HELP! rat ate skin off 2 day old chick :( pic inside.. warning*

[mstricer]

Personally if it was me i would put him down, I know a lot wouldn't. But that looks horribly painful. It is your decision though, just my two cents

 

[LilacLes]

I wouldn't put him down if at all possible. If there's even a remote chance he can make it through this, I'd nurse him. If he does pull through, this will all be a horrible memory and he can live a full life. If you just kill him, then that's that, isn't it.

Just my 2 cents. Keep us posted.

 

[melaniew]

You did everything you could dont blame yourself things happen but the only thing you could do is to keep rhe chickens out of the coop put in "just one bite" poison and a dish of water. Keep putting it out till it no longer dis appears than clean all bedding out and put some poisen under sheD. And start over. Good luck best wishes

 

[melaniew]

Ive used tripple antibiotic oint. Keep coating it on the wound and leave it open to the air make sure baby is warm enough with a heatlamp but enough room to get away from it so it doesnt cook I wouldnt give up till it would pass on its own

 

[melaniew]

Soke leg in iodine. To clean it not water my husband farms and hes in dirt and manurer all day ....he almost had his pinky tip cut off. We soked in iodine every chance we got it healed lovely then. My son got hurt the same he did the same and he healded great too good luck

 

[casportpony]

Keep cleaning it with betadine... Do you have any antibiotics for other pets? If you do, let me know what you have and I calculate a dose for you.

 

[mushu]

good news ! he isn't shaking his head anymore but still no chirps. still eating and drinking. My dad is adamant on culling him but I will hold off for now...

I took off the vetwrap and the knee area was dry, I combined sea salt and water to make a quick saline solution and wiped the surrounding infected area then applied more betadine. For some reason I struggled alot more today. I will check out my local pharmacy for triple antibiotic ointment and iodine.

Also, I'm thinking of giving him knee therapy like slightly bending his knee back and forth.. not anything drastic as it may hurt but it could open the wound =/
hmm what about the pus, should I drain ? I think its do-able if I soak his knee in saline/iodine till its soft (just the thought makes me quesy). is this neccessary?

@casportpony - thank you! I really appreciate it but unfortunately we don't have any other pets, at times like this I wished we had

I will keep updating, makes me feel better just writing about it

 

[mushu]

another update:

Hello! Great news is that he is walking again since 3 days ago however is a quite wobbly and uses his wings for support at times. The infection seems to have disappeared, now there is just a lump (I assume a scab) above the knee that I am hoping falls off soon.. it may be the culprit as to why he is walking funny and legs aren't even.
My new dilemma is of course his legs not being even. It could be he is re-learning how to walk but I'm afraid if this persists it'll be permanent but I also don't want to jump to conclusions and try to fix it thus causing more damage.

From the information of how to fix splay leg I would assume it be the same for my case? Considering he is strong and leg is completely healed. Will update in another week to see how he does to see for improvement before I bandage his legs up.

 

[casportpony]

Happy to hear he is still alive, thanks for the update!

 

[TacomaChickNMom]

Poor little chicky! I'm glad she's doing better now... you are a good chicken mommy LOL