Helping a chicken's wound/scab heal??

[PiGE0N]

Just a couple of days ago two of my pet hens got seriously injured by the neighbors dog that trespassed into our backyard, the birds had to be rushed to the vet. One of my birds got surgery along with sutures(her intestine was literally hanging out), the other got stables to close the deep bite injuries.

For the one that got surgery and sutures, I was wondering how I can help aid her wounds? I heard keeping the area moist helps, and the yellow skin area(under it?) feels dry and rough, compared to the light pink skin that feels soft. So for now I just put a damp paper towel over this area, I'm not sure if Vaseline would be okay to put over this? Spray of any kind?
What about the stabled areas?

Also I noticed both of these birds have slow/impacted crops the same day we came back from the vets, I'm not sure if this problem is related to the dog attack or before that. Is it possible the birds going into shock and stress from the attack paused their normal bodily functions? Whichever it is, has made this process more difficult as I have to give both birds medication 3 times a day prescribed by the vet (clavamox and meloxicam) with food but I don't want to make their crop problems worse with more food.

I've been gently massaging their crops and gave them some water with drops of ACV. One of the hen's poops are kinda small but solid enough to tell that at least some food is being processed, as for the other hen's her poop is mostly watery with a few strands of actually poop. Any other advice?

 

[nuthatched]

Let the area dry and scab. Maybe a bit of neosporin but she should be fine.

 

[PiGE0N]

I've put a bit of Neosporin on it and a warm damp cloth over that whole area to also prevent her from picking at it. One hen's poop is getting bigger/more solid so I assume massage crop treatment is slowly working for her. I fed both of them some yogurt, the one who's still dropping watery poop ate the most yogurt, I was thinking of getting lactose free kefir if I ever see any at the store.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Did your vet not give you after care instructions?

I would apply a very thin layer of triple antibiotic ointment to the raw areas. Don't cover with a damp towel.
If she's picking at it, then can try covering her with a t-shirt, an infant size may work o.k., the wounds needs to have some air on them, so if she's not picking at them, then leave them exposed.

See if you can get them to eat their normal feed, it can be given wet made into a mush or dry. Bits of egg or fish (tuna/sardines) can be interesting to them as well.

I would try to keep them on their normal feed as much as possible and avoid introducing too many things they are not accustomed.

 

[PiGE0N]

Vet just told me to keep the chickens inside to prevent flies n maggots from getting to the wounds, also from other chickens picking at it and to discourage themselves from it as well. The one with staples didn't pay much mind to them, the other I temporarily had a tank top cover her areas. I would occasionally spray Bactine or rub a bit of Neosporin on them.
After their wounds didn't seem so raw anymore I made them a separate enclosure outside so they could at least walk around more and not be cramped in my room, I didn't want to put diapers on them, especially when one's injury was right under her vent. I was able to better monitor their droppings and make sure they weren't eating more on top of their slow crops.

They got rechecks at the vet two times since my first post, so as of now they're both doing better! One hen got her staples removed and her crop seems to have gone back to normal emptying at night. The other is also doing a lot better, they left her sutures in saying they should push out naturally, she's growing a lot of her feathers back, even on the area that was scabbed, but her crop is still slow... I asked the vet about it the last Friday we went and they said it's most likely because her attack was a lot more serious to where her intestine was hanging out, so it'll probably take a while before it functions at its normal pace, they were surprised she even survived this long. So, other than that she seems to be her old self again!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Vet just told me to keep the chickens inside to prevent flies n maggots from getting to the wounds, also from other chickens picking at it and to discourage themselves from it as well. The one with staples didn't pay much mind to them, the other I temporarily had a tank top cover her areas. I would occasionally spray Bactine or rub a bit of Neosporin on them.
After their wounds didn't seem so raw anymore I made them a separate enclosure outside so they could at least walk around more and not be cramped in my room, I didn't want to put diapers on them, especially when one's injury was right under her vent. I was able to better monitor their droppings and make sure they weren't eating more on top of their slow crops.

They got rechecks at the vet two times since my first post, so as of now they're both doing better! One hen got her staples removed and her crop seems to have gone back to normal emptying at night. The other is also doing a lot better, they left her sutures in saying they should push out naturally, she's growing a lot of her feathers back, even on the area that was scabbed, but her crop is still slow... I asked the vet about it the last Friday we went and they said it's most likely because her attack was a lot more serious to where her intestine was hanging out, so it'll probably take a while before it functions at its normal pace, they were surprised she even survived this long. So, other than that she seems to be her old self again!

