Help! Chicken attached by Racoon and vent is not looking good.

Jun 14, 2017
7
0
7
I have a two year old Rhode Island Red, name Ginger who was attached by a Racoon Monday evening.
I immediately cleaned her wounds. There are three: her left wing he took a bite (1x1" area), her right thigh is stripped (4x5" area), and her vent was punctured. When she was injured I immediately cleaned all the wounds and applied Neosporin and have been doing this every evening. Other than she seems to be picking at the wound on her wing, all the wounds seem to be heeling well so far with no apparent sign of infection. However, as I was cleaning her vent area last night I noticed just above the vent the skin is turning green. Is this something to be concerned with?
Please see pictures I took this morning.
#1 is her wing, #2 is her thigh, and remains is her vent.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20170615_072818253.jpg
    IMG_20170615_072818253.jpg
    461.9 KB · Views: 13
  • IMG_20170615_072809003.jpg
    IMG_20170615_072809003.jpg
    504.6 KB · Views: 11
  • IMG_20170615_072650270.jpg
    IMG_20170615_072650270.jpg
    374.2 KB · Views: 11
  • IMG_20170615_072633469.jpg
    IMG_20170615_072633469.jpg
    510.4 KB · Views: 11
Hi @I'm a Country Girl :frow Welcome To BYC

The green is most likely bruising.
Keep an eye on it, hopefully the discoloration will disappear in a couple of days.

I don't normally recommend covering a wound, but if she is picking heavily at the wing, then you may want to consider covering it. Of course, where it's located it may be hard to do. I'm thinking along the lines of fashioning something out of a baby/toddler t-shirt, but she may be able to pull it off. You could also cover with a nonstick pad and wrapping with vetwrap to see if that helps. Keep applying your ointment like you are doing.

I see you have her separated. That is good. Flies are a worry if they are outside. When she heals enough, place her cage near the flock so they become re-acquainted. Hopefully this will make re-integration go smoothly.

Keep us posted on how she is doing.
 
Thank you. I was already trying to think of something for her wing. Do they make collars like they have for a dog or cat? And would this even work?
Also I'm new to this so I do not have any oral antibiotics, should I buy anything.
She was eating the ground pellets but my husband gave her the whole yesterday and I saw she didn't touch this. So I told him to scramble an egg for an mix it with the ground to see if she will eat this.
I seporated her immediately. The way her vent looked, I could not imagine my huge roosters getting with her....ouch.
Thank you again for your response!
 
I honestly don't know if a making collar like you use on a dog would work or not. It may not stay on and she might freak out:D

For antibiotics, if you can get by without using them, that would be best. If you start to see signs of infection or the wounds have an odor, then usually you can find Penicillin at your local feed store (refrigerated area of Tractor Supply).

Scrambled egg is fine. If she won't eat whole pellets, you can try wetting them to see if she will take them instead. Chickens love wet food normally. You can also stir in a little yogurt if you have it.

Provide her with some poultry vitamins as well. This will give her a little boost. Hydration is very important so encourage her to drink.

Another thing you can do is trim the feathers around the wound to keep them out of it, she may be trying to preen them or the wound is probably itchy.
 
7 Day Update: It has been 7 days since my girl was attached by a Racoon and I wanted to share a few things.
We separated Ginger immediately after the attack by moving her into a XL dog crate in our external garage. We have been washing the wound, applying Neosporin, trimmed her feathers around her leg and I vent wounds, added vitamins to her water and are cooking an egg for her each evening.
She layed one egg the following morning after the attack, then went 2 days not laying, but but since day 4 she has laid every day.
She seemed depressed and other than the egg she was not eating a much. On the 4th day my husband said the garage was to hot for her during the day he had moved her outside. At that point my rooster (Ben) went to her side and he would not leave, even when she was moved to the bed of the truck, Ben stayed under the truck. When I came home I noticed how her personality had picked up and she started to eat more. My husband thought it would be a good idea to put the crate in the chicken pen that evening. BUT we soon found out it wasn't....she wanted to get into the laying boxes and kept pacing and charging the crate to try and get out. We returned her to the garage and she calmed down. So every day since, we have placed her in the shade in the yard during the day and she has been so much happier.
Wound update: I visually see how her wing and leg are improving really well; but even though I see improvement with her vent I'm still worried. The green around the vent has disappeared and there has been scabbing (black) but I'm now seeing yellowing. But I can't tell if this is feces or puss? I am still cleaning the area and appling the Neosporin. Please advise what the yellow stuff may be?
I have attached updated pics. Thank you!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20170619_163420926.jpg
    IMG_20170619_163420926.jpg
    436 KB · Views: 8
  • IMG_20170619_163449609.jpg
    IMG_20170619_163449609.jpg
    375.6 KB · Views: 8
  • IMG_20170619_163436254.jpg
    IMG_20170619_163436254.jpg
    472.7 KB · Views: 8

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom