Help! Injured hen!

[AprilsZoo]

Sounds good.

For the future, you should keep a bottle of BETADINE on hand, it comes in (I believe) a 12 oz bottle, which will last a really, really long time. (Although it does have an expiry date on it— my doctor said it’s an ultra-stable compound, and can’t really “go bad”. And so far, that’s been my experience... I’ve recently used the last of a bottle that was 10+ years old, and it was just as good the last time as the first.) You can find it at just about any drug store or variety store like Walmart/Target/ Fred Meyer in the first aid section. It‘s useful for humans and animals alike.

You can use it to create a gentle irrigation solution: into cooled, boiled water (or saline solution) mix in Betadine, several drops at a time, until you have a solution the color of strong tea. This can be used in a squirt bottle as I described in my previous post or via syringe (w/ no needle).

If you need a cleansing product: mix Betadine into water to resemble weak tea, then add several drops of mild soap (like Castile) or baby shampoo. This can be used as a “surgical” scrub, using cotton balls or gauze squares

Good luck! And please come back to update the thread as she heals.

 

[Tiffy316]

I'll keep an eye out for that, thanks. I have vetericyn on hand that I used to irrigate her wound tonight. It still looks bad, but she is eating and drinking normally and was even a little more co-operative when I went to apply the Neosporin tonight. I'm planning to get some more tomorrow after work, so I'll keep an eye out for the other stuff.

 

[Tiffy316]

Her wound still looks bad, but she's still doing ok and eating and drinking normally. She still seems to be really healthy and currently has a ton of Neosporin on her wound. I've just been globbing it on whatever looks like part of the sore and whatever little nook and cranny I can get it into to make sure that I get everything. I'm also irritating her sore with vetericyn since it helps clean the wound and disinfects it a little too. She's getting mostly later pellets with a little corn and seems to be happy in the crate. It keeps her separated from the roosters, but still lets her see them so she won't be lonely.

Hopefully, her sore will heal soon and she can go back to running aroynd with the others. Thanks for all the help guys. I'll keep you posted on her condition.

 

[Tiffy316]

I was able to find some betadine, as well as some large tubes of Neosporin, bactine, and a saline wash that comes in a spray can. This way, I can clean the wound easier. It says to just spray it until the wound looks clean. That should do for quite a while.

 

[AprilsZoo]

I was able to find some betadine, as well as some large tubes of Neosporin, bactine, and a saline wash that comes in a spray can. This way, I can clean the wound easier. It says to just spray it until the wound looks clean. That should do for quite a while.

Sounds like you’re set. Keep up your excellent care and I think you’ll be seeing noticeable healing in no time.

Btw, this type of healing — where a deep wound is left open as opposed to being stitched, stapled , or steri-stripped closed — is called healing by secondary intention. It’s how large, contaminated wounds or opened abscesses are left to heal. It’s remarkable what the body can heal, if infection can be kept at bay.

Out of curiosity, are you in the US? Can you tap on your name at the top of the page, then account details, then scroll down and add your location? You can be as general [just your state or (country if outside the US)] or specific [city/county & state] as you want to be. It really helps us to figure out what resources might be available to you in your area.

Please keep us updated on her progress. We’d love to know how she does. And of course, if anything seems wrong, come tell us about that too. There’s always someone around who can help you out & answer your questions.

 

[Tiffy316]

Sounds like you’re set. Keep up your excellent care and I think you’ll be seeing noticeable healing in no time.

Btw, this type of healing — where a deep wound is left open as opposed to being stitched, stapled , or steri-stripped closed — is called healing by secondary intention. It’s how large, contaminated wounds or opened abscesses are left to heal. It’s remarkable what the body can heal, if infection can be kept at bay.

Out of curiosity, are you in the US? Can you tap on your name at the top of the page, then account details, then scroll down and add your location? You can be as general [just your state or (country if outside the US)] or specific [city/county & state] as you want to be. It really helps us to figure out what resources might be available to you in your area.

Please keep us updated on her progress. We’d love to know how she does. And of course, if anything seems wrong, come tell us about that too. There’s always someone around who can help you out & answer your questions.

I live near Wichita, KS.