Pretty girls!
I'm glad they are recovering nicely, thank you for the update

 

[PiGE0N]

An update on my two girls; they're doing good still, however one is still dealing with slow, or I should rather say now, an impacted crop. When I had her in the separate enclosure outside there's been a few times where she has escaped and foraged around like normal, her crop felt really big but was able to pass through most of it over days of massaging and only providing her with water. Still after weeks there is just something inside her crop that won't pass through, it feels like a stick? tangled with whatever else she may have eaten.

I had make her a separate enclosure inside the run to further ensure she couldn't free range if she got out, I was unsure of this because she could still scratch around in dirt and find other possible things to eat other than bugs. But I knew I couldn't just no longer feed her as she was getting lighter, so I started giving her non solid foods only, like yogurt, pumpkin puree, kefir, and baby bird formula to a smoothie-like consistency. She has been eating this fine (some days more eager or has little interest), but it's something... and it actually passes through her unlike whatever clump is remaining, because she does poop, some are big some are small, but definitely her system is going.

I was trying to book another vet appointment, but they were closed for a whole week and did not have anything available til mid September, where I won't be here, my family will have to take care of her while I'm gone and we'll see how soon I can get to visit.

Her behavior is that of a completely normal chicken, she wants to eat normal food, treats, forage and run about, but other than her crop my only other concern is that she hasn't laid an egg since the dog attack, which makes me wonder if her injuries contributed to her crop issues. I once had a hen whose crop wasn't emptying due to tumors/growth within her abdomen, which made food difficult to pass at all despite doing the same treatments, her system was blocked by other things further down...
I'm not sure if that is the case here since her droppings are much larger than the hen who suffered from tumors, I don't feel anything abnormal on her but it still worries me why she isn't laying eggs; is her body still traumatized by the attack? I thought maybe she was molting but I don't think she is. I'm wondering how she'll be if she starts laying again, hoping none of her reproductive organs are damaged from the attack, I don't recall the vet saying anything about her other insides being injured.

I read a impacted crop treatment guide on here using stool softener and gave her some tonight before putting her to bed, though it's hard squeezing the gel out of the caps... we'll see how this helps.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm glad they are still both doing o.k. and recovering.

Sometimes when one has suffered trauma it may take a good while for her to resume layin eggs, it sounds like she's not quite ready yet.

I would introduce her normal feed, you can offer it as a wet mash, but getting her back onto a nutritionally balanced poultry feed should be part of the recovery plan.
For the crop problem, the stool softener may help her pass material if it's fibrous. I would only give it 1 or 2 times, if that doesn't get it moving then the stool softener is not going to. I just pop the pill into the beak and let the hen swallow it instead of trying to squeeze out the gel, the pill will dissolve once in the crop.

If you feel that what's in the crop is like a stick, then it may not be an object that can pass through. When you see the vet, have them feel of it, if it's still there. Sometimes material needs to be removed surgically. Since you have vet care, that's best, but some folks perform the procedure at home which I would not recommend unless all avenues have been exhausted and vet care is not an option.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

 

[PiGE0N]

I'm glad they are still both doing o.k. and recovering.

Sometimes when one has suffered trauma it may take a good while for her to resume layin eggs, it sounds like she's not quite ready yet.

I would introduce her normal feed, you can offer it as a wet mash, but getting her back onto a nutritionally balanced poultry feed should be part of the recovery plan.
For the crop problem, the stool softener may help her pass material if it's fibrous. I would only give it 1 or 2 times, if that doesn't get it moving then the stool softener is not going to. I just pop the pill into the beak and let the hen swallow it instead of trying to squeeze out the gel, the pill will dissolve once in the crop.

If you feel that what's in the crop is like a stick, then it may not be an object that can pass through. When you see the vet, have them feel of it, if it's still there. Sometimes material needs to be removed surgically. Since you have vet care, that's best, but some folks perform the procedure at home which I would not recommend unless all avenues have been exhausted and vet care is not an option.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...w-to-know-which-one-youre-dealing-with.73607/

Thank you for the response, I didn't know they could take the pill whole, this makes giving it to her a lot easier than squeezing the gel out! You're right about the regular chicken feed though, I'll try to make it the same wet consistency as the other food so it passes through as easily. But yes I'd much rather prefer the vet than trying to perform such a scary procedure myself

 

[PiGE0N]

It's been weeks now and it finally seems like whatever was stuck in her crop has passed through! I can't really feel it anymore and her crop has been emptying throughout the nights like normal... no idea if she's resumed laying eggs or not, but she still seems good I'm amazed at her recovery despite such a devastating dog attack