HELP: Gash on Chicken's Thigh (Warning: Pictures)

[diamondsilkies]

Hi everyone,

This morning I went to check in my chickens and noticed splatters of blood in my serama coop. Further inspection revealed that my serama rooster, King, had a cut on his thigh, right underneath his wing. The feathers around that area were missing. It seems a thin patch of skin was sliced back, and there is a small chunk of flesh missing right next to that small cut (possibly from a beak?). His behavior has not been affected (he has been crowing, walking around, eating, etc.), but it seems as if he bled quite a bit. Everything was fine yesterday afternoon, so this must have happened in the evening/night/early morning.

I have attached pictures at the bottom of the post. He doesn't seem to be in pain but I need help with how to keep it from becoming infected. I'm not sure if I should bring him in the house or leave him outside, as I think separating him from his flock would stress him out (he is very loyal/protective of his hens). I have some ointment to prevent pecking.

The other question is how it may have happened, although I'm not going to worry about it too much until I have him taken care of.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would get some chlorhexidene (Hibiclens) from Walmart and use it with water twice a day to clean the wound. Then apply an antibiotic ointment on it, such as Triple Antibiotic Ointment, plain Neosporin, Polysporin, etc.

Are there any roosters with spurs, sharp nails or fencing that he may have been hurt by? Rats or other small predators? Watch for infection or pus. Hopefully, it should heal in a couple of weeks. I would keep him in a wire dog crate with food and water, but always kept with the other for company. If rats are a problem, though, they need to be dealt with, and the crate might not be enough to protect him. Rats usually go for the toes, but I am not sure that rats would even be the problem.

 

[diamondsilkies]

Okay, thank you. I also have some Vetericyn...would that help?

He is the only rooster in that enclosure and none of the hens have any spurs/long nails. The only rats we have here are pack rats. I’m not sure if they’d go after chickens, but either way the coop is very secure, so I don’t think anything could get in.

I took another look at the wound and found a very small fragment of metal. There is a trellis in their coop that they like to roost on, but I checked it over for sharp edges before I put it in the coop. I have looked it over again, and still cannot find any sharp parts or blood.

The other mystery is the feathers missing from that area. I don’t think anything in the coop would have snagged that many feathers. They are molting, so it’s difficult to tell if the feathers on the ground are from the injury or from molting.

 

[Eggcessive]

If you saw a metal fragment, then he has probably pierced it on something. He could have also scraped out feathers or he or the others may have pecked them out. Yes, Vetericyn is fine to use instead of the Hibiclens, but still use some antibiotic ointment.

 

[diamondsilkies]

Okay. Should I put some of the no peck stuff on as well, to keep him from messing with it? He keeps picking at it.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

serama rooster, King, had a cut on his thigh, right underneath his wing. The feathers around that area were missing. It seems a thin patch of skin was sliced back, and there is a small chunk of flesh missing right next to that small cut (possibly from a beak?). His behavior has not been affected (he has been crowing, walking around, eating, etc.), but it seems as if he bled quite a bit. Everything was fine yesterday afternoon, so this must have happened in the evening/night/early morning.

I took another look at the wound and found a very small fragment of metal. There is a trellis in their coop that they like to roost on, but I checked it over for sharp edges before I put it in the coop. I have looked it over again, and still cannot find any sharp parts or blood.

Those do look like punctures, I would re-check the trellis and around the coop/run to see if there's a nail or screw sticking out.
Is there any way a hawk or some other predator could have gotten a hold of him?

Oh...I'm adding another thought here...you found a piece of metal - do you have a picture of that? Was it round or like a pellet? Any possibility someone shot him with a BB? IF it's at all possible, then probe around in the punctures to make sure there's no other metal in there, you don't want to leave that for sure.

I agree with flushing those out with Hibiclens if possible. Apply your ointment.
Usually you want to leave a wound open, but if he's picking at it, then covering it would be necessary. I'm not sure if Pick No More will deter him, it may be better to use Stockinette to cover the wound. Since he's a little fella, a baby's t-shirt sewn to fit on him may work too. You still want to check the wound and flush daily (if necessary) and apply your ointment. Keep him where flies can't get on that.

 

[diamondsilkies]

I will get some pictures of the metal and the cleaned wound in a minute. The metal is pretty irregular and I don’t think anyone in our neighborhood would have shot him. He has been in the coop since yesterday afternoon, so no hawks could have gotten him.

Should I give him any vitamins or supplements to make up for the blood loss? There is quite a bit of blood in him and in the coop.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I will get some pictures of the metal and the cleaned wound in a minute. The metal is pretty irregular and I don’t think anyone in our neighborhood would have shot him. He has been in the coop since yesterday afternoon, so no hawks could have gotten him.

Should I give him any vitamins or supplements to make up for the blood loss? There is quite a bit of blood in him and in the coop.

Poor guy! It won't hurt to give him poultry vitamins, what do you have? Poultry Nutri-Drench or Poultry Cell would be good. He might enjoy a nice treat of scrambled egg - it's good protein and truthfully, it makes US feel like we are doing something special for them.

 

[diamondsilkies]

Sorry for the late update!
I ended up running to the store for some of the Hibiclens because I couldn't find my Vetericyn. I rinsed out the wound and applied some general anti-bacterial/healing ointment. The metal came off with the water and disappeared into the dirt, so I couldn't get a picture of it, but it was thin, irregularly shaped, and about 1/4 cm big. Not sure where it could have come from.

I tried separating him (in a crate in the coop, as suggested) but he spent the next half hour pacing, knocking over his food and water dishes, so I finally just let him out. I kept a very close eye on him, but neither he nor the hens seemed to be picking at the actual wound, just preening his damp feathers, so I let them be together and decided not to cover the wound.

It bled a little more after the initial rinse but has since stopped and started to scab over. I rinsed it out again today and applied more ointment, triple-checking that there was no more metal left. I also scoured the coop for any sharp edges or places that something could have gotten in, but could not find anything.

I also gave him a little scrambled egg and NutriDrench, as suggested, which he enjoyed. He seemed perfectly fine today and didn't struggle when I rinsed out the wound (he was a little squirmy yesterday).

Here is how the cut looked yesterday after I washed it (before I put on the ointment):

Thank you for all the responses! I am not great with blood, so it was very reassuring to have clear instructions from everyone here.