Hen with bad puncture wound, smelly. Help.

[Morrigan]

For cleaning the wound (and in the future, should the need arise again) use a saline solution or, in a pinch, just plain clean water, is best. If seeing a vet is not realistic, I would go to the drug store and get a syringe and use that to flush the wound. Keep her in a warm, comfortable place. If antibiotics are an option, I would start her on a round. As long as she is eating and drinking, don't give up hope. I've had a hen fight off an bad infection from a bobcat bite by keeping the wound clean, using topical antibiotic ointment, and giving her supportive care.

 

[Urbchix]

She's much more irritated at me bothering her this morning! She's preening though and I think trying to get the Neosporin off her feathers. Should I be worried about her eating it?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She's much more irritated at me bothering her this morning! She's preening though and I think trying to get the Neosporin off her feathers. Should I be worried about her eating it?

It sounds like she's perking up!

Ingesting a very small amount of Neosporin probably won't hurt her. You may need to put a saddle on her to loosely cover the wound, especially if she is opening up any cuts.
But the wound still needs to be looked over very closely each day.

 

[Urbchix]

Wanted to give an update: she's recovering! Her behavior has been back to normal and the wound has been almost completely healed so she's been back with the others who have been mostly ignoring her. I cleaned the part that isn't completely healed yet today and it seems to be growing in very well. I'm amazed at her ability to pull through.

Thank you everyone who responded here and helped me figure out what to do to save her. I couldn't have done it without the support and info from this and countless other threads. Thank you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Wanted to give an update: she's recovering! Her behavior has been back to normal and the wound has been almost completely healed so she's been back with the others who have been mostly ignoring her. I cleaned the part that isn't completely healed yet today and it seems to be growing in very well. I'm amazed at her ability to pull through.

Thank you everyone who responded here and helped me figure out what to do to save her. I couldn't have done it without the support and info from this and countless other threads. Thank you!

Glad to hear she is recovering!
Thank you for the update

 

[VitChickens]

Hi all,
One of my hens (~2 yr old Australorp) was attacked and now has a bad puncture wound under her left wing. I didn't notice anything until I smelled something rotten and then noticed the wound late last night. I have washed it, flushed it with hydrogen peroxide, trimmed feathers, pulled some feathers that were inside, and put some antibacterial ointment in the deep wound. She is now in a box in the basement with food and water. This morning she was eating with the others acting pretty normal before i washed it. She is now a bit lethargic but drinks and kinda ate some pellets. There are no maggots and I am not sure when the injury happened, but I'm guessing it's a new raccoon in the area.

The wounds are pretty bad and smelly so I'm worried there is rotting flesh, probably the fat. How do I figure that out and address it? The wound goes down so there's a pocket into fat that holds the antibiotic.

Pictures at the end (pretty graphic) can show this. I'm not sure if there are any vets that would take a chicken in my area, and I'm not sure that I can afford it right now.

Suggestions?

For more info on how the attack probably happened:

Two of my hens were outside the coop in a makeshift pen because one of them is being bullied really badly and is terrified of the other chickens. I hadn't yet predator proofed it, and was hoping to reintroduce the two hens/isolate the bully. Last night.my housemate heard squawking and then saw a raccoon run away. I went out to move them into the coop (both hens were roosting outside) and I noticed the smell, then the matted feathers. The smell seems to soon for the attack to have happened right then so I'm guessing it happened previously? Either way, I'm working on a predator proof pen while I'm trying to get the hens to play nicely and I'm furious with myself for letting her get hurt like this.

Thanks for your help. View attachment 1546890 View attachment 1546891

He