Chicken wound on back above tail - what to do?

[User395221]

Kelly has acquired a wound today, it is a gaping wound above her tail. It looks as if her tail feathers got pulled down and it ripped a jagged tear (that's what it looks like to me and I don't know a lot about how chooks are put together. If I lift her tail feathers, it seems to close the wound, so to me it looks like a tear and not a hunk taken out.) If it was on a person, I'd say it needed stitching, or taping to bring the edges together.

I flushed it with saline and it seems relatively clean, I taped a piece of gauze over it but the minute the other girls saw it they pulled it off. It's nearly bedtime so I'll need to look at it in the morning and maybe isolate her if I need to put a dressing on it and keep it on.

I read the thread about wound care and the basics are the same as for people, clean it, and keep the bugs out.

If it is a tear, as it seems to me (I'll try to get a photo tomorrow morning), can you steristrip it together on a chook or will it just heal from the inside out (assuming no infection) without trying to close it? Or do I need to take her to the vet? (I've had some expenses, so if I can treat her at home, I'd rather do that, my local vet hospital with the bird vets charges like wounded bulls, and my "good vet" doesn't do chooks)
I didn't put anything (like betadine) on it because I don't think they can stitch it if it's had betadine on it???

Any advice gratefully received.

 

[WVduckchick]

Sorry to hear this! Some pics will surely help determine what to do.

any thoughts on what may have happened? Predator? Do you have hawks? Neighborhood dogs? could a rooster have done it with a spur?
Also, what breed and age is she?

I would at least apply some antibiotic ointment, and get her weight if possible. A good baseline weight is always good to know. You may need to separate her if the others mess with it, and to keep it as clean as possible.

 

[User395221]

any thoughts on what may have happened?

I let the little girls out for a roam today. Could have been one of the big girls, or one of the dogs, or she could have caught herself on something, I really don't know. (no roosters, so it's not that)

She's polish (cross). Not sure exactly how old, but she's young.

I'll separate her tomorrow, I don't want any of the others fussing with it.

We can't buy antibiotics, only doctors/vets can have them. I'll flush it again in the morning and decide whether I need to take her to the vet or can dress it myself.

 

[User395221]

So sorry. Before I comment I would like to see some pictures.

Yes, I'll (hopefully) get some in the morning (it's the middle of the night at the moment)
No we can't buy antibiotics like neosporin, we can only get them from vets/doctors. I have some betadine and some antiseptic powder, but I didn't want to put anything into the wound, in case it needs to/can be stitched.

 

[WVduckchick]

I had a hen get grabbed by my neighbors dog, she's a bird dog spaniel, so she just carried her back to my neighbor and dropper her. (my bird was out of my yard, where she didn't belong, so i don't blame the dog for doing as it was trained). Anyway, her wound looked very similar to your girls. it was healing fine, but unfortunately my girl died a few days later because I think the dog's grasp broke an egg inside my hen. So that makes me worry about your hen. if she is laying, I'd be inclined to put her in a dark area earlier in the evening.

I also have a rooster right now recovering from a hawk attack that also looked like a similar wound. He is healing very nicely. If his butt weren't bald now, you'd never know anything happened to him. I only once applied some Neosporin to the wound. It closed on its own and new feathers are starting to sprout.
last week


today

 

[WVduckchick]

Can you get ointment like Neosporin? I was just thinking of dressing the wound. I'm not sure what to give to her medicinally.

@casportpony may have some suggestions

 

[casportpony]

So sorry. Before I comment I would like to see some pictures.

 

[User395221]

Update:

I went out to check on her and the wound has closed back up (or she's holding her tail up so that it closes it). I'm happy with how it looks, unless somebody more experienced tells me she needs prophylactic antibiotics, I'm going to watch it at home and just keep applying the antiseptic powder.

Here is the patient. (not happy, Jan )

 

[MrsBachbach]

I let the little girls out for a roam today. Could have been one of the big girls, or one of the dogs, or she could have caught herself on something, I really don't know. (no roosters, so it's not that)

She's polish (cross). Not sure exactly how old, but she's young.

I'll separate her tomorrow, I don't want any of the others fussing with it.

We can't buy antibiotics, only doctors/vets can have them. I'll flush it again in the morning and decide whether I need to take her to the vet or can dress it myself.

Potato chip, chickens have amazing healing abilities on nasty wounds. We have seen some ugly ones on this forum, even a chicken half eaten by a hawk.
I have had some nasty rips on some of my birds over the years. Clean the wound, (which you did), separate her, which you did, put antibiotic ointment like people said, and give her a few days for it to close up. If it starts looking infected anyway, you may need some internal antibiotics or injectable like penicillin.
One thing you could get which I have found VERY HELPFUL over the years is a product called Wonderdust. You can find it in the horse/cattle aisle in feed store. I had a hen that was missing skin (just hanging there) , muscle exposed and gashed, just ugly wound and I applied this powder to the wound. It just took one, maybe two applications and that was it. It formed a hard scab (ugly and black) quickly, which helped keep the bird from messing with it too much herself also. It kept the flies and all the other nasty critters away. It contains an antibiotic and a type of drying agent I think, but I put it right on the muscle and that ugly wound did heal over time and I didn't see signs of infection or have to worry about keeping wound dry and flies away or her taking a dust bath or anything like that. I didn't even separate her, but I do recommend that for a few days. I keep a bottle of that in my animal med cabinet. That stuff works.

 

[MrsBachbach]

View attachment 1262481
I managed to get a photo, but it's not very good. I'm not good at photos at the best of times, but trying to hold a chook and get definition of something like this is beyond my skills.
I couldn't close it up the way I could last night, it was bleeding freely last night and the line of the wound was "straighter", but now the blood has clotted (the "black stuff" is dried blood") and it's perhaps a bit inflamed? It doesn't look so horrid in real life, to me it looks quite clean (clean as in not infected).
Anyway, I flushed it with warm water and covered the lot with antibiotic powder. Even if they could have stitched it, they wouldn't be able to do it now.
She seems quite well in herself, perky and normal. Can I watch this at home? Ideally, I'd get her up to the vet, but new brakes on my car make that a bit less easy to fund right now.
I know with cats, you need to get antibiotics ASAP because they tend to fester inside and they get cat germs poked inside. Can an open wound on a chook be treated at home or do I need to get her some antibiotics?

If it doesn't look as bad as the picture, and doesn't look infected, just continue to monitor. There may be some infection in there that needs cleaning out. If it doesnt look like it is getting better in a week, I would start some penicillin injections in a week. You can get that at feed stores if you can't get her to vet. That stuff is good for wounds and I've used it, but that is totally your call and your bird and a hen would of course have a withdrawal period on her eggs and that is also your call, but I've seen anywhere from two weeks to two months mentioned on stuff like that. Dosage and how to administer you can search this forum as I'm sure it's been discussed.