Fox bite - huge chunk of missing skin.

[psimons2004]

I am posting this again really hoping for even more feedback (I greatly appreciate those that have already responded!) and hoping to hear about other chickens that have had this type of injury and survived...

We have a young Cockerl/Rooster. He is a frizzle so is pretty scraggly looking anyway. This morning I found him and our other bantam Rooster OUTSIDE of their coop yard, Chasing the fox out of our yard! I have no idea how they got out, we have had chickens in this yard for two years now and have some great photos of the foxes even sleeping on the roof of the hen house but could never get to them. We felt it was pretty secure, but apparently not for this years Roos. They scared off the fox which is a feat in itself but not without our little frizzle getting a large chunk bitten out of his back/rump. It's about a quarter to half dollar sized gaping hole. No skin left to try and have it stitched, but it doesn't look like the muscle got punctured at all. There is very little blood. We also had a bantam hen get her comb(??? not sure that's the right term on a hen) ripped off. I have washed both wounds and tried to apply a antiseptic balm to his wound (her's is fine I think and will heal nicely), but I am scared to put anything directly on the muscle that is showing through. Not sure what to do for him... Hate to cull him. Thank you for any advice.

Update:
He did fine through out the day and is eating and drinking and preening like normal. Talking a lot, he is angry and lonely. I put a small bantam hen with him but he actually started pecking at her, so... he's alone tonight on the porch with a heat lamp and private nest box. Lots of neosporin and the wound looks about the same so far. I guess we'll see how he does through the night... Thank you again for any advice.

 

[lovin my birds]

Im not going to say not to worry, because you do to some point. Just make sure it doesnt get dirty or infected, clean it everyday. He will be fine, I have a rouen drake that got attacked by our new puppy and she put a half dollor size hole in his back and a tooth puncture right next to it. I had him inside for about a week and he was healed enough that he went back outside. I was sure I would have had to keep him indside for at least a month before I out him back out, but he is out there right now and doing perfectly fine. You will be amazed at how fast they heal.

 

[naakte]

I am no chicken expert, but I had a dog get hurt like that years ago. I cleaned the wound out with betadine (truly scrubbing it), then mucked on a thick layer of bag balm then bandaged it up. I put charlie on ampicillin for 10 days. no hair grew back where the chunk was taken out

but he is now 18 years old ( in human years) and still going strong. I do not know how you could bandage up a chicken. I know you dont want flies getting into that wound for darn sure. maybe clean it our real good and cover it with either antibiotic ointment, or bag balm, and put the chicken in like a small rabbit hutch where poop wont get in it. poor lil chicken!! Poor you having to deal with it. Hopefully someone with great chicken knowledge will see your post

Donna

 

[psimons2004]

Thank you again so much. Needing that reassurance that there is a chance he'll make it! Appreciate you!

 

[BrattishTaz]

Just keep putting Polysporin or Neosporin without pain reliever on it. I have had some birds in pretty bad shape regrow lots of skin. It will start to look worse before it gets better. Plan on it taking a month or more though. I would wait until it starts to scab over and then give him a bath in clean warm water. You can use betadine if it starts to look infected. Be prepared to give oral antibiotics if needed, bite wounds can be difficult to treat. I also added protein to my birds' diet, scrambled eggs and yogurt work well.

Good luck.

Here is a little hope for you.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=501351

 

[psimons2004]

Thank you so much for all the advice!!! Here is that same fox/coop last year and we never had a problem....

 

[BrattishTaz]

Quote:
How can animals that are sooo beautiful be sooo deadly?

I guess it is time to go over your set up and find the weak areas. Hawks and eagles are what usually cause my problems. (Aside from the chickens themselves

)

 

[lovin my birds]

Oh wow! What a beautiful fox! Foxes are one of my favorite animals. I have a female that dens in the woods behind my house. Every once in a while she will wander up to the coop to sniff around. She has never touched a single chicken or chick or duck. I love seeing her, thats why I love living in the country. Oh and just like Brattish Taz said add pretien to his diet. Scrabled eggs work great!

 

[psimons2004]

I didn't know I could feed my chickens 'egg products'.... I will do that first thing this morning!
And I love the foxes too. That's why I have so many (hundreds probably) photo's of them in my backyard. But they have never seriously scared me on behalf of my chickens. Last years flock was all Rhode Island Reds and we had the meanest rooster EVER! That's why we gave them away and started over with all new chicks this spring. That rooster tried to kill me every time I went out to collect eggs and my kids were scared to even go in the backyard. Needless to see, he wasn't such an appealing target to those small foxes. This year the foxes are bigger and the chickens are smaller, sweeter and friends with out dogs so they didn't shy away from the fox...
Thank you again so very very much for all the wonderful advice! You guys are great!!!! He looks chipper this morning so fingers crossed!!!

 

[Pattypets]

I have had a couple of injuries to my chickens over the past few years (they are free range and have gotten attacked by something, maybe a fox, maybe a hawk). Luckily they've escaped with just some injuries. Each time I have made a tea out of dried Calendula flowers (you can buy them at a health food store that carries bulk herbs), cooled the tea and put in a spray bottle. I sprayed the wounds several times a day and in was unbelievable how fast they healed up. No infections, etc. If you Google Calendula and you can see the healing properties that it has. Hope this helps.