Hawk Attack on month old chick, right breast muscle gone, advice needed *graphic pic*

[VioletBlueIvy]

I had a hawk attack yesterday, and at bedtime I found out it was one of my month old chicks. This morning the chick was outside the coop, and when it couldnt get in on it's own I put my hands under it to give it a boost and felt the wound. I gave it a chance to eat and drink and went in to examine it further. This is what it looks like

No real bleeding, but there is nothing left of the muscle, it's gone. There is a hole in the crop, the food and water is leaking out. I need to know if there is enough left for the chick to be able to heal? Can I glue or stich the crop? Or should I just euthanize? I know chickens can heal from awful injuries, but I have never had one with this much missing, or te crop injury. I need some more experienced eyes on this. Thanks.

 

[Leslieb118]

I know some who have had to do crop surgery for one reason or another and I believe glued the crop shut. If you can't get that crop shut, then there's no way that chick would survive anyway, because it's not able to hold any food or water. I'm not sure about the breast tissue. You're right that some chickens have lived through some pretty awful injuries and maybe if you can get that crop closed up, yours might have a chance. You might search for "crop surgery" and see if you can find a thread about closing the crop. I've never had to do it, so I can't help you with that. Otherwise, it may just be that you'd need to put that poor chick down.

 

[galanie]

You can always try. They recover from the darndest things sometimes. I'd sew that crop shut with just a plain needle and thread and clean the wound with betadine (not peroxide, too harsh). The put some either neosporin or triple antibiotic on, the kind without pain killer in it. I'm sure some electrolytes and vitamins in the water would be a help, plus feeding things like scrambled eggs.

 

[Kassaundra]

I really hate to be the naysayer here, but as I read the post this chicken has had this severe and open wound for overnight. An actual organ had been breeched and a whole muscle removed. If you attempt to repair and nurse this chicken it will take weeks of intensive care and wound management, and months of isolation, the risk of septic infection is ridiculously high. W/o a breast muscle even if this chicken recovers will be "gimpy" and have a difficult time avoiding predation in the future. I personally think the kind thing to do for this chicken is painless euthanasia. But if you choose to try and save it, the crop has to be sewn, the wound needs to be cleaned thourghly and will need an isolation area w/ regular wound dressing changes, in addition to neosporin or antibiotic ointments there is a lot of success w/ sugar or honey dressings. As previously stated no peroxide.

 

[VioletBlueIvy]

This is the part I really need help with. Is part of the crop missing? I need someone with more experience with the anatomy of the crop.

 

[VioletBlueIvy]

I really hate to be the naysayer here, but as I read the post this chicken has had this severe and open wound for overnight.  An actual organ had been breeched and a whole muscle removed.  If you attempt to repair and nurse this chicken it will take weeks of intensive care and wound management, and months of isolation, the risk of septic infection is ridiculously high.  W/o a breast muscle even if this chicken recovers will be "gimpy" and have a difficult time avoiding predation in the future.  I personally think the kind thing to do for this chicken is painless euthanasia.  But if you choose to try and save it, the crop has to be sewn, the wound needs to be cleaned thourghly and will need an isolation area w/ regular wound dressing changes, in addition to neosporin or antibiotic ointments there is a lot of success w/ sugar or honey dressings.  As previously stated no peroxide.

I am thinking the same thing, I flushed the wound and there is so much damage... it is worse than I first thought. There puncture wounds and the skin is missing so you can clearly see down inside around the leg and under te remaining skin. Not good. At all. It looks like the hawk was eating it. I am willing to make an effort, I have everything I need, and I can do it, as long as the chick seems to be trying to live, she keeps eating and drinking and is still getting around fine. What I am afraid of is that I cant fix the crop because some is missing.

 

[Kassaundra]

I cannot tell from the pic I tried to enlarge it but lost so much detail it was even worse. If a small amount of crop is missing you could suture it closed w/o the missing pieces, but if a large portion is missing I would think even if you were able to manage closing it, it would loose quite a bit of its strength. You said the chicken is eating and drinking is it coming out of the crop??? That will tell you where the hole is or if there is a hole at all. I would not let it eat or drink anymore until you closed the crop if it is leaking, everything that enters the open wound is something that needs to be washed out and a potential infection source.

 

[VioletBlueIvy]

I just finished watching a crop surgery video, I need to go find some anatomy photo's I guess. The pink skin next to my thumb is the crop. I removed the food and water before I cleaned it because it was is coming out of the crop and running into the wound. This is awful!

 

[Habibs Hens]

good luck tring to save your chicken

sorry i cant be of much help but it looks real bad

do you think saying goodbye might be a better option

 

[ReikiStar]

Bless your heart for wanting to save it. If it were my chicken and I wanted to save it I'd take it to a vet because there is too much we don't know about the missing anatomy. Other than that, I'm in the "euthanize" it camp. Sorry can't be of any help here.

Poor chick.