Also, you can likely treat her wound well yourself. Here are some things I've learned:
Treating Wounds
For dog / other animal bites that are tears rather than just punctures, and other cuts / torn flesh / open wounds that otherwise might require stitches for your chicken:
Super-Glue the edges of the wound closed.
Yes--really!
Caution: Do not glue puncture wounds because doing so would greatly risk trapping bacteria inside.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Doctors often use a sterile glue / adhesive that's similar to Super-Glue on people nowadays. But a lot of people (including me) have used plain old Super Glue on themselves & their animals very successfully!
Most recently--a few months ago I used it on a small gash that I found impossible to stitch on my horse's neck. It healed beautifully.
Treating Wounds
For dog / other animal bites that are tears rather than just punctures, and other cuts / torn flesh / open wounds that otherwise might require stitches for your chicken:
Super-Glue the edges of the wound closed.
- First, apply direct pressure to stop any serious bleeding. If what you are pressing with sticks to the wound, when removing you can reduce possibility of re-starting bleeding, by dribbling a little water to loosen dried blood.
- The edges may be fine to glue as-is. But if needed, you can snip off any bits of skin that seem like they will just stick out and not heal, or trim the tips of any feathers that are in the way.
- Clean the area a bit with a damp Q-tip. Rinse the wound out with saline solution(such as the kind used for contact lenses) or a little Betadine mixed with water. Wait until the area is mostly dry before glueing (but don't introduce germs by blowing it dry with your breath, though you could try a blow dryer with a not-too-hot, very gentle setting).
Tip: You can make saline yourself by boiling 1 tsp non-iodized salt in 2 cups water. To speed cooling, pour into another container after & put in freezer. - Then just follow the instructions on the tube for glueing two surfaces together using that specific super glue (such as whether to dry applied glue a few seconds before pressing two surfaces together, how long to hold the two surfaces together afterward, etc).
- After a couple minutes, you can put some triple antibiotic ointment similar to Neosporin (Choose one that does NOT include "pain relief") on the glued spot. It may be helpful to apply the ointment a few times over the next few days, also, though it isn't always needed. Watch & see if the ointment seems to cause the glue to come unstuck. If so, it may be better to only apply near rather than on the cut, or to not apply any.
- If it looks like a significant infection occurs, give Penicillin for 4 days. Visit this link for info on giving Penicillin.
Tip: Some other antibiotics will help with some wound infections, but Penicillin has a higher rate of effectiveness than most. - If the wound is on moist tissue (such as on the bird's crop, which can be especially challenging) and opens again, you might have to reapply super-glue 2-4 times a day for a few days & try to minimize bird's movement. Or you might want to add a few stitches, as well.
- If glueing comes apart: Some of new connecting tissue may tear, but hopefully enough won't that the opening will gradually be healing. Having the wound closed most of the time should also be helping surrounding tissues to maintain their growing in correct shape & position.
- If food is seeping from a wound on a digestive organ, you should research additional care that may be needed.
Caution: Do not glue puncture wounds because doing so would greatly risk trapping bacteria inside.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Doctors often use a sterile glue / adhesive that's similar to Super-Glue on people nowadays. But a lot of people (including me) have used plain old Super Glue on themselves & their animals very successfully!
Most recently--a few months ago I used it on a small gash that I found impossible to stitch on my horse's neck. It healed beautifully.
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