Hawk attacked my chick- need advice for wound

[ZenHenMama]

My 4 week old americauna chick was attacked by a hawk, two days ago. Between the mother hen and my husband bursting out the door, it got scared off and flew away. The short story, no bones were broken, does not seem to have internal injuries, is eating and drinking and pooping ok. What it did get was puncture wounds and a big tear in the skin on her side which extends over the thigh.

We washed the wound with water. The skin seemed pliable and I was able to smooth it up to the top of the wound.We put wad of gauze on top held in place with cloth medical tape. I nursed it through the night with a heat lamp in a small box with food and water. It was shocky but managed to pull through after a lot of rest. Yesterday, I was concerned that we hadn't done enough for the wound, even though the chick had regained much of its vitality. My sister had advised to soak the wound in water with epsom salt. Since I didn't do that the first night because I deemed it had been through enough trauma, I thought we would then look at and clean it again.

At first look it looked pretty good,except for the fact that the gauze was stuck to the wound. We washed it in the bath of epsom salt and eventually pulled all the gauze off. all the musculature seemed to be intact except for the knob of the joint of the upper knee. It looked like it was chewed on a little there. The skin flap I thought I had, may not have really existed, because it just looks like original wide open wound. I'm not sure now if it was really there or not. Washing it again, opened it up. It wasn't bloody, there was very little blood loss overall. The epsom salt turned the skin I had moved before a greyish color and I was going to try and move it back up but my husband kept telling me to leave it alone, so I really don' know if I could have fixed it or not.

What we did is put a foam open wound pad (designed to not stick) on like a pad and taped on again with cloth med tape. We warmed her up again and she recovered pretty quickly. I decided to take her to go see the mama hen. I could hardly believe it, after only one night, she was prepared to reject it. I was holding it up to the fence and she was trying to peck it, and not in a good way. The two other chicks were and fortunately the recognized her immediately. After this there was not taking the chick back in the house, it wanted to go home.

So I reintroduce her back in.The mother hen was slowly convinced it was her chick after all in spite of it's funny gait and a big pad under the wing. Thank heavens for the other chicks, they were really the ones that made it happen.There were a few moments here and there when she'd stare at it hard and start to puff up and raise her hackles and made moves to start attacking but I was able to stop her. The more she saw all her chicks together, she finally got it. The later part of the day I confined the chicks only to the coop and made the mother hen wait until it was definitely bedtime before letting her in. She had to be content with listening and peeking through the window to know where they all were. This worked, and the chicks spent the night under the hen.

Now today, the chick is running around pretty good with a little bit of impairment and this is now the dilemma. When I checked the wound, its looking pretty good. But what is going to happen? There it is this wide open patch of body with no skin on top. It looks to be drying out and she is walking somewhat stiffly, but can still actually run a little bit albeit slower than usual. It doesn't look infected and other than the pad there is nothing else on it. I know air is good for it but should it be drying out? The pad is only loosely attached so that she has the ability to move her leg. We had the tape in wrong spot at first and it really caught her leg. Taped correctly and she 's almost normal. The pad is made to absorb fluids but not stick to the would and looks like foam rubber. In other words the wound is open but protected. Will the skin ever grow back? Can it actually live like that? Will it have to be covered up forever? The skin flap I thought I had feels stiff now and curled up and may actually be were some brand new feathers are trying to grow. Can any one tell me what to expect here? This little chick was big, strong and healthy before and is almost back to new except for this skin removal problem and probably a permanent limp.

 

[Judy]

Dressings are very difficult on chickens, and usually not necessary. Clean the wound then apply neosporin or some other antibiotic ointment, and reapply once or twice a day. Keep separate and indoors til healed. Especially with small chicks, you may want to bring another one in to keep it company.

You can use most anything on chicken wounds that you use on people wounds, with the exception fo "caine" drugs such as benzocaine, cetacaine, etc. I would stay away from irritating substances, though, and just use water or saline to clean and a Neosporin tpe product for most. If really needed, a very dilute Betadine or Peroxide solution can be used for initial cleansing, but I wouldn't use it again if you ave gotten the visible dirt off.

Good luck!

 

[Eggcessive]

Since the broody hen has accepted the chick back into the little group, i would probably just put Neosporin or bacitracin on the wound, an apply a bit of BluKote over it, and leave it alone with Mama. Puncture wounds are always worrisome. I have treated many of those with my cats and dogs being bitten by feral cats or stray dogs, or each other. What I try to do is keep the puncture wound open for 2 days with peroxide to open it, then put neopsorin on it to keep open twice a day. Wound abscesses always seem to happen by day 3 for some reason. Then I stop the peroxide since it may prevent healing or cause tissue damage, and continue neosporin until the wound closes. I really think putting a dressing on the chick is like hanging a target on it as long as it is with Mama, so I would do without it.

 

[ZenHenMama]

What is Blu kote like. Can it be applied over a large area? I assume you would find it at the feed store. Do you know if her skin will grow back or is she doomed for a short life?

 

[luvmypets]

Blue kote is in a can and you spray it on and your chicks skin will grow back..

 

[Eggcessive]

BluKote is alcohol and gentian violet (an antiseptic/antifungal) and the gentian violet is a dark blue coloring dye to the skin. This hides wounds from pecking. Put the antibiotic ointment on first before applying it until the skin has healed some. You can find it or WoundKote at most feed stores, but BluKote is bluer. Gentian Violet is also available at half the price in most WalMart or drug store first aid aisles where bandaids are located. Caution: it stains hands and clothing, but wears off feathers eventually. Wounds will eventually fill in unless the get infected.

 

[Judy]

I agree BluKote is great as a general purpose antiseptic. Some people seem to have better luck with it than others in how well it works to keep other chickens away from a wound. The only time I tried it was on a very small wound by a toenail; it did work fine that time, but the wound was healed within a day or so.

 

[ZenHenMama]

My chick is doing very well. I had sprayed some liquid bandage on it. And she is now up to speed with her peers and does not show any limp. The would looks dry and clean. I'm not sure if I need to moisten it or if it is already starting to grow skin, it just might be. It is hidden under her wing so it is protected and out of sight. We were very lucky the hawk was startled enough to let go and that she got immediate medical attention. We used common sense and then got back up information from here on what to do for the chick. Thanks everybody!