Deep gash on hen's back -- is it healing ok or is an antibiotic needed? (Graphic pics)

[TropicalChickies]

Hi BYC community,

A few weeks ago I rehomed 2 out of 3 cockerels who were ganging up on the hens. Unfortunately the day before I removed the horny devils, my most amiable and docile hen, Dusty, was injured by their rough mating attempts. She was missing for an afternoon, but I found her in the forest nearby, hiding. She was walking normally, but upon examination, I found a deep gash under her wing where it looks like a toenail ripped the skin away from the muscle.

I took her in, cleaned the area thoroughly with warm saline solution, flushed it with iodine, and sprayed an antibiotic ointment (that's the purple color in the first pic). I put her in a large private coop with some 8 week old just weaned chicks for company at night. At first, the wound looked like it was healing ok. I checked on it every day and applied more antibiotic. It seemed my biggest problem would be keeping her away from the flock (and the other two roosters) long enough to heal without her getting depressed from being kept inside. (My flock free ranges all day so they aren't used to be confined at all).

Fortunately she went broody six days ago and I figured letting her sit and hatch could give her a nice long break from rooster "love" and keep her safe without her being depressed about being by herself. I gave her five eggs to sit on and she took to setting right away.

Ok, so here's the problem -- yesterday I went to make sure she was getting up to poop and give her some food and water and I could smell something off about her -- a bit like sour milk. I examined the wound area and the looked inflamed and smelled like some bacteria started to grow under the scab. So I went to work.

Dusty, my 1 year old frizzle. She was wounded in a cockerel mating frenzy two weeks ago.

The wound area this morning. I had sprayed the purple antibiotic on it the night before. The wound is like a deep pocket and the pocket had formed a scab.

First I softened the scab by flushing the pocket with warm saline. Then I used tweezers to remove as much of the scab as I could, flushing out bits of scab with more saline as I went. It did not bleed. Much of the scab had little cheesy bits clinging to it which is what I smelled. Because the wound is deep, and the scab was keeping air out, this bacteria started to grow.

I just kept removing and flushing and scraping out as much as I could. I gently squeezed and massaged the whole area, but there was no pus or oozing. It's hard to say if it feels hot because the hen in broody and sitting on eggs so she feels warmer than usual anyway, especially her breast area.

This is the wound post cleaning.

After cleaning, I flushed it thoroughly with dilute iodine and dabbed gentamicin in and around the wound.

My question is: is an oral or injectable antibiotic called for here? If so, which one is best for this type of wound? (I live outside the US in Ecuador, so brands like "Tylan" aren't a thing here, nor are vets who treat chickens. But I can get antibiotics for animals pretty easily. I have oral doxycycline and cephalaxine on hand. Doxycycline is recommended online for skin infections. Or would an injectable be better?

Thank you for reading the long post -- I like to include as many details up front as I can. Please advise, she's a very sweet little hen who loves being a mama. She is eating and drinking and seems alright overall -- she puffs up and squawks like a broody but was ok with being treated although she was really insisting to get back to her eggs after 20 minutes. I'm tagging some of the experts I always see giving sound advice. Thank you in advance
@Wyorp Rock @coach723 @azygous @TwoCrows @Allsfairinloveandbugs @casportpony

 

[azygous]

You've done a remarkable job both treating the hen and giving us a thorough run-down of what you've done for her.

I would definitely treat her with the ceph. It's best to avoid injectibles due to the fragile nature of chicken tissue which is prone to necrosis when injected with antibiotics.

The wound looks to be healing well in spite of the interruption by infection. If you pack the center with a petroleum jelly antibacterial after daily cleansing, that should keep the unhealed center moist and less susceptible to bacteria and forming a scab.

 

[TropicalChickies]

You've done a remarkable job both treating the hen and giving us a thorough run-down of what you've done for her.

I would definitely treat her with the ceph. It's best to avoid injectibles due to the fragile nature of chicken tissue which is prone to necrosis when injected with antibiotics.

The wound looks to be healing well in spite of the interruption by infection. If you pack the center with a petroleum jelly antibacterial after daily cleansing, that should keep the unhealed center moist and less susceptible to bacteria and forming a scab.

Thank you @azygous. I'll start her on an oral antibiotic first thing tmrw morning.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You've done a remarkable job both treating the hen and giving us a thorough run-down of what you've done for her.

I would definitely treat her with the ceph. It's best to avoid injectibles due to the fragile nature of chicken tissue which is prone to necrosis when injected with antibiotics.

The wound looks to be healing well in spite of the interruption by infection. If you pack the center with a petroleum jelly antibacterial after daily cleansing, that should keep the unhealed center moist and less susceptible to bacteria and forming a scab.

Good advice and instructions as always.
At this point, I have nothing to add, except I hope she heals quickly.

 

[TropicalChickies]

Good advice and instructions as always.
At this point, I have nothing to add, except I hope she heals quickly.

Thank you. Me too! I wasn't sure if giving Dusty (the hen) eggs to set was the best thing because she just weaned her first brood not even a month ago. But she is quite the broody -- she has gone broody after every clutch of eggs she's laid -- even her first clutch when she was only eight months old! So when she weaned her chicks at 6 weeks and went back to laying right away I figured another broody spell was on the way. I usually don't let hens hatch back to back clutches because I understand it's hard on their bodies, but letting her set just seemed like a way to keep her busy while she's sitting peacefully by herself.

Dusty with her first brood hatched in August. She did a great job for a young mama. Even after she started weaning the chicks, she would still hang out with them in a friendly way. She didn't peck at them to drive them away like I've seen other mothers do when they wean. She was just like, "ok kids! You gotta get your own food now but we're still pals!"

 

[TropicalChickies]

You've done a remarkable job both treating the hen and giving us a thorough run-down of what you've done for her.

I would definitely treat her with the ceph. It's best to avoid injectibles due to the fragile nature of chicken tissue which is prone to necrosis when injected with antibiotics.

The wound looks to be healing well in spite of the interruption by infection. If you pack the center with a petroleum jelly antibacterial after daily cleansing, that should keep the unhealed center moist and less susceptible to bacteria and forming a scab.

I found this dosage instruction in another post on BYC from @casportpony:

"And Plumb's Veterinary Drug Handbook says:

35-50 mg/kg by mouth four times a day (Clubb 1986)
40-100 mg/kg by mouth every six hours (Hoeffer 1995)"

Dusty is very light. Probably 4.5 lbs max. So I think I'll go with the lower end of these dose recommendations. Sound right to you?

 

[coach723]

I have used the 30 - 50 mg/kg orally four times a day with good results. You may need to clean the wound again, if pus regenerates (the white cheesy stuff was pus), until the antibiotics start to work.

 

[TropicalChickies]

I have used the 30 - 50 mg/kg orally four times a day with good results. You may need to clean the wound again, if pus regenerates (the white cheesy stuff was pus), until the antibiotics start to work.

Great thank you. Yes, I will definitely be cleaning it out and checking on it. I think my mistake was thinking the scabbing over was a good healing sign -- but it was really trapping bacteria underneath

 

[Perris]

I hope she recovers soon poor girl I know you're very fond of her.

 

[TropicalChickies]

I hope she recovers soon poor girl I know you're very fond of her.

Thanks @Perris. Yes I hope so too. She is such an amiable little hen -- the only one I have who actually seems to like me!