Fox attack, hen injured

[ChickenNewbie2020]

So one of our free roaming chicks almost got caught by a fox. Luckily we were there to scare it off. But now our girl has a wound. What do we do? Does she need to be separated from the rest? Does she need ointment or something.

this is our first time raising chickens and the first injury.

thanks for the help!

 

[21hens-incharge]

Where on the bird is the injury?

It looks like a solid puncture.....check for more.

Cleanse the wound with Clorhexidine, diluted betadine or soap and water (choices in order of effectiveness).
Apply plain Neosporin (without pain reliever) to the wounds and reapply at least twice a day.

Keep her separate in a calm quiet place so you can monitor feed intake and poop out go as well as alertness.

 

[whiteboy]

Most of the time it is better to just leave it alone.

I worry that sometimes the advice is to love them to death with over treatment.

 

[21hens-incharge]

Most of the time it is better to just leave it alone.

I worry that sometimes the advice is to love them to death with over treatment.

How is cleaning the wound, preventing infection and watching behavior over treating?

 

[ChickenNewbie2020]

Where on the bird is the injury?

It looks like a solid puncture.....check for more.

Cleanse the wound with Clorhexidine, diluted betadine or soap and water (choices in order of effectiveness).
Apply plain Neosporin (without pain reliever) to the wounds and reapply at least twice a day.

Keep her separate in a calm quiet place so you can monitor feed intake and poop out go as well as alertness.

Where on the bird is the injury?

It looks like a solid puncture.....check for more.

Cleanse the wound with Clorhexidine, diluted betadine or soap and water (choices in order of effectiveness).
Apply plain Neosporin (without pain reliever) to the wounds and reapply at least twice a day.

Keep her separate in a calm quiet place so you can monitor feed intake and poop out go as well as alertness.

It is under her vent. She lost most of her long tail feathers but she still has feathers covering where the puncture is.

 

[whiteboy]

The damage comes on the stress put on the bird catching it. Dunking it in Epsom salts (someone will recommend it) multiple days in a row. Keeping it is solitary confinement for multiple days on end. Holding it upside down and sideways wrapped in a towel while you treat it, poke it and prod it on an injured and bruised area. Shove a dropper with antibiotics in its mouth. They usually do just fine without the treatment, so why do all of those things if it doesn't need it? Treatment should be as minimal as possible while keeping it alive, while observing your common sense such as, why pay $100 to treat a $2 animal. Do your best to protect it, but you don't need to kill yourself to keep it alive.

 

[LaFemmeKatia]

I would treat as recommended by 21 hens-incharge.
That doesn’t seem to me like overdoing things.

 

[21hens-incharge]

It is under her vent. She lost most of her long tail feathers but she still has feathers covering where the puncture is.

I would still check for additional punctures, clean, do the ointment and observe for at least 24 hours. If eating, drinking, pooping normally I would keep her in a clean sectioned off part of the coop while she recovers/heals up for 5-6 days.

Basic wound care and observation is my recommendation.