Help!!! No skin to suture after my hen was ripped under wing!!

[rhsf072]

First thing I would like to say is hello to all the BYC network!! I am new here just reg today I was browsing internet on chicken care this website looks helpful and friendly.

I have a very small mini-farm just starting with only (5) ducks and (4) chickens, rabbits and miniature goats for now. Plan on expanding in near future. I am sure this website will benefit me in years to come. I'm recently med retired military and decided to try my hand in raising of chickens and etc I discovered my hen Big Bertha lying on ground after I guess the rooster mated with her. I have read on this website where rooster will sometimes do that. She is torn bad gaped actually she has no skin to suture I also read you could do that too on here so I am trying to familiarize myself with everything. My concern for my hen is she is torn down to silver lining and it can't be covered far as stretching skin to suture and heal faster. What can I do to ease her pain? Can I give her Motrin? And is it time to see a vet? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

rhsf072

 

[E.G.Glayer]

What I have done succesfully in the past was wash the wound area with iodine solution and then apply a thin coat of bag balm (it is an anti septic salve in a green can) to it about every 2 days until healed. Isolate if possible until the wound has at least begun to heal just to help keep her calm and to prevent any additional damage to the tissue.

Good Luck!

 

[Whitehouse Quail]

This depends on how much Bertha is worth to you, and the severity. Is it a surface cut? Or did it damage veins/valuable tissue?

Vet bills are VERY expensive, so if you want to take her to a vet, call up one you know treats chickens and you'll be in business.

However, if you think it can heal on it's own, you should probably leave it.

Maybe clean the wound, put some hydrogen peroxide in it, rub some antibiotic cream in there, and cover it with artificial skin? If it gets worse than what it is, you may need to cull it to be the most humane to the chicken.

You also may need to cull now, depending on the condition of the wound. Chickens can sometimes be unfixable. Do you have pictures you could show?

 

[oesdog]

I think it would have been good to get a photo of her up as there are lots of folk here could help better if they knew what exactly the injury is.

You need to part her from the others as they will peck at her!!!!!!!!!!!!! On the positive Hens have survived really big injury like loss of an entire wing so there is hope!
Be careful not to give her anything unless someone here with more experience tells you what! Some things can kill your bird!!!!!!!!

Keep her calm and a darker smaller warm area would be good. It will discourage her from moving about too much and hurting herself more.

Oesdog - A lot of Vets don;t know much about treating chickens. best of luck with her.

 

[BarkerChickens]

First...

I am sorry your hen got injured. I have had it happen several times as well. It make help to file down the roos toenails and spurs, so they aren't so sharp (not drastic...just round the ends out some). Clean the would well with iodine diluted in water (so it is the color of tea). If you don't have any iodine, you can use hydrogen peroxide diluted with water. Clean the wound well and pack it with neosporin. If you use a different brand, do NOT use the kind with with painkiller as the -caine meds (like lidocaine) are toxic to chickens. However, neosporin uses a different kind of painkiller, so neosporin with pain killer is ok. I would recommend keeping her inside (do you have a travel/dog crate?), so that it doesn't get dirty and flies don't get it (maggots). I have learned that hens heal well and it will begin to granulate inward after a few days. After a couple weeks, she should be good to go or near it anyway, depending on how large. Once it is scabbed up well, you don't have to keep covering it with neosporin as the scab will encourage granulation.

 

[rhsf072]

Thank you for all the responses to my questions. I washed and cleansed her yesterday with warm soapy water and rinsed her about 20 min I fig if the debris and seepage would get loose it would be easier to take away from her wound and it was. I poured peroxide all over her wound afterwards partially covered with loose bandages so she could get air to it for healing. She keeps pecking at it herself so I had to cover it somewhat. I am in process of getting some pics on here so peeps can see the extent of her wound. I see no deep punctures that would effect internal organs so that is good. All her layers of skin has been ripped though. Pics be up soon and thanks so very much everyone.

rhsf072

 

[rhsf072]

Hello Shelby nice to meet you sounds like you have your hands full wow I go by Maddie been married 22 years the 30th July with one child a daughter who is turning sweet 16 August. We have in addittion to chickens and etc 7 cats, 3 dogs, they are all spoiled too. LOL My husband grew up on a farm and says he has never seen this before this bad he has heard of it happening though.

She is eating/drinking like normal, she pants a lot and I keep her isolated in my cabin so she don't get infected by flies, worms and maggots and to KEEP HER AWAY FROM ROOS!!! Thanks for the post have a great day Shelby!!!

 

[BarkerChickens]

Quote:
Neither my husband or I were raised with chickens, but our parents were, so we figured we cold handle it. We started several years ago with our 3 dogs and 1 cat and thought getting 6 hens would be a good idea....then it exploded into what we have now! haha! The problem with your roo is more commonly related 2 one of two things: 1) overly agressive roo while mating (often in young roos) and/or 2) too few hens per roo, so the attention is a bit excessive. We've had two roo that would tear up our hens. One was overly aggressive and over mated the hens even though we had a good ratio (rule of thumb is 8-10 hens per roo, but this depends on the roo also). The other roo was just a large roo and clumsy, so he often slipped and would tear a hen in the process. But, if it isn't a common problem in your flock, simply filing down the nails and spurs with a finger nail file should do the trick. We've had a great luck with it! If it continues to be an issue, you can look into saddles for hens (basically an apron that goes on their back to protect them).

 

[rhsf072]

We raised them all from babies did not think they would start quite this soon but yes we def have a problem then I have two roos and two hens. We seperated them from the other hen when this happened. All is well except my roos have a big attitude problem right now. LOL I need your help I have pics of my hen's wound been waiting on cell service and Sprint as I live in the middle of nowhere and these things take time. How do I post pics on this website I went to uploads and it said it was sucessful but I have yet to locate it. Thanks

 

[rhsf072]

Ok here is a pic of Bertha's wound sorry for delay I had to go to town to get cell signal and waiting on Sprint now for 3 more pics so everyone can see the extent of her injury. Thank you!!

I clipped her wing so I could take care of her better and she lays on sterile padding which I change regularly