Fox attacked Hen and left a huge wound exposing flesh - Help, Advice needed

[SobiasBirds]

I’ve just experienced an attack on one of my hens, a fox attacked her and she has a huge area where her flesh is exposed (approximately 6 inches) with a one inch long deep pucture wound in the flesh. Thankfully she seems quite well in herself and is eating and drinking.

After googling a few posts I cleaned her with iodine solution and stitched her up by bringing the skin flaps together. I’ve now seen these posts which recommend no stitches. What can I do now?

 

[FunClucks]

I’ve just experienced an attack on one of my hens, a fox attacked her and she has a huge area where her flesh is exposed (approximately 6 inches) with a one inch long deep pucture wound in the flesh. Thankfully she seems quite well in herself and is eating and drinking.

After googling a few posts I cleaned her with iodine solution and stitched her up by bringing the skin flaps together. I’ve now seen these posts which recommend no stitches. What can I do now?

Not an expert, but I've had a rooster dig a hole in the side of my hen with his spur and claws. When I first noticed it, there was a 3" diameter area of messed up scabs and bloody injury. It was all pretty dried and crusted except for the most recent damage, so I did nothing to the wound but put her in the isolation cage within the covered coop/run so she could stay with the flock but avoid the attentions of the rooster. Within a week or two, she had totally healed, and most of the scabs had fallen off. She was feeling better and started laying eggs again. It's amazing what they can heal without even any medicine. I've put Neosporin on such things in the past, or Vetericyn, or even just Bluecote for minor injuries. I'm sure those help, but they can manage without if they have to.

The rooster is human aggressive, and on the cull list anyway, since he's actually a meat bird and the few hens he's managed to catch and fertilize have not had high fertility for whatever reason. So I'm going to go in a different direction with my meat bird breeding project and he's going to be dinner as soon as I get the time and the weather cooperates. In the meantime, I'm keeping the only hens he can catch away from him.

This past weekend one of my kids let the hen out of the isolation cage into the regular coop/run unbeknownst to me (I was pretty upset about it - I showed the kids the damage to the hen so they wouldn't make that mistake again), and in the time before I noticed, the rooster ripped a 2" gash in her side and her flank muscles were exposed. It looked pretty clean, so I put her back in the isolation cage, and I expect her to make a full recovery in a week or two.

All that to say, if you gave your chicken stitches for such a wound, super kudos to you as an owner. I don't think it will hurt her at all, and may speed her recovery. You probably see all the posts that don't mention stitches because it's not in everyone's capability to do, and folk may not think it's needed. I think your hen will heal up just fine, and you should be able to take them out once she heals no problem. In some ways, chickens are amazingly resilient. If she develops an infection for some reason, you may consider systemic antibiotics or topical antibiotics - there's lots of info on this site to help you pick one. Be aware, most systemic antibiotics are for birds that will not be eaten, but sounds like she's a pet, so that's fine. Also, her eggs should also be fine once she starts laying again. Make sure she and the other chickens can't pick at her stitches - might need to wrap the wound in vet wrap or something over some soft cotton.

Hope she heals very soon! Good luck!!!

 

[SobiasBirds]

Not an expert, but I've had a rooster dig a hole in the side of my hen with his spur and claws. When I first noticed it, there was a 3" diameter area of messed up scabs and bloody injury. It was all pretty dried and crusted except for the most recent damage, so I did nothing to the wound but put her in the isolation cage within the covered coop/run so she could stay with the flock but avoid the attentions of the rooster. Within a week or two, she had totally healed, and most of the scabs had fallen off. She was feeling better and started laying eggs again. It's amazing what they can heal without even any medicine. I've put Neosporin on such things in the past, or Vetericyn, or even just Bluecote for minor injuries. I'm sure those help, but they can manage without if they have to.

The rooster is human aggressive, and on the cull list anyway, since he's actually a meat bird and the few hens he's managed to catch and fertilize have not had high fertility for whatever reason. So I'm going to go in a different direction with my meat bird breeding project and he's going to be dinner as soon as I get the time and the weather cooperates. In the meantime, I'm keeping the only hens he can catch away from him.

This past weekend one of my kids let the hen out of the isolation cage into the regular coop/run unbeknownst to me (I was pretty upset about it - I showed the kids the damage to the hen so they wouldn't make that mistake again), and in the time before I noticed, the rooster ripped a 2" gash in her side and her flank muscles were exposed. It looked pretty clean, so I put her back in the isolation cage, and I expect her to make a full recovery in a week or two.

All that to say, if you gave your chicken stitches for such a wound, super kudos to you as an owner. I don't think it will hurt her at all, and may speed her recovery. You probably see all the posts that don't mention stitches because it's not in everyone's capability to do, and folk may not think it's needed. I think your hen will heal up just fine, and you should be able to take them out once she heals no problem. In some ways, chickens are amazingly resilient. If she develops an infection for some reason, you may consider systemic antibiotics or topical antibiotics - there's lots of info on this site to help you pick one. Be aware, most systemic antibiotics are for birds that will not be eaten, but sounds like she's a pet, so that's fine. Also, her eggs should also be fine once she starts laying again. Make sure she and the other chickens can't pick at her stitches - might need to wrap the wound in vet wrap or something over some soft cotton.

Hope she heals very soon! Good luck!!!

Hi FunClucks,

Thank you so much for taking your time out to reply to me I’ve been so worried about her. It’s reassuring to know that hens heal quite well on their own. I stitched as the would was far too larger and exposed, was scary doing it that’s for sure. I can’t believe she didn’t even flinch whilst I was doing it, I really don’t know how chickens express pain.
She’s only 6 months old and hasn’t started laying yet. I isolated her in a cage and brought her in the house so she’s warm. She’s not too happy being isolated. I’ll be watching her closely next couple of days and I really do hope she heals fine. I have Amoxicillin on standby if she develops any signs of infection which I have googled and found a medium sized hen can have 125mcg 3 times a day.
Is there anyone else who has had experience with stitching their chickens?

Thanks
Take care
Sobia

 

[FunClucks]

Hi FunClucks,

Thank you so much for taking your time out to reply to me I’ve been so worried about her. It’s reassuring to know that hens heal quite well on their own. I stitched as the would was far too larger and exposed, was scary doing it that’s for sure. I can’t believe she didn’t even flinch whilst I was doing it, I really don’t know how chickens express pain.
She’s only 6 months old and hasn’t started laying yet. I isolated her in a cage and brought her in the house so she’s warm. She’s not too happy being isolated. I’ll be watching her closely next couple of days and I really do hope she heals fine. I have Amoxicillin on standby if she develops any signs of infection which I have googled and found a medium sized hen can have 125mcg 3 times a day.
Is there anyone else who has had experience with stitching their chickens?

Thanks
Take care
Sobia

Glad I could help, Sobia. That wound sounds like it needed to be stitched if possible, and you had the skills to do it. Glad you could help your hen. One thing to keep in mind, not sure where in the world you are, but if it's really cold outside, keep her in the garage, not the house, you don't want to get her too warm, or she could get heat sickness. If I recall, 20F warmer than outside temperature is probably okay, but I wouldn't do any warmer than that. She's adapted to the outside temperature - slightly warmer and mainly out of drafts is really what you're aiming for here.

You'll find that chickens don't express pain much. They feel it, but when they're actually expressing it, or showing they feel bad, they're often about to die (not kidding here). Because it's a survival mechanism for them to hide any weakness - chickens will often attack and bully members of the flock that are showing a weakness. And if they see blood, they will attack the blood and if it gets far enough will actually eat the bloody hen. I love them, but they can be cannibals. It's like a switch flips in their brains. That's why I love Bluecote for minor injuries and wounds - if the chickens see blue instead of red, they don't attack usually.

For a few days, having her inside is probably fine, but if you can take her out to the flock every other day or so for a few hours (set her isolation cage inside with the others so they can see and interact but not touch), that will help her keep her standing within the flock. Trying to reintroduce a single chicken who has lost her standing in the flock because she was gone too long and they've forgotten her is no fun, and can be hard to do without her getting injured by the flock.

There's a search function on this site that is great - I'd look up "stitches", "puncture wound", and "reintroduction" and see what threads it pulls up. You can find some really useful information. I'm sure a number of people on here have stitched their chickens together again, even though I haven't, and the historical record goes back like 15 years or more. Good luck!

 

[SobiasBirds]

I’m based in the Uk just 20 miles outside London. Thank you so much for the advice, I didn’t think about the huge temperature difference. It 0 degrees C outside and about 20 C in the house, I’ll move her to the garage in the morning.
Thanks Again