Hen with side torn open after dog attack, size of a fist.

[Danny188]

I think this is definitely going to need stitches to heal, what should I do. The attack happend last Saturday. I have been puting antibiotic ointment on it and cleaing daily with neosporin, I discovered this 3 days ago, she was always laying down and her wing covers it. I wasent the one to originally clean them so I trusted what my sisters freind found. A chicken with a torn vent jumped the fence dividing them and made it bigger by pecking it looks like it needs stitches can this heal without stitches?


Edit: its behind its leg on its butt/tail end no intestines or bones can be seen looks like just fat and musle.

 

[nchls school]

Looks bad. Can the skin on either side of the wound be pulled together? I'm guessing not and if so stitches are probably not possible. For now just keep on as you are. I have seen many horrendous wounds on birds heal and heal up fast. So, don't give up. My wife is my livestock surgeon as we can't afford big vet bills. I know she has the supplies to stitch wounds. When she gets home I'll ask her to comment.

 

[nchls school]

Keep her warm. Is she eating and drinking?

 

[Danny188]

Keep her warm. Is she eating and drinking?

She has been just not when I there she still has a little food in her crop mostly water it's about the size of a hazelnut, I will force feed her a hard boiled egg sometime later
tonight.

 

[Eggcessive]

Since that happened 6 days ago, I would say that she stands a good chance of surviving. It is too late to sew it closed, but wounds like this can eventually fill in with healthy tissue as the wound closes together. The main thing is to disinfect the wound twice a day with something like Vetericyn wound spray, chlorhexidene, or saline. Then apply plain Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic Ointment or similar. Keep her in a dog crate or pen with a clean old towel or puppy pad for bedding—you don’t want to get pine shavings or dirt in the wound. Keep food and water near her.

Offer wet chicken feed in a small bowl—mix fresh twice a day, and add some scrambled bits of egg, tuna, or canned cat food for variety to tempt her to eat. If she doesn’t have internal injury or infection, she hopefully will get better.

 

[nchls school]

In addition to the above, any dead tissue needs to be removed. A wound like this will take time to heal. If you can get her eating and drinking her chances of survival will be greatly increased. Good luck.

 

[Danny188]

Since that happened 6 days ago, I would say that she stands a good chance of surviving. It is too late to sew it closed, but wounds like this can eventually fill in with healthy tissue as the wound closes together. The main thing is to disinfect the wound twice a day with something like Vetericyn wound spray, chlorhexidene, or saline. Then apply plain Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic Ointment or similar. Keep her in a dog crate or pen with a clean old towel or puppy pad for bedding—you don’t want to get pine shavings or dirt in the wound. Keep food and water near her.

Offer wet chicken feed in a small bowl—mix fresh twice a day, and add some scrambled bits of egg, tuna, or canned cat food for variety to tempt her to eat. If she doesn’t have internal injury or infection, she hopefully will get better.

I'm cleaning once daily with hydrogen peroxide and then like you said using triple antibiotic ointment, yesterday she had good amount of food in her crop compared to the other she was on the upper end probably in between the size of a walnut without a shell and hazelnut. The weird thing is after I cleaned it 3 days ago she has been lower energy than usual, probably stressed her out a bit but I think she will get used to it. Thank You!

 

[Danny188]

In addition to the above, any dead tissue needs to be removed. A wound like this will take time to heal. If you can get her eating and drinking her chances of survival will be greatly increased. Good luck.

Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

Stop the peroxide, since it can prevent healing and damage tissue with repeated use. You can make saline by boiling 1 tsp of salt in a quart of water for a few minutes, cooling and storing in a glass jar or pitcher. Vetericyn is in most feed stores. Weak Betadine povidone may also be used.

 

[Danny188]

Stop the peroxide, since it can prevent healing and damage tissue with repeated use. You can make saline by boiling 1 tsp of salt in a quart of water for a few minutes, cooling and storing in a glass jar or pitcher. Vetericyn is in most feed stores. Weak Betadine povidone may also be used.

Ok I dident know that I'll do that from now on.