Do we think this chicken can heal?

[Eggcessive]

It’s a good sign that the wound does not smell bad. I have no experience with silver honey.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Ditto. I encourage staying the course. What you are doing is working. The wound is clean and granulating, I believe. I think that's what the yellow stuff is. It's only been a week or so, hasn't it? It will continue looking yucky until all of a sudden in a week or so it'll look like it's healing. After that it heals pretty fast. Thanks for the pics. I don't think the silver honey will speed things up any, but you can try it. Nature just heals at its own pace IMO but it's worth a try. Maybe you can use it on one half and compare.

 

[LittlesNBigs]

Hope everything is still going well for you and your bird.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

YEs, an update would be welcome!

 

[Mklein176]

S’more (my daughter named her) is making good progress. One side is looking a lot better and the scab on the worst side of her wound is starting to lift. I’m rinsing with saline now 1-2x daily and using vetricyn and vetricyn hydrogel. She finished her 10 day course of antibiotics but it seems that she is now not eating, I read the flavor is quite bitter to them. It’s been about 2 days of her avoiding food but I just got her to eat some salmon. If we can get the food thing figured out I think she’ll be good.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

So you are not using the triple antibiotic ointment suggested? Veterycin is not antibiotic although it is antimicrobial. Have you tried offering her her regular food wet with water to make a gruel? Or with yogurt or applesauce added? Good luck with her, it's nice to see she's making progress! I'm sure you agree she'll pull through now.

 

[Mklein176]

So you are not using the triple antibiotic ointment suggested? Veterycin is not antibiotic although it is antimicrobial. Have you tried offering her her regular food wet with water to make a gruel? Or with yogurt or applesauce added? Good luck with her, it's nice to see she's making progress! I'm sure you agree she'll pull through now.

I did the neosporin ointment until this weekend (10 days) and then switched to the vetricyn plus hydrogel. I might alternate with neosporin as the scab continues to lift, but with the spray I can get it underneath the scab and the ointment was just sitting on top.

Yes, I feel like I’ve tried everything under the sun with food I think because I varied what I mixed the antibiotics into she is so skeptical of food. I let her outside with her friends everyday, but separated in a dog crate. That seems to help if I throw some worms seeing the other chickens go after them is motivating but I haven’t seen her eating any of her regular feed yet.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Can you just syringe the antibiotics into her mouth or pop them in if they are pill form, and not put them in her food?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Chickens can swallow amazingly big things - they can swallow a mouse or a frog whole! So they can swallow pils easily even if they try to tell you they can't. Look at this graphic:

You don't want anyhing to go down the hole at the back of the tongue, that's the windpipe. See how the syringe is going down the side next to the tongue? That's where you want pills and things to go and it's quite roomy. So open the beak, put the pill in, close the beak and let 'er swallow! Sometimes i hold the beak shut with the head pointed up while I gently stroke the throat untiI I feel her swallow.

 

[Mklein176]

Chickens can swallow amazingly big things - they can swallow a mouse or a frog whole! So they can swallow pils easily even if they try to tell you they can't. Look at this graphic:

View attachment 4237224

You don't want anyhing to go down the hole at the back of the tongue, that's the windpipe. See how the syringe is going down the side next to the tongue? That's where you want pills and things to go and it's quite roomy. So open the beak, put the pill in, close the beak and let 'er swallow! Sometimes i hold the beak shut with the head pointed up while I gently stroke the throat untiI I feel her swallow.

Wow that’s amazing. I did not try that. Thankfully she finished her course of antibiotics before she started rejecting food too much. The last day was challenging. I’m not 100% that the antibiotics are the cause of her food refusal, but just a hunch.