 

[Tiffy316]

When I went out to check I, her tonight, I saw hee shivering in her crate. It's a pretty cold night (about 38 degrees) and I could see my breath. I felt bad for her shivering in there bc she doesn't have enough back feathers to keep her warm and brought her inside until it warms up in the morning.

Would it be ok if I put a doggy shirt on her to help keep her warm on cold nights. They can get pretty cold here, even in spring. I know that I'm not suppossed to cover the wound, but I thought maybe a little shirt would help her keep warm until her feathers grew back. I don't want her sore to get infected, but I want to help her stay warm until either ber festhers grow back, or it gets warmer. Please note that the days are ok, but sometimes even on summer, the nights can get pretty cold.

 

[AprilsZoo]

Loose covering with a t-shirt type garment won’t hurt the wound. Honestly, neither will covering it with what’s known as a “bulky dressing” which uses lots of “fluffy” loosely-woven gauze (aka Kerlix) over a non-stick layer (Telfa or Adaptic/Vaseline gauze, for example).

Loosely wrap the kerlix around the body— diagonally or criss-crossed to miss the wings, if necessary. You can accordion-fold a few layers of Kelix & place that under the wrapping (above the non-stick layer) to add padding or absorbency. The light support of a bandage can actually make things less painful for the bird, because the skin around the wound won’t pull apart as much when the bird flaps its wings

What you don’t want to do at this stage is make an air-tight, essentially sealed environment with your bandaging. But just a loose, bulky dressing will not increase risk for infection.

 

[Tiffy316]

Loose covering with a t-shirt type garment won’t hurt the wound. Honestly, neither will covering it with what’s known as a “bulky dressing” which uses lots of “fluffy” loosely-woven gauze (aka Kerlix) over a non-stick layer (Telfa or Adaptic/Vaseline gauze, for example).

Loosely wrap the kerlix around the body— diagonally or criss-crossed to miss the wings, if necessary. You can accordion-fold a few layers of Kelix & place that under the wrapping (above the non-stick layer) to add padding or absorbency. The light support of a bandage can actually make things less painful for the bird, because the skin around the wound won’t pull apart as much when the bird flaps its wings

What you don’t want to do at this stage is make an air-tight, essentially sealed environment with your bandaging. But just a loose, bulky dressing will not increase risk for infection.

I was gonna try to find a warm doggy shirt for her to wear so she won't be so cold since she's missing feathers on her back. I could try to find some large gauze pads to cover her sore with so the shirt won't rub up against it as much. But would I need to replace the pad a few times a day? Right now, I'm cleaning her wound once a day with saline spray and applying a lot if Neosporin. She spends most of the time in the dog crate, which it basically like a large wire cage. She can walk around a bit but there's not exactly much room for her to flap her wings around or jump on anything. I was also thinking of bringing her inside at night if the shirt thing didn't work out. I just wanna make sure she stays warm at night. BTW, the plan for the guaze pads would be just to lightly place it under the shirt so it keeps her sore from rubbing against it. I doubt it would be air tight. Just tucked under a doggy shirt that may or may not be made of warm fabric.

 

[AprilsZoo]

You only need to change the bandage once each day. I’ll attach some photos of the best sort of bandaging supplies to use. Just try to get something close. You might not even need the shirt at all once it’s covered.

Non-stick pads— they come in a few sizes... get larger ones & cut in half or quarters & you’ll save $$. Just make sure you are using very clean scissors to cut (clean blades with alcohol or peroxide, or use disinfecting wipes—like for your counter— to ‘scrub’ the blades.)

For the wrapping— Rolled gauze...just to keep the pad in place... Each roll of gauze should be good for at least 2 days worth of wrapping.
the first pic is a thin, “conforming gauze”. It won‘t create a ‘Bulky dressing’, but it will work— plus it’s cheaper, and a little easier to find. They have it at Walmart even. The second is also considered conforming gauze (just means it can go around odd shaped body parts) but it’s bulky, i.e. thicker & more loosely woven.
Whichever you can get easily and afford is fine.

You’ll wanna get some first-aid tape while you are at it. Doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. Actually, duct tape would work even. You only need small strips to hold the end of the bandage to the layer under it.