Eye/head injury gosling

[Bolfreak]

I didn’t get any before pictures since it was just bloody, but this guy got pecked? I guess. I blamed my turkeys but couldn’t find any bloody beaks. The next morning, I noticed a little blood spot on my gander so it could’ve been him.
I tried cleaning with warm water and keto/chlorhex pads. Then a hydrocolloidal pad sticky side down and a bandaid to secure it.
The vet doesn’t see birds, but he did give me a triple ab eye ointment that I put on the wound and it gets in his eyes ofc 3x a day. I try washing him in warm water with very dilute epsom salts to rinse it and soften the bandaid adhesive. I unintentionally put it over his right eye which is pretty damaged and I’m thinking he will lose. But he’s not a duck and doesn’t enjoy the baths much.
He’s still eating and can see some out of the left eye, it looks better every day. How optimistic should I be about the scalp closing up like this? It’s not really a stitchable wound and he’s a fighter. Pics are Monday (day after it happened), last two are today. I cut the left side flap of the Bandaid off to keep it from bothering him.

 

[coach723]

I would personally leave the band aid off. Wounds often do better when left open, and bandaging can keep bacteria in, just keep applying the ointment to keep it covered in that and moist. I had a hen (chicken) scalped, her skull was visible. I treated that way after the initial flushing out and cleaning it up, and it healed up completely and eventually you could not tell it had happened. Picture below about 5 weeks in, feathers just starting to regrow.

 

[Bolfreak]

Eventually the bandaid & hydro one should fall off. I was more concerned with keeping it moist than bacteria. The hydro bandage is supposed to be cover for oozy wounds, I have it on hand for bumblefoot holes.
He’s obviously separated from everyone and inside which he’s not happy about. He’s super sweet with us but is also very demanding when we’re not nearby.
Thanks for the pictures, I do want him to be ok. He struggled to hatch, had to be forcefed, didn’t have buddies until I put him out with older ducklings, now this. The ducklings are flightier and get out of the way where he’s a bit more naive. He’s had a crappy start to life lol
What was the wound like as it closed? What should I do or look out for other than clean and moist?

 

[coach723]

Didn't realize it was a hydro bandage, I also use those for bumblefoot. Not sure how well it would work on a feathered part of the body though since it adheres to the tissue. I wish I had taken more pictures, but life was in the way at the time. When my hen healed, it slowly scabbed over, from the edges in. The scab was very thick. Once it was scabbed over I didn't mess with it except for applying the ointment. Once it's scabbed you can use vaseline if you'd rather, my objective was to keep it moist so that the scab wouldn't split and crack. If there was a split or crack I would use the plain antibiotic ointment on that. It came off gradually, on it's own, again from the edges in. What was left as you can see in the picture, was paler skin that then started putting out feathers. You can also see a paler area on the bottom of the back of her comb that was also damaged, and healed.
Signs of infection would be redness more than would be expected from the trauma, pus or discharge, bad smell. Bruising may look dark or greenish.
I kept my hen in a crate in the enclosed run so she couldn't be pecked by others during healing, but so they could all still see each other. Kept her happier and less stressed and made reintegrating her easier once she was ready. When it was decently feathered I let her out under observation to make sure it didn't draw any attention, before leaving her out for good.
This thread has some pictures of wounds during healing process, might be helpful.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wounds-pictures-of-how-they-heal.1325817/#post-21627607

 

[Bolfreak]

The hydro fell off overnight. Did a flush with warm water very dilute eye makeup remover to try and loosen the Bandaid but wasn’t successful this time.
I can see more of the wound and his bad eye now. It looks pretty icky but he seems in good spirits. Have a kennel for him on the enclosed porch and will bring him inside at night.

 

[Bolfreak]

Also, thanks for the warning about bruising looking green - it’s an unnatural color in a wound but is helping healing hopefully! Hard to get pics up close, his eye might still be intact, I will have to reassess when the swelling truly goes down.

 

[coach723]

It looks pretty good, I would continue with the ointment, give it some time. I do see some bruising, but I don't see anything that looks like infection. Personally, I would leave it unbandaged. Healing time can vary depending on size and depth of wounds, but it should slowly start looking better.

 

[Bolfreak]

My dog and cat vet that gave me the eye ointment might be interested in taking him. He has a goose but no male.
He’s a sweet little guy because he’s been handled so much, but I wasn’t sure I could include him in my flock, so going with a vet would be a really good outcome.

 

[coach723]

It would! If you aren't able to keep him, that would be a fantastic option. I once had to sell a horse (I had to move overseas) and he went to a married couple who were both vets. It was incredibly comforting to know that he would be getting very well taken care of.

 

[Bolfreak]

Six days after. The vet saw him but isn’t set up to take him yet. He also removed the Bandaid flap I wasn’t able to
His right eye actually looks intact and possibly the third eyelid took the brunt of the damage. Hopefully he can regain some sight on that side. Vet also said to use olive oil to moisturize and that it was ok if it got in eyes?
Gander doesn’t like when I use the ointment, he sneezes and shakes his head a lot so I think it gets in his nostrils when it melts.
He seems to mouth breathe a lot, which is concerning but he eats, walks and poops fine. Could he just be hot? He’s at that weird gosling age where he still has warm downy feathers but isn’t swimming to cool off.