Fox Attack - Large Wound on Side

[Frizzle and Friends]

Unless you need to clean the wound(s) you can skip that part now and just reapply the ointment. Initially wounds need to be flushed and cleaned to get out any debris and as much bacteria as possible to prevent infection. If it's staying clean and there isn't discharge or anything that needs to be cleaned off, then just apply the ointment.

Sounds good to me. Just another thing added to the chicken medical kit then.
Thank you so much for the help! I'll keep posting updates as she heals.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I followed your advice with the betadine and triple antibiotic. I can also run out to the store and pick up any extra supplies.
You would suggest to leave unwrapped, even though her wing falls over it? I was worried about that irritating the wound and putting debris in it.
This morning, the electrolyte I gave her was much lower, so she definitely drank a bunch last night. She'll get some scrambled eggs this morning.
She's definitely in pain, but still alert and checking out her surroundings, so I'm taking that as a good sign.

Looks like you've done a nice job cleaning the wounds.

If she is picking on them and the gauze won't stay on very well, get an infant sized t shirt and put it on her. This will allow more air to get to the wound and you can also more easily tend to it as needed.

These types of wounds do take time to heal, so just keep up with it. You'll do fine.

Here's some inspiration. Margo was attacked by a dog, her keeper kept the thread updated and also provided photos along the way. Margo is now back with the flock and her rooster One Eyed Larry.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/dog-attack-injury-graphic-pictures.1654172/

 

[Frizzle and Friends]

If she is picking on them and the gauze won't stay on very well, get an infant sized t shirt and put it on her. This will allow more air to get to the wound and you can also more easily tend to it as needed.

She definitely is still trying to pick at it. I've been using vet wrap to keep the gauze on her, but both my simple wraps she got out of. Right now Delta is in a homemade "harness" of sorts. She's not impressed, but I'm hoping it'll at least stay on for the night. I'll look for a little shirt tomorrow to make it so she doesn't have to be all wrapped up.

Her wound is looking pretty good. I did have to trim some dried skin off the side, but was careful to avoid anywhere that looked healthy. No weird odors either.
The photos are from after I cleaned it up for the evening.

Delta is still eating, but not as much as I'd like, but I'm starting to suspect she could just be being picky. I put a few sunflower seed in her food to entice her, and she immediately perked up and ate them all. Thinking back, she did the same with the pinch of black soldier fly larva she got on day one.
Because today was nice out, we took her out on the porch for some sun. She took a little sunbath, preened a bit, and watched the flockmates who fly the fence. She also sneezed a few times, which I'll be watching for, but I honestly feel she may have gotten some triple antibiotic in her nose. Overall, still seems to be doing well.

Here's some inspiration. Margo was attacked by a dog, her keeper kept the thread updated and also provided photos along the way. Margo is now back with the flock and her rooster One Eyed Larry.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/dog-attack-injury-graphic-pictures.1654172/

Also, thank you so much for the help and the examples! It definitely helps to see other similar cases and to see how things typically progress. I'll keep updating this thread as she heals and if I have any questions.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Delta is still eating, but not as much as I'd like, but I'm starting to suspect she could just be being picky. I put a few sunflower seed in her food to entice her, and she immediately perked up and ate them all. Thinking back, she did the same with the pinch of black soldier fly larva she got on day one.

I'm glad to hear she's hanging in there.

If she loses appetite try bringing in a couple of her friends to eat with her, sometimes they do better to have some company every once in a while.

Scrambled egg may also be interesting to her too, good source of protein and of course vitamins/minerals.

 

[Frizzle and Friends]

I'm glad to hear she's hanging in there.

If she loses appetite try bringing in a couple of her friends to eat with her, sometimes they do better to have some company every once in a while.

Scrambled egg may also be interesting to her too, good source of protein and of course vitamins/minerals.

She has a cup of scrambled egg yolks (I had made an angel food cake) that I gave her tonight, though she's asleep now.

We have a broody bantam right now. I don't intend to let her hatch since she wants nothing to do with chicks and attacked them one time we tried to give her them. I could bring her in, give Delta some company, and break her broodiness all at the same time.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She has a cup of scrambled egg yolks (I had made an angel food cake) that I gave her tonight, though she's asleep now.

We have a broody bantam right now. I don't intend to let her hatch since she wants nothing to do with chicks and attacked them one time we tried to give her them. I could bring her in, give Delta some company, and break her broodiness all at the same time.

Sounds like she has some goodies coming her way.

Delta my just provide her with some company or at least entertainment. I find broody hens a lot of fun to watch, even when breaking them, they frump and grump around.

 

[Frizzle and Friends]

I found a shirt and figured out how to wrap Delta in it so she can't get to her side. Even the extra small was a little large, so I cut it and tied it snug around her. Her wound is still looking good and the sneezing stopped, so I do think it was ointment up her nose.

Sounds like she has some goodies coming her way.

Delta my just provide her with some company or at least entertainment. I find broody hens a lot of fun to watch, even when breaking them, they frump and grump around.

I did end up putting Honeycomb in with Delta. There was a LOT of complaining from Honeycomb yesterday and today, she clearly would like to be back on the nest. They did peck at each other yesterday, but the two of them have settled in together by now. They were chatting a bunch today, preening, and Delta's food intake has improved. She even tried to fly up on the furniture to roost tonight, so I'm seeing promising signs.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Glad she's doing o.k. and that Honeycomb has become a companion for her.
They do seem to recover better if they can be with at least one other bird for a period of time each day.

Thank you for the update, please keep us posted on how Delta and Honeycomb are doing.

 

[Frizzle and Friends]

Glad she's doing o.k. and that Honeycomb has become a companion for her.
They do seem to recover better if they can be with at least one other bird for a period of time each day.

Thank you for the update, please keep us posted on how Delta and Honeycomb are doing.

I agree completely. It was really nice to hear them talking to each other today and snuggling up to sleep. It was actually one of the first times I'd heard Delta clucking since I brought her in.

 

[Frizzle and Friends]

Figured I'd give an update on our girl. Delta is healing amazingly well and is starting to regrow her feathers. Honeycomb did break her broodiness and got returned to the flock. I also did this due to some bullying by Delta which caused Honey to hide in the corner. Nothing hard, but I didn't want to stress Honeycomb out so she got to rejoin the flock.

We had several nice days this week, so on the 4th Delta got to spend some time with me on the porch and took a nice sunbath.

Since she was doing so well, I took her outside in a small pen the next day too. That went not as well...
She clearly wanted to get back to the flock. So she jumped the little fence, dodged my attempt to catch her, booked it across the yard, flew the fence into the chicken pen, and proceeded to get into a fight with our d'uccle (the d'uccle started it by ruffling up and dropping her wings). I quickly got in the pen and retrieved the crazy injured chicken and returned her to her little pen. After continued attempted escapes, she was returned inside having gotten some outside time and fresh air.

No outside time today, but she was feeling good enough to dust bath in the sawdust of her crate. Not only did she spread sawdust in a three foot radius, she also completely caked her self in it. To top it off, she decided it was a great plan to toss more sawdust on her back as she settled down. I went to do her nightly care and discovered a very sawdusty chicken. Got her wound cleaned up, but you can see in the photo the remains of her work.

So overall she's healing up, and feeling pretty good. I can see where her skin is healing on the edges and tge dry edges are gone. Delta has also stopped picking after the wound and got to graduate out of the shirt/bandana wrap.
I'll continue to update as she heals, but I feel like she's going to heal incredibly well.