Do we think this chicken can heal?

[Anon112]

Here's the raccoon attack thread I mentioned earlier: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/racoon-attack-wing-torn-and-toes-gone.1669935/

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Keep us posted. This is going to be hard on you for a few days as it looks so horrendous, but be of good courage, there is a very good chance she will recover. My first instinct was to put our chicken down when I saw her injury, too, but she did recover.

 

[Mklein176]

Keep us posted. This is going to be hard on you for a few days as it looks so horrendous, but be of good courage, there is a very good chance she will recover. My first instinct was to put our chicken down when I saw her injury, too, but she did recover.

Thank you. Oof I feel like it looks so much worse than I initially thought. Your words are so very appreciated, knowing other have gone through this.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

And some day you'll be encouraging somebody else.

 

[Chickenbubble22]

Writing in hopes of getting some perspective. One of my girls flew out of their yard today into our main yard, which is pretty difficult to do, and our dog chased and bit her before I could intervene. She doesn’t seem to be in shock and is eating and drinking. I gave her some pain meds we had and cleaned with vetricyn. We went to try and bandage her up with steri strips but upon closer looking are feeling like this may not heal on its own. It looks like the skin and tissue around her tail is drooping and we can’t seem to connect it with a bandage. She was only born this spring. I want to try and save her but my partner thinks we should put her down. Can anyone weigh in on whether their chicken has made it through something like this without stitches?

Basically the exact same thing happened this summer to one of my chickens! She had very similar wounds on her back like that. We didn't put any stitches in. We isolated her from the rest of the flock. I flushed her wounds out with betadine and put neosporin on them every day to prevent infection and keep the flesh from drying out. It took several weeks, but she eventually healed and is doing great today. In my experience, if chickens don't die within the first 24 hours of receiving an injury, it is most likely something they can recover from just fine with proper care. One thing I would watch out for are the feathers surrounding the wound. In the summer I was worried about flies bothering her wound, but her feathers laid over the injury quite nicely and protected it, so you couldn't even see that she was injured unless you looked underneath, so the feathers were to our advantage. However, if they start to get matted and gross, you may need to remove the feathers. Don't pull them out as this could tear her skin, but cut them off gently.
That's all I can think of. If she is still alive, I don't see any reason why she wouldn't get better, especially being such a young bird (my hen that was injured is around 3 or 4 years old now and healed from basically the same wound)!
Keep us updated! I hope she is okay

 

[Chickenbubble22]

Thanks for the encouragement. I just trimmed feathers and applied a topical antibiotic. I feel like her wound does smell a bit. This is the best photo I could get after trimming until I have help holding her. It appears she was bitten almost all the way around her tail right above her cloaca. She seems to be pooping though so I’m assuming normal function for now. Does this still look healable? I don’t have any pain meds for her and am worried she is suffering.

Ok thank you will run to the store now. Is Meloxicam or Meloxidyl something you can secure without an rx?

I think it still looks healable! I would say she has very good chances as long as the wound doesn't get infected. It doesn't sound like you can get those meds without an rx. They will probably tell you this if you get meds for her and the following applies, but often when animals have medications, their products (in this case, her eggs, if she is still laying during this period) are unsafe to eat, and you have to wait for the withdrawal period to end before you can consume the products. If you want to try to get her medicine you can, however, I think she will be okay without. My bird that had the same injuries was, and all I used was betadine to flush the wound and neosporin to prevent infection. Animals have high pain tolerance and simply making sure the wound isn't dried out and that it is not infected will make her more comfortable.