HELP!!! chicken with flap of skin hanging, what to do?

[mandarin1]

I came home from getting chicken feed only to find one of my young pullets had a flap of skin on her chest hanging down. I immediately grabbed her up and separated her, but I'm not sure how to address this wound. I can actually see her breast meat. I don't know if it's something that can even be helped or if this is something she will need to be culled, which I really don't want to have to do. I have read of using super glue to close wounds and then applying and antibiotic, but I'm not sure if this is going to be able to be super glued or if it is something that will have to be sewn, so any help would be greatly appreciated! I tried to get some pictures, but it's kind of hard to see what's going on.

 

[QueenMisha]

Super glue should be adequate to close that. It's incredible how tough they can be. You should clean it with water and Vetricyn to start, and after glueing it you should apply Neosporin (without pain medication) and Vetricyn daily until the wound has healed. She should be kept separate from the flock for at least a week, but she would do well to have a buddy if you have a docile bird her age.

 

[CluckNCrazy]

Omygosh same thing happened to one of my hens last night. Predators stink! I don't know if this is even humane to try to treat. Isolated, cleaned wound, applied blu coat. She is eating and drinking. Pretty sure I need to cut the skin and feathers away but won't this hurt? New to this. Thanks for the help.

 

[QueenMisha]

Omygosh same thing happened to one of my hens last night. Predators stink! I don't know if this is even humane to try to treat. Isolated, cleaned wound, applied blu coat. She is eating and drinking. Pretty sure I need to cut the skin and feathers away but won't this hurt? New to this. Thanks for the help.

No, do not cut the skin away! You can cut the feathers but it's not necessary. You need to either glue or stich it back into place or have a vet do so. Read my full response the original poster above. Skin injuries are VERY treatable. I have had turkeys with grapefruit sized patches of skin cut open who healed without a problem. Chickens are just the same - very durable and tough animals when it comes to wounds.

 

[mandarin1]

Thank you so much for your advice. I was able to super glue the flap of skin pretty well, however there is a piece of skin that is missing. She was not bleeding profusely or anything, so once she was cleaned and I glued back what skin there was I sprayed the entire area with blue kote, I do not have any vetricyn on hand, so I hope the blue kote will do? I also made an aspirin solution for her water for pain relief and I do have her separated from the other birds. I think I will keep her by herself for at least the first couple of days just so healing can start a bit before I give her a flockmate, but I do have a couple docile one's to chose from that I believe would be just fine to go in with her. They are rainbow layers and they are all very sweet, they come up to me just so I will pet them and they follow me around when I'm out there and have great temperments, I just hope she heals well. Are there any antibiotics from the feed store that I could put in her water as an added preventative so she does not get infected? Also would it be beneficial to use blue kote and also some neosporin (without pain killer) or will one or the other be better? I may be wrong as to how this happened, but I found her near my broody goose's nest, however, the goose had wandered off, so I was thinking that maybe she got a little close to her nest and she attacked my poor pullet. I didn't see blood on any of the other birds, so this is just a best guess. I feel your pain cluckncrazy, this is my first time dealing with something like this as well, I hope your hen heals okay, good luck!

 

[mandarin1]

Okay, so I just went to check on her and the flap of skin is coming unglued, I don't know if maybe she's been pulling at it or what, but I guess I'm going to have to re-glue it once it's a bit more light out and I have someone to help me hold her in order to do so, but there was also a little blood dripping from her as well, so I applied cornstarch to try and get it to stop bleeding. I absolutely hate seeing this, I can just imagine the pain she's in.

I don't know if I'm doing the right thing here by trying to treat this, I'm really beginning to second guess it. I don't know what to do about the part that is missing the skin all together, will this heal? I also applied cornstarch and blue kote to this area as well, but there is no skin there. I guess to put this in perspective the piece of skin that is hanging from her chest/breast is about the size of a grapefruit as you described and then she has about the size of a grapefruit of skin under the wing that is missing. I feel absolutely horrible for her. She is so sweet, I was lifting her wing (under her wing is where the skin is missing) in order to apply cornstarch and she just looked at me, never tried to peck or anything, she just sits there and let's you do whatever. Would you try and treat this or cull her? I'm really torn between the two, because if it's something she can survive and is treatable that's one thing, but to put her through all this misery only for her to not survive would be absolutely devastating for me to think that I did that to her.

 

[mandarin1]

I know I'm probably being paranoid, but I started to do a little research online and I wanted to share with you all what I have found in addition to the fantastic advice I was given from QueenMisha. I have been pretty upset with this happening and have been torn on what to do because quite frankly I don't want her to be in pain, but this article gives me hope and hopefully for anyone else that may be unfortunate enough to go through this too. In this article they actually cut the skin and feathers, which I am not going to do (I know that skin will grow back together hence the reason for stitches, glue, skin grafts, etc.) but it has pictures of a really large gash, how to keep it clean, and shows pictures of the healing process in case you're a worry wart like myself. http://richie-cunningham.com/2012/04/11/chicken-wound-healing-process/ Tomorrow I will be cleaning, regluing, applying neosporin and hoping for the best! If anyone else is wondering about the aspirin solution, I have been told to use 5 aspirin per gallon of water and you just let it dissolve for pain relief. By the way QueenMisha, I love your website, it's very colorful!!!

 

[QueenMisha]

Do not worry - she should heal fine. The missing skin will regrow.

Neosporin is the best thing to apply. There are oral antibiotics available at feed stores but they are designed for respiratory infections, so they really aren't effective on wounds. Blue Kote contains some pretty strong substances, I don't know that I would put it directly on a wound. Ibuprofen is actually better than Neosporin - it's safer. A lot of sources seem to contradict this but I've spoken personally about it with my avian vet. Dosage is 200mg (1 normal sized tablet) per 2 cups of water.

 

[CluckNCrazy]

Queen Misha Thank you so much! I will leave the skin alone! Is it to late at this point to superglue the skin back on the breast meat? The wound is the size of my hand. How do I go about gluing? Just edges? The entire wound? Do I apply the glue to the breast meat or the skin? No vets in my area will treat chickens. I am sorry for all of the questions!

 

[mandarin1]

I do have one other question, have you ever used betadine and if so is it as effective as the Vetricyn? I have the betadine, but if the Vetricyn will work better I may just go get some of that. Also thank you for the information, I will definitely take your advice and cross my fingers for quick, non-infectious healing!!!