Hen with bad wound. (Picture alert!) Anything else I can do?

[deidreg]

Poppy (avatar picture) was found getting badly pecked by two flock mates today. My husband separated her and saw a lot of blood. I cleaned her up, then was very surprised by the wound. It's at the top of her left thigh. No other wounds. Leg is working and she can bear weight on it. The other hens didn't do this--I'm guessing she had something there already that started bleeding and the others went for the blood. Looks necrotic, but it doesn't smell.

Poppy had been a bit off the last several days. Her comb started to droop and she hung back from the other hens when they were in the back yard with me. All other behavior was normal and she was laying.

I cleaned her wound, put on antibiotic ointment, bandaged and wrapped her since she started pecking at it, and gave her some Nutri Drench, though she did not take very much. She's in a makeshift coop in our basement so she'll be warm enough. Not sure she'll make it through the night. Anything else I can do?

 

[MysteryChicken]

Keep it moist, & let it air.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Also, clipping the feathers around the wound will help with making it easier to apply ointment.

 

[Banana01]

It is probably a dog bite or other wound and it has about a month of healing left, maybe two. I was going to say trim away the feathers at the base with nail clippers if you need to in order to keep it clean and air dry, but the feathers may also help hide the wound from the other chickens. Did they open it up and cause bleeding?

Dont try to peel it off or it may cause pain and bleeding. But you have to see what is causing the wound, it may be full of fly larvae or something else bad. Scabbing takes time ro fully heal, and bleeding is a bad sign. Since the necrosis looks bad, you could try one time to lift on it gently to see if it causes her pain or if some of the dead tissue can peel away. I peeled my hen initially, but be very careful, i tore the skin worse and it caused pain and bleeding. Dont do that, but do remove black parts that fall off painlessly. And examine how bad is the wound is it healing or is somethinelse causing it to worsen, like infection.

Keep her isolated to sleep unless she is still walking good. Like you said the others are making it worse, so isolation is best. If you dont see bleeding, she isnt in pain, and is walking, then its possible to do nothing.

Here was a picture of my hens wound for reference. It has since healed fully and she is just content sitting in the shade all day. I put violet on it day one, and did nothing but wipe dirt off for weeks.

Also i had a second hen that was like yours with a dog bite, and i did nothing to treat it and discovered the wound late like you did, and it was like nothing happened. I think if the other hens didnt peck it, you never would have even noticed. But they may have opened it up and caused bleeding, so now you should clean it and isolate her if you can.

 

[arwoon]

Make sure the wound gets air, and fill it with antibiotic ointment. She should be fine. Poor girl!

 

[deidreg]

It is probably a dog bite or other wound and it has about a month of healing left, maybe two. I was going to say trim away the feathers at the base with nail clippers if you need to in order to keep it clean and air dry, but the feathers may also help hide the wound from the other chickens. Did they open it up and cause bleeding?

Dont try to peel it off or it may cause pain and bleeding. But you have to see what is causing the wound, it may be full of fly larvae or something else bad. Scabbing takes time ro fully heal, and bleeding is a bad sign. Since the necrosis looks bad, you could try one time to lift on it gently to see if it causes her pain or if some of the dead tissue can peel away. I peeled my hen initially, but be very careful, i tore the skin worse and it caused pain and bleeding. Dont do that, but do remove black parts that fall off painlessly. And examine how bad is the wound is it healing or is somethinelse causing it to worsen, like infection.

Keep her isolated to sleep unless she is still walking good. Like you said the others are making it worse, so isolation is best. If you dont see bleeding, she isnt in pain, and is walking, then its possible to do nothing.

Here was a picture of my hens wound for reference. It has since healed fully and she is just content sitting in the shade all day. I put violet on it day one, and did nothing but wipe dirt off for weeks.

Also i had a second hen that was like yours with a dog bite, and i did nothing to treat it and discovered the wound late like you did, and it was like nothing happened. I think if the other hens didnt peck it, you never would have even noticed. But they may have opened it up and caused bleeding, so now you should clean it and isolate her if you can.

Thanks. This gives me a bit of hope for her.