Help...Injured hen, worse than I thought w/**pic**

[Freebie]

I had a hen with a big wound like that, I also found some puncture wounds about her belly and neck, (she was attacked by a dog) I kept her in a dog crate in the garage till her feathers started growing back. Cleaned it and applied the ointment daily, and she healed completely. I did give her antibiotics in her water for about 7 days too. After about a week, I think she was ready to go back with the others, but there was no way that wound was ready. I knew the others would pick and a dust bath would have been awful. Take care.

 

[LovinMyHensInNC!]

Wondering if anyone in the "morning group" can offer some help and suggestions. Thank you!

 

[Chickenaddict]

I don't think stitching the wound would be a great idea as that would be trapping the infection. If you are gonna stitch it up or butterfly bandage it leave an open area for it to drain. I would continue to clean out the wound everyday with a weakened betadine solution topped with neosporin or any generic form of triple antibiotic without pain reliever.

 

[LovinMyHensInNC!]

If I don't try and close the wound up (leave it the way it is) and just keep it clean and full of ointment, will her skin re-grow on top of the exposed muscle?

She seems to be doing a little better today and just ate half of a scrambled egg.

 

[Lollipop]

Well, that`s a goody. Having had many wounds, similar to that on my gamefowl, and living on a coon highway, lemme tell ya what works for me. In the feed store and in the equine section, is an anti biotic ointment called Corona. It`s in a pint sized yellow tub with red and black markings. Best stuff I have ever used. Just slather it on the wound and leave it alone. In a few days things should look a lot better. The antibiotics in the syringe with water is good. You might mix a little starter mash in with it for strength. Watch her daily for maggots and clean the wound only if some appear. Keep her alone until feathers are covering the wound. Good luck.......Pop

 

[Freebie]

LovinMyHensInNC! :

If I don't try and close the wound up (leave it the way it is) and just keep it clean and full of ointment, will her skin re-grow on top of the exposed muscle?

She seems to be doing a little better today and just ate half of a scrambled egg.

Yes, her skin will regrow. My hen that was attacked looked much worse than that. And by the evening when I found her, it was full of maggots. all the while she was in the kitchen sink getting the maggots removed, my husband kept saying, lets just put her down, she will never make it. I had my doubts about her making it myself, but would not give up. It took about a month before the wound healed and the feathers grew back. I honestly thought she would be bald, as her back had a huge bite of meat gone. I let her go back with the others when the feather started growing back, much to my surprise. I did leave her in the dog crate in the coop for about a week to get them all used to each other again. She was so happy to be back with her sisters.
so, my advice is don't stitch it just clean and apply daily, as already suggested by others. give her some good food and extra lovin. and I gave mine a new name, (Maggie)

edit. I went back and looked at the photo, Maybe hers was not worse, but it was as bad. Did you check for puncture wounds on her chest and neck area. I found some on my hen the day after her initail cleaning. and gave her antibiotics, as I knew she was attacked by a dog. Good luck and keep us posted.​

 

[LovinMyHensInNC!]

Quote:
That is so funny that you mentioned giving her a new name. I just renamed mine also, something more suiting

... growing up my little bro watched He-man like it was nobody's business so naturally I grew fond of his tuff partner, "Sheila"!!... she was my childhood superhero

so I thought my poor hen has earned a "cool" name!

I have not seen any other puncture wounds and I haven't been able to find any antibiotics to give her. BUT... I found an ointment called "Nu Stock" that claims to heal "the worst" deep puncture wounds from the inside out and it also claims to stop and prevent the growth of bacteria. I hope it works!!! It sure is stinky, though!

 

[6chickens in St. Charles]

I am a nurse of humans! So I dont know if chicken flesh heals like human flesh, but I hope some of this information may help you relax about that wound:

Open wounds heal by "intention", from the inside up, and the first step you'll see is a layer or two of collagen. It looks like the sandy yellow glops over the surface of the wound. Seeing a deep golden,yolky colored tan/yellow layer is a good thing. With good nutrition, the next layer is granulation, bright red new tissue, also looks sandy, then a pearly pink top layer. That will look like a scar forever. The trick is to keep the whole thing from drying out while it's being made. Also don't continue to break it down with hydrogen peroxide or betadine which will both kill the new tissue. But we often paint betadine on the skin surrounding the open wound to help prevent normal skin bacteria from moving into the wound.

