Horribly Injured Hen - help (pic inside)

[Kedreeva]

I've got a turkey, just one turkey, that hatched out last fall. Sometime between last night when I cooped her and this afternoon when I got home from work, she decided to self mutilate the ever living crap out of her shoulder (the entire space between her wings is a mass of mangled flesh). Her face was covered in so much blood I thought it was injured too but once i got her cleaned up, it's just her shoulder and she is still trying to rip it up.

I've plastered it in neosporin and smoothed some bag balm around the edges to soften the skin some because it's clearly bothering her where it was scabbing up, but i can't make a bandage stick. If it doesn't slide off she freaks out until she has peeled it off.

Right now she is sleeping on the couch next to me, but i'm at a loss for bandaging options or guards I could put on her (like a dog cone?? is this a thing?) or what medications are safe for turkeys. Any advice would be really really helpful. Thank you!

Ked

 

[Pippey]

oh my goodness! would stitches be an option? that looks awful!

 

[Kedreeva]

oh my goodness! would stitches be an option? that looks awful!

It's pretty bad, but it's not a cut, so I don't think it can be stitched. That's literally all skin she's peeled off (and keeps trying to peel off!) already.

I've wrapped her in a towel so she can't get to it for the moment but that doesn't solve what I'm going to do with her once I have to sleep and go to work It would be nice if there were some topical numbing agent safe for her that I could use so she'd ignore it for a while.

 

[Pippey]

Ah, I see. The dog cone seems like it would be a real good idea. Are you near a vet? If you just go in and explain, they may give you some sample packs of this cream you can use. Cant recall the name, but we used to put it on dogs hot spots to keep them from licking wounds.

 

[Kedreeva]

Problem is that I don't know if that would be safe for birds. She had a tremendously bad reaction to Tylan (which I know is safe for my peafowl and chickens.... I don't know if it was just her that had an allergic reaction or if all turkeys are like that... she is sort of my first long-term turkey.) and I'd prefer not to make this worse by giving her something that may or may not be safe for her.

 

[Pippey]

Well im stumped. I wonder what made her do that?! So strange.

 

[Kedreeva]

I re-applied neosporin to the wound and then I made her this jacket out of a dish towel, vetrap, and duct tape. She hates it but she hasn't been able to get out of it (yet) and she can't get at the injury either. I think I will set up a room with a heat lamp for her in the basement (I have several pantry rooms down there) for the time I'm at work. But if anyone has better ideas, please share!

 

[Kernel Cluck]

Why would she mutilate herself? Are you sure something didn't get at her and now she is pecking at is because it hurts or itches? Kinda like needing to scratch a rash? Thats the craziest thing I have heard in a long time. Great job with the body wrap. Is the wound down to the bone?

 

[R2elk]

Problem is that I don't know if that would be safe for birds. She had a tremendously bad reaction to Tylan (which I know is safe for my peafowl and chickens.... I don't know if it was just her that had an allergic reaction or if all turkeys are like that... she is sort of my first long-term turkey.) and I'd prefer not to make this worse by giving her something that may or may not be safe for her.

For non major wounds on my animals that can't be readily bandaged, I use NEW SKIN antiseptic liquid bandage. I also use it on myself for open blisters or places that are hard to bandage. I have used it on chicks and dogs with great success. It does create a burning sensation when painted on an open wound. I normally have to re-apply it every third day. I also typically give the wound several coats and for me, the wounds seem to heal better and faster than with a bandage. It also tend to prevent the formation of a scab.

http://www.amazon.com/LIQUID-BANDAGE-BOTTLE-Health-Beauty/dp/B0006GDBT0

 

[Kedreeva]

Yes, I'm sure it wasn't someone else, the pen has always gotten along perfectly and no one else had any blood on them anywhere. She wasn't hiding from them when I got home and actually wasn't even acting hurt. If she hadn't had a face covered in blood I wouldn't have even seen the wounds right away! The whole thing is really bizarre. If I had to make a guess, I would say that she picked off the last of the scab from her bad Tylan reaction, and then just kept picking until there was a fresh wound.

The wounds did not appear to be down to the bone (yet) but I have no doubt she'd have kept going to the bone if I'd let her. I'll look into the liquid bandage; my concerns with that would be her picking THAT off and eating it, or that it would be damaging since the wound covers a LOT of surface area.

If I can't get it under control in a day or two, I have a vet friend who will come out and look, but I'd prefer if I could get it fixed without having to call on her.