Hen with a wound.

[pharrison4659]

Noticed over the last few days that my other hens have singled this one out. While they were ranging I noticed what I thought was a poopy butt, but picked her up and realized it was a hole. I’ve separated her and sprayed antiseptic. What is this from.. I feel horrible, I just don’t understand what happened to her.

 

[Raeganmh02]

How deep is the wound? Can you see any bone or organs, or is it just through the skin. It looks like dried blood covering the wound from the picture you sent. I’ve seen chickens survive much worse. I’d just keep it clean and keep her separated. As to what happened, it is hard to say. I hope your hen heals up soon though!

 

[pharrison4659]

This is also on the belly area, not

How deep is the wound? Can you see any bone or organs, or is it just through the skin. It looks like dried blood covering the wound from the picture you sent. I’ve seen chickens survive much worse. I’d just keep it clean and keep her separated. As to what happened, it is hard to say. I hope your hen heals up soon though!

its not very deep, almost looks like a tunnel or navel type of shape. I’m hoping it’s already trying to heal. No bones or organs that I can see. We sprayed her down real good and she’s in her own small coop. I just feel awful for her .. it’s been cold so I was worried it looked like frost bite. It’s hard to tell the color, just a darker color. None of my other hens have an issue with frost bite though. The rest of them have been pecking at her since she’s felt bad, so hopefully separation and antiseptic will help.

 

[coach723]

Better pictures once cleaned up might help, of the wound and so we can tell exactly where it is.
Does this bird roost normally, or lay in bedding somewhere? If she's not feeling well, she's likely to be picked on. If she's not roosting normally this could be a breast blister. Cannibalism (birds will peck anything red or bleeding) is possible.
I would clean it up well, and apply plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment a couple of times a day to keep it covered. I would also keep her on clean towels or puppy pads rather than any loose type bedding, to help keep it clean. And keep her separated from the others until it's healed enough to not be a pecking risk.
Give her a good going over to check for general health and body condition. Is she thin or good weight? Check bottoms of feet for signs of bumblefoot.

 

[pharrison4659]

Better pictures once cleaned up might help, of the wound and so we can tell exactly where it is.
Does this bird roost normally, or lay in bedding somewhere? If she's not feeling well, she's likely to be picked on. If she's not roosting normally this could be a breast blister. Cannibalism (birds will peck anything red or bleeding) is possible.
I would clean it up well, and apply plain neosporin or plain triple antibiotic ointment a couple of times a day to keep it covered. I would also keep her on clean towels or puppy pads rather than any loose type bedding, to help keep it clean. And keep her separated from the others until it's healed enough to not be a pecking risk.
Give her a good going over to check for general health and body condition. Is she thin or good weight? Check bottoms of feet for signs of bumblefoot.

She does feel lighter than my other hens. It’s very cold here, should I bring in and bathe and then keep in our basement? I don’t want to get her wet and put her back out in these temps. Half roost and half huddle together so I’m not sure what this particular one was doing because I have many of that breed.

 

[coach723]

I wouldn't necessarily bathe her, just clean up the wound well. You can use a blowdryer on low if needed to dry off any wetness after that. If she's acting unwell she may need a warmer place anyway, until she's feeling better.

 

[pharrison4659]

She’s doing much better today.. I can already see signs of healing. She’s doing great by herself not stressed and just healing.

 

[RosemaryDuck]

She’s doing much better today.. I can already see signs of healing. She’s doing great by herself not stressed and just healing.

So glad to see hear she's doing better! I just wanted to drop in on this post and tell you what I think caused this.

Do you have rats? (Or have you checked for them?) I had a turkey many years ago that was attacked in the night by rats and they did this exact same wound on her. She was large and couldn't move very fast so they took advantage of it and basically ate a hole in her belly. I'd keep an eye out for them just in case.

 

[pharrison4659]

Omg
I have not seen any, but our neighbors (pretty far up from us) have several farm animals and they have complained about having to shoot rats, so it is possible. That’s so terrible

 

[coach723]

Glad she's doing better, hope she makes a full recovery.
Rats will travel a good distance to get food, so if neighbors have them then it's possible.
Feed usually gets spilled by the birds no matter how hard you try to keep it cleaned up, and that is a big attractant for rodents. They particularly like to live in brush piles or debris piles, or in spaces under buildings.
If you can set a trap, I would do that, see if you catch anything and then you will know for sure. Or alternately set up a game camera in the coop, see if anything is coming in at night.