controls the balance of nutrients that keep a body stable.

I'm all for helping a chicken fight for life when there's a chance for recovery, but this chicken is going to die a slow, painful death regardless of what you do. If this chicken were to be treated, she would need to be on a continuous IV drip of fluids and antibiotics. There would be no question in my mind that if this happened to one of my chickens, and all of mine are cherished pets, I would euthanize. Now.

 

[SulkyBantam]

Her previous owners got a puppy and let it run without supervision, it mauled her and they ignored her for four days.

I cant believe anyone could do that to her poor, poor girl.
she's lucky to be cared for now at least.

Its really hard to tell if its infected.
Are you giving her painkillers at all? I recommend electrolytes in her water.

 

[Chiker]

how is your poor bird alive?
poor thing