Extended hawk attack and large open wound - what treatment?

[Rivington]

One of our girls was attacked by a hawk. She was hiding under a loose flagstone leaning against the house and I mistook her cries for a neighborhood child. I caught the hawk in the act and it flew off. She has a scratch on her face and a large open wound on her back. She is walking and is drinking but is clearly traumatized. I would appreciate any advice on treatment. I have Vetricyn but have never used it.

Here are some photos

 

[deepbluesea]

Scary, I know--there are a bunch of us who have been dealing with this over the past few weeks. Hang in there--she can absolutely recover!
I'll link to a couple of the threads that helped me in a minute, but first things first: isolate her from others and keep her warm. I'd set her up in a temporary dog crate or some such. Wash the wound gently, remove any feathers that will get in the way of treating the injury and then put neosporin on it. One of the others used the Vectrin--they can talk about it.

 

[Rivington]

Thank you, I have isolated her in an old extension run which we have brought inside. We will wash the wound now.

 

[MillersFarm]

Pull any feathers that are in and around the edge of the wound, Then flush it out and apply some iodine and if you have it some blue kote, I'd also remove her from any flock mates in maybe a quarantine pen or even a large dog crate will do.

 

[MillersFarm]

Scary, I know--there are a bunch of us who have been dealing with this over the past few weeks. Hang in there--she can absolutely recover!
I'll link to a couple of the threads that helped me in a minute, but first things first: isolate her from others and keep her warm. I'd set her up in a temporary dog crate or some such. Wash the wound gently, remove any feathers that will get in the way of treating the injury and then put neosporin on it. One of the others used the Vectrin--they can talk about it.

Oh darn, Didn't see this while typing. Great advice though.

 

[deepbluesea]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-chicken-survive.1208631/page-2#post-19224414

 

[Rivington]

Thanks so much for your advice so far. I cleaned the wound with warm water and sprayed Theracyn (poultry wound care spray) on it. She seems to be behaving normally. We didn't clip any of her feathers yet but we will do that. I did see her peck at the wound once or twice, hopefully she will know better than to do that going forward. She is isolated from the flock - in fact she is inside the house right now in an old extension run- but we will set something up in the garage. She was already bottom of the pecking order before this so I will keep her separate until it is substantially healed.

So should I continue cleaning the wound and applying the Theracyn a few times a day?

 

[deepbluesea]

Thanks so much for your advice so far. I cleaned the wound with warm water and sprayed Theracyn (poultry wound care spray) on it. She seems to be behaving normally. We didn't clip any of her feathers yet but we will do that. I did see her peck at the wound once or twice, hopefully she will know better than to do that going forward. She is isolated from the flock - in fact she is inside the house right now in an old extension run- but we will set something up in the garage. She was already bottom of the pecking order before this so I will keep her separate until it is substantially healed.

So should I continue cleaning the wound and applying the Theracyn a few times a day?

Reply--that all sounds good! Yes, wash well twice a day and reapply the wound spray. I did that the first several days, then moved to the neosporin. Once I was going to move her out with the others, I applied the blu-kote (she was well on her way then). Good luck!! PS what's her name?

 

[Rivington]

Thanks so much for your advice. Her name is Caramel!

 

[Eggcessive]

Vetericyn wound spray twice a day can be helpful. You can also use plain Neosporin Ointment as well. Keep her away from flies. Vet care would be best if possible, since they can close the wound with a drain. Keep her separated while she is healing. We all ope that she gets along well.