Help bear attack... should I euthanize?

[ryneaeiel]

I worry about a deeper infection too especially as this gash heals, and I can see how far up her back it goes. Tomorrow is my last dose of clavamox.

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow I have had 2 pills to give her instead of the 2.5. What I'm left with in the house is the amoxicillin liquid. Every other wound is healing beautiful, and not that the gash isnt, but it's clear it goes far up under the skin/meat of her back.

The deeper gash is honestly less likely to get infected or fester right now since it's not as easily exposed to bacteria as the other areas. The amoxycillin should be enough to keep any possible infection at bay once you run out of Clavamox. She's healing up so well!

This mornings poo.

You can see how much she's improved! Hardly any yellow now!

 

[CCinVT]

The deeper gash is honestly less likely to get infected or fester right now since it's not as easily exposed to bacteria as the other areas. The amoxycillin should be enough to keep any possible infection at bay once you run out of Clavamox. She's healing up so well

How many ml of the amoxicillin should I give? And is it a once a day or every 10-12 hr thing? Its bubble gum flavored I hope she likes it!

 

[ryneaeiel]

How many ml of the amoxicillin should I give? And is it a once a day or every 10-12 hr thing? Its bubble gum flavored I hope she likes it!

You have two options: either putting it in the water and offering it full-time, or giving it to her by mouth.

If you give it to her by mouth, she needs 0.25ml every 8 hours.

If you offer it full-time, mix 0.4ml into 1 and a half quarts of water and make this the only water she's offered.

 

[CCinVT]

Update as of last night... my hen is much more active. She has a ton of pin feathers coming in. All of the more minor wounds and scraping has healed up and now I'm down to the 3 biggest ones. Under her wing, above the tail gash and puncture on her side. We went away this past weekend, and I took her with me so I could keep up on her wound care. Every time I clean her up there is new areas that are wiping off, lifting up and exposing fresh healed shin. She is acctually eatting her chicken feed now, but I'm still providing her treats. Her poos are continuing to look better, but maybe not 100% yet. But she is much more active now which I'm taking as a good sign. It is mostly the gash on her back now that I'm unsure about the healing of. I took these last night before I wiped her, and put on ointment. This is under her wing. I think its healing well, and the edges where I was packing with gauze are healed up nicely. I'm just wiping it off and applying the ointment to this spot now.

Below is the gash on her back. The more it has healed the further up her back I can see the wound acctually went. I have the picture with my syringe below to give an idea of the depth. This wound is the only one left that I'm still concerned with how its healing. I dont see any infection of anything like that. It just doesnt seem to be closing up from the inside out like the others have. Her tail is to my right, and the syringe is pointing up her back the direction the wound goes on the inside.

The picture below is also the gash. The angle is her tail would be top right of the picture, and the camera is aiming down into the gash. So my glove finger is at the top flesh of the wound. The pink in the wound is hard like exposed bone, and inside at the furthest back i think may also be exposed bone. There is a tiny round pinhole you can see in the picture, and that connects with the last puncture in the photo below. Will this hole/wound close up? It's just so wide open still. I have been packing it still, and irrigating it. Do I just continue like I have or is there more I should be doing to help this heal up. I wish I could get a better picture of it. Maybe I will try again tonight using my flash.

The picture below is the puncture on her right side that connects with the gash. At the very back where it goes through to the gash there is a hard white piece of something that also looks like bone. This hole, and the inside of the gash are the two areas I'm still putting gauze into. I'm not pulling or cutting or removing anything that doesn't look like it is coming off or out on it's own. At this point I'm just keeping bandaged clean fed, and watered. I'm putting her outside in a crate when weather and my schedule allow.

 

[ryneaeiel]

Will this hole/wound close up?

It should, it's just going to take a bit more time because it's so deep. It's healing very well, though!

At the very back where it goes through to the gash there is a hard white piece of something that also looks like bone.

It's very likely that there is some exposed bone, especially near her tail end where her pelvis folds over her kidneys. The skin should heal over the bone and the hole should close up with time, but it's likely she'll have a "dent" in the flesh there, similar to the scar a person would form as a result of a deep wound.

 

[CCinVT]

It should, it's just going to take a bit more time because it's so deep. It's healing very well, though!


It's very likely that there is some exposed bone, especially near her tail end where her pelvis folds over her kidneys. The skin should heal over the bone and the hole should close up with time, but it's likely she'll have a "dent" in the flesh there, similar to the scar a person would form as a result of a deep wound.

The thick layer over/in the gash came off last night. I knew it was getting close. Alot less nooks and crannies and healed up so much under. It still looked a bit raw to me, but not bleeding... so I made sure I was a bit liberal with the ointment and packed it good with the gauze, and tried to make sure it was really covered with the gauze. Wrapping it on her is getting trickier because she is first and over being burrito rolled in a towel every day. Her feeling better means shes also trying to preen and messing with the bandages alot. Shes kicking her food around walking in her poo and being very chicken like so I just want to make sure im keeping her clean. I keep telling her it wont be take much longer! I finally feel like we are through the worst of it, but I'm not slacking or letting my gaurd down yet. She still has holes in her body. I've been doing the amoxicillin in water option and she had what I would say looked like multiple normal poos! I'm going to try and get her outside today that always seems to lift her spirits. I can see how much healing is happening, but the gash hole is so deep it's just gonna take patience I suppose so I'm still hanging in there. The reassurance that what I'm seeing likely is bone and can still heal.over is good. I guess I'll know it doesnt need to be packed just like I did with her side under her wing right? It just seemed to be closed up enough and not need it? At this point I'm glad I made the call to help her through this. She has been so alert and oriented through the whole ordeal it's truly amazing.

 

[Farm Up North]

Her wounds are looking great! It seems to me like you've been great at judging when wounds need packing or not, so I would keep going with your gut for when you think the deeper wounds don't need it anymore. I bet after another week that tail wound will have healed up enough from the inside that it will be shallow enough to only need the ointment.

 

[KaseySnow]

The wounds look very improved over the last photos of them that you shared, very healthy! Glad she is acting more chicken like, that is a very good sign. Thank you for keeping us posted! This has been a fascinating process to watch.

 

[TropicalBabies]

Wow, looks great- clean and healthy. One thing that I was told was to not over flush the wound. Like 1-2 times and then topical, topical, topical. Mazie scabbed and healed... it was a trip. The scab was over 1/4" thick in some spots and took a month to come off like tree bark or a tortoise shell. Maybe it is time you let her scab over? Just keep doing the topical and keep a sharp eye out for flystrike AND provide lots/more/enough extra protein.

This is the scab starting to come off. It did it naturally, I just watched for edges. She had silver dollar sized scabs on her 2 deepest wounds and one day they crumbled away. She looks and is fantastic today- never know it happened and only 3 months later almost to the day.

Your doing great, she is definitely in good, capable hands.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I read through your entire thread last night/early this morning. You have done an amazing job documenting your medical treatments and your hen's healing progress, through detailed words and pictures. It will be invaluable to those discovering this thread in the future, & wondering if their own birds can recover from severe injuries. You are so far proving that with time and effort, the answer is a resounding "Yes!" Also, the advice, knowledge and moral support provided by @ryneaeiel is priceless and very appreciated.

I understand your hands are surely full with taking care of a new baby and a severely injured hen, but i do hope you can soon electrify your chicken area to deter that bear. I am surprised she has not yet succeeded in demolishing your coop and getting the rest of your chickens. Maybe shes finding food elsewhere & simply hoping your chickens will be an easy meal. But still, with 3 growing cubs to feed, her continued regular returns are very concerning.

Looking forward to continued updates, & cheering you and your hen onward to a full recovery!