Cockerel savaged Hen

[Chickinie]

Actually, I reckon you should even stitch it up now.

 

[Eggcessive]

Most henhouse wounds have a ton of bacteria from claws and spurs and poop. If it was stitched up by a vet immediately after with the wounds disinfected well, closing may have been an option. Since that is usually not the case, keeping it clean and letting it close from the inside out is probably the best.

 

[Chickinie]

You could stitch it with even a few stitches to hold it together, it will heal faster and keep the flesh underneath moist. There's no good leaving the muscle exposed. Any foreign material, no matter how small, can then work its way out between stitches. You'll still be able to flush the wound.

 

[sunrise.superman]

She'll be healing by second intention as they call it. Granular tissue filling in the lacerated area.

To place sutures you'd have to trim away any feathers from the area, freshen or trim the edges of the wound, and THEN suture. Suturing now with half healed edges of the tissue won't get you anywhere, plus it will likely be difficult to pull the skin together to meet edges since things begin to dry and heal in place and aren't as elastic as right after the wound occurs.

If you can get it where you are silvadene cream is very good at keeping things healthy and allowing granular tissue to fill in. If you're worried about keeping it covered and can devise a way to secure a dressing then Telfa pads (use brand name) are non-stick wound care dressings that work well with silvadene. As she heals and may not need to have a covering or such a thick layer of topical protection from silvadene cream you can move to calendula cream to aid healing. Colloidal silver gel is helpful there as well.

I hope she does well for you.

 

[glassdragonfly]

I think her wounds are looking very good. I have seen wounds like this heal up just fine. It just takes time and care. Then I have a spoiled sweet chicken!

 

[BarredRockMom]

For what it's worth, I agree with the thought that the wound could have been stitched right after the injury, after thorough cleaning, disinfecting and tending. That's no judgement, mind you.

If, and it's a big IF you wanted to stitch now, you'd have to trim the edges (as was said before), clean, disinfect & stitch...but you'd likely have to put in a drain, too. Too much to do now.

BUT, I do believe that she will recover . If you have cleaned the wound & continue to do so, she's well on her way. I also agree that keeping the tissue moistened with a recommended ointment will do wonders. Skin is a living organ. Perhaps if you clean & slather her muscle & the underside of the skin with ointment & keep it pressed together it will heal faster? (Like if you cut yourself, you clean it, put on ointment & a bandage then it knits itself back together.)
How about using a toddler t-shirt with holes cut for the wings? Or cut it so that it fits snugly, can be safety pinned around her & help to keep the telfa pads in place? Just thinking outside of the normal stuff here, though you may not need to or want to go that far.

 

[BarredRockMom]

Something else to consider, too is the Colloidal Silver aspect. In an ointment, gel (topical) or as a liquid (to add to her water.)
It's a great, natural antibacterial, anti-viral option, which she may need if she's got an infection going on.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Most henhouse wounds have a ton of bacteria from claws and spurs and poop. If it was stitched up by a vet immediately after with the wounds disinfected well, closing may have been an option. Since that is usually not the case, keeping it clean and letting it close from the inside out is probably the best.

You could stitch it with even a few stitches to hold it together, it will heal faster and keep the flesh underneath moist. There's no good leaving the muscle exposed. Any foreign material, no matter how small, can then work its way out between stitches. You'll still be able to flush the wound.

Personally, I would not stitch. Even with vet care, sometimes wounds get infected and need to be re-opened.

Here's 1 example of what could happen when stitching at home - not that it would, but chickens can heal very well given time.
This was stitched and the wound Molded underneath - not sure what conditions or how well the wound was initially cleaned, but as you can see, letting a wound granulate (for chickens) is generally best.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/open-peck-wound-back-of-head-warning-graffic-photo.1262448/

 

[Folly's place]

I think suturing is too late, and keeping the site covered in ointment is best. Maluka honey, Silvadene, or Neosporine, in that order, likely will work well.
She's eating and walking around, wonderful!
Good food and more time, and it's going to heal.
Mary

 

[Shezadandy]

Sorry offf topic OP,sounds like i need to learn out to trim spur, I have a 6 year old rooster that still throwing nice chicks with his almost 3 year old hens and a few younger, one spur broke off chasing a loose dog back home but that other one is getting pretty bad

Edited to add: Sorry OP, I was on a much earlier post when replying to this. Apologies for the off-topic reply.

The baked potato method works WONDERS. You do need to wrap his actual leg so his leg doesn't get burned- the spur just pops right off. I tried something else first. This was far easier on both of us. He broke one, and the other one was long enough that it kept bumping the injured spur, making it bleed. Then he'd mount the hens and get blood on their feathers, which is a bad, bad situation. A couple minutes and a potato - solved. I did keep the injured spur wrapped to keep it from bleeding - it had split lengthwise and took forever to heal. Actually it didn't heal until I separated him from the flock for months- which was just the ticket.