Hens skin ripped open - Is it fatal?

[tackyrama]

One of my hens got caught in some wire or something. There is a 3 inch section of skin completely gone under a wing! What can I do? Is this fatal? She was limping at first but not after the second day. So far she is not showing any bad symptoms but how long can this keep up?

 

[speckledhen]

Do you have a rooster? That is a common place to be torn open from mating. She'll probably be fine. Clean the wound then put on antibiotic ointment to prevent infection.

 

[tackyrama]

We have several roosters. That may be what happened although there was some chicken wire laying around where it happened. I was working on a pen and hadn't cleaned up yet. I'll have to take your word on it. I just don't see how it could heal. There is nothing to heal. The muscles are in plain view. Does muscle grow skin?

 

[judysiler]

I have a similiar type of problem. My dog bite my chicken. She torn the skin off but the wound is clean. Is there a particular type of anitbotic to use?

 

[sheps4her]

It will heal by "second intention" meaning it will heal from the inside out. Just keep it clean and apply the ointment and in a few weeks it should be fine. Good luck!

edited to add: any over the counter antibiotic like neosporin should work.

 

[Bokeeliachick]

This may sound crazy but it worked for me.
The dog got one of our chickens. I was amazed she survived. Looked like her head would fall off. Big open wound on her neck.
We used Preparation H and it healed like magic. Fast too! She still has a scar but she is all healed and laying again.
(A neighbor suggested the PH)
Hope this helps you.

 

[speckledhen]

Just do not put any "caine" painkillers on it! That can be fatal to birds.

 

[I'vegotchickenfever]

Same thing happened to us - about 3 wks ago and we KNOW it was the rooster. The gaping hole was sooo big you could fit an egg in there. We used bag balm (only thing we could find) and wrapped her up. She removed the wrapping and wimpered in her lonely little cage. We fell for it, and returned her to the flock. 10 days later, we find a new matching hole on the other side!!!! Rooster lost his spurs that day. We bought a baby bib at the $ store and put it on her backwards. She HATES it!!! She's removed it once and moves it outta position, but we continue to restore it to the proper position. It goes under her wings and covers her back and wounds. We've used blue kote and it seems to be helping. She was picking at her wounds keeping them from healing.

Knowing the rooster would be sore after spur removal (not trimmed , completely removed the outter shell) we kept him from the hens. In less than 10 minutes he found a way in and was mounting hens. Kept him away from the wounded one, but the other night it was cold and we put them all in together - yep - he mounted her bib (aka chicken saddle) and all!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

My Pooh was caught by the dogs and had a 3"x3" flap of skin ripped under her wing. I rinsed the area with water and then dabbed neosporin on. The next day we went off to the vet and young Pooh was plucked and stitched back together. It took a while for it to heal and all the feathers to grow back, but today you would never know she had been attacked. She is one of my best layers and she lays the prettiest minty green egg. SHe's also a sweetie pie.
I will confess that the vet was outrageously expensive, but Pooh was hanging on to life with both hands (er... wings?) and I felt like I should help out. Did get some strange looks at the vet though.

Good luck!

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Make note of that! Nothing with a painkiller in it!