Maggots clean a wound and prevent infection. One fly can make lots of maggots. A wound with maggots usually has no odor, because the maggots eat the dead flesh away, preventing bacterial and fungal infections. I've seen many maggotty wounds on people, but I've never seen maggots in healthy, live tissue. It may happen, but I've never seen it.

The biggest concern for a wound that big is the total percent of body mass it takes, which could cause rapid dehydration and death. Skin (and feathers) keep our moisture in, and temperature controlled. Now her whole back is exposed, and her heat and moisture will just escape. She could be dehydrated in a few days and just die. So if she were a person, we'd put damp sterile saline gauze over the wound and change it 3-4 times a day to keep it from drying out, being careful not to peel away any new tissue/collagen she's grown in. And we'd keep the room temperature warm so she'd spend less energy on body temp and more energy in wound healing.

That area of pale, whitish skin towards the chicken's tail looks dead. It will probably have an area underneath it we'd call "tunnelling", where her body may create a dry pocket which could get chronically infected, so a vet might be a really good idea to clean up that wound, clip away parts that might prevent the whole thing from closing "by intention".

I wish you and her the best luck. I wonder if chickens heal the same way people do? Chickens seem to be amazing and resilient, they recover from a lot. I hope yours does too.

 

[jaimslee4u]

Quote:
I agree. Her advise helped me through wounds and a broken leg from a Hawk. They all survived!

 

[jaimslee4u]

6chickens in St. Charles :

I am a nurse of humans! So I dont know if chicken flesh heals like human flesh, but I hope some of this information may help you relax about that wound:

Open wounds heal by "intention", from the inside up, and the first step you'll see is a layer or two of collagen. It looks like the sandy yellow glops over the surface of the wound. Seeing a deep golden,yolky colored tan/yellow layer is a good thing. With good nutrition, the next layer is granulation, bright red new tissue, also looks sandy, then a pearly pink top layer. That will look like a scar forever. The trick is to keep the whole thing from drying out while it's being made. Also don't continue to break it down with hydrogen peroxide or betadine which will both kill the new tissue. But we often paint betadine on the skin surrounding the open wound to help prevent normal skin bacteria from moving into the wound.

Maggots clean a wound and prevent infection. One fly can make lots of maggots. A wound with maggots usually has no odor, because the maggots eat the dead flesh away, preventing bacterial and fungal infections. I've seen many maggotty wounds on people, but I've never seen maggots in healthy, live tissue. It may happen, but I've never seen it.

The biggest concern for a wound that big is the total percent of body mass it takes, which could cause rapid dehydration and death. Skin (and feathers) keep our moisture in, and temperature controlled. Now her whole back is exposed, and her heat and moisture will just escape. She could be dehydrated in a few days and just die. So if she were a person, we'd put damp sterile saline gauze over the wound and change it 3-4 times a day to keep it from drying out, being careful not to peel away any new tissue/collagen she's grown in. And we'd keep the room temperature warm so she'd spend less energy on body temp and more energy in wound healing.

That area of pale, whitish skin towards the chicken's tail looks dead. It will probably have an area underneath it we'd call "tunnelling", where her body may create a dry pocket which could get chronically infected, so a vet might be a really good idea to clean up that wound, clip away parts that might prevent the whole thing from closing "by intention".

I wish you and her the best luck. I wonder if chickens heal the same way people do? Chickens seem to be amazing and resilient, they recover from a lot. I hope yours does too.

I agree with the Peroxide statement. I heard that it can also kill away the new skin cells. It is good to use a Betadine / H2o solution to kill Bacteria. It is a good thing to have on hand! I actually used it when My Greyhound cut her leg.​