Double trouble-heat exhaustion-found wound

[chickonaroost]

I work nights and went out to the coop this early afternoon and found my silver laced polish young roo and a hen nearly dead, panting, limp.... we have had hotter days so I don't know what went wrong. They had loads of fresh water, two high speed fans and access to lots of shade.
I brought them both in, bathed them in cool water and syringe fed them electrolyte solution. They are both more alert but not walking, acting totally spent. I have separated them from the rest (which are all acting fine). Is there anything more I can do for the other two??

Also, to add insult to injury, While I was bathing the hen, I noticed the skin right under her wing has been torn. We have another young roo who has singled her out as his favorite and is relentless with his violent mounting. (He is going to another farm in the a.m.) The wound looks a day or two old and is fairly clean...no maggots, pus or blood (thank God!!!) I cleaned it with half strength peroxide, coated it with bacitracin and wrapped it. The skin is torn and pulled down a bit. Will this heal?? if I can keep it clean?
And it would seem they were attacked and therefore injured/exhausted, except the coop is fully enclosed-top, sides, underground and all ground was undisturbed. I was also nearby, unknowing they were having such trouble and never heard a peep.

Feeling VERY guilty.....poor babies.....I wish the darn weather would break!
Thanks for any help, sorry this is soooo long.

 

[robin416]

We just came out of a six week triple digit temp period. It's been rough, a lot of work keeping the birds alive.

Keep the two birds in where its quiet. They should probably not be in a room that is kept cool or you'll have them in until winter because they'll become acclimated to the cooler temps.

I'm not a big supporter of using peroxide. I use betadine for flushing wounds since it is also an antibacterial. Keeping her wound moist with the ointment should help in the healing process. You might find you need to trim some of the dead skin that has peeled back. And lock that randy boy's behind up until he goes to his new home.

Also put them on some vitamins if you haven't already done it. I also put big Tupperware lids in my pens, filled them with water. The birds would go and just stand in the water to cool off. Because it was so shallow I didn't have to be concerned about younger birds drowning.

Stuff happens. I know of folks who worked non stop to prevent losses but still experienced huge losses.

 

[chickonaroost]

Thanks for the info. I think the big challenge with her wound will be to keep her out of it. She's an overpreener anyway and I've already caught her tugging at the bandage.
I plan on keeping them in overnight. I will make sure they are both up and at it in the morning then put them back out, I have a section in the coop where I can keep the wounded one separate. I will definately be out there with ice and misters and water pans tommorrow. Just think, in a few short months we'll be worried about keeping them warm!

 

[chickonaroost]

Update: My little roo is back to normal today, eating, drinking, walking. Back out with the girls he goes.
My hen is acting normal too, but this wound is worrisome. It is clean but still opened and I'm not sure how exactly it will heal. How long should it take? It is about 2 inches long, just through the skin and under her wing. it forms a 'pocket' that you could fit a grape in. (sorry, sound gross, can't think of what else to compare it to.)

 

[robin416]

My way of thinking I'd agree with you on being concerned about the wound. Its an ideal breeding ground for nasty things. If you have her in where you can control the cleanliness of her injury she should heal fairly quickly. But you may have a different issue now that she is feeling better, loneliness. If you have a bird she gets along with well you might consider making more work for yourself by bring a buddy in.

 

[devora]

We've been dealing w/ a nasty wound...several Xs now. It healed completely then she got another one. Very open and big (inches). We used peroxide only once, then Neosporin for a few days, then Blukote.

Yes, it did heal but we were checking for maggots/pus (sorry, this is kinda gross) several Xs a day. We kept her totally separated from the flock for about three weeks. I didn't want to take a chance of any of them pecking her.