Hurt chicken

[Terrik]

My son's chicken got out of the coop while the dogs were outside and the dogs got the chicken. She has a wound under her wing that isn't bleeding but her skin is pulled away from the muscle and meat. She is in the house now and resting nicely. She hasn't eaten or drank anything that I know of however she is alert and pooping. I put antibiotic ointment on it and was thinking about trying to steri-strip it together (hubby won't let me take her to the vet to get stitches). Is there anything else I should do? Please help this is my son's chicken and not only did his chicken get hurt yesterday he came down with the chicken pox and yes he is that little percentage that still get the chicken pox even thou he got the vaccination.

 

[Wild Prime]

We've had dog attacks in the past and if there were open wounds my mom would take cotton thread and a needle and just stitch the wound shut herself. We'd put the antibiotic ointment on it afterwards and made sure she didnt pick at it

 

[Darklingstorm]

Sounds like you are doing what needs to be done. I too had a dog get hold of my chicken and tore the skin off her neck. I just kept her in the house, cleaned it thoroughly and put antibiotic ointment on it. After a few days she was good enough to go back to the others. I'm sure you already know this but if you use strips to close the wound make absolutely sure that it is very clean under the skin and wrap a bandage over that (she might try to peck off the strips otherwise).

Sorry about the chicken pox, I too had them when I was a kid and it sucked. Took lots of cool baking soda baths to help the itching.

 

[Qi Chicken]

I would not use steri strips at all. Unless the wound is very very deep I really don't think it is necessary. You can use a dilute hydrogen peroxide solution to rinse it the first time and then use a dilute iodine solution (about the color of iced tea) to rinse it after that. The hydrogen peroxide after the first time is too harsh, it will slow healing. Use a good antibiotic ointment after cleaning it (nothing with -caine in it (pain killer) and reapply that daily. We had a very very bad dog attack and we squirted our roosters bum with iodine and then put cream on it for almost a month. His skin began to get a little infected so we had to get a stronger cream (silvadene) and also some oral anti-biotics. But in his case part of his bottom was no longer connected to the rest of him so this is a much different situation! A chicken heals very quickly but their skin is thin and I think the steri stips would be more irritating than not. If you post pictures that might help! Some people have had wounds down to the bone and just did cream. They do heal fast! Good luck. Your son is having a bad chicken day! It's probably good he got the pox now though. If you get it late in life it is much more serious.

 

[Terrik]

So I didn't use steri strips I just left it alone and have been using antibiotic ointment. Today she has eaten and started drinking, which makes my son very happy. How long should I leave her inside?

 

[Judy]

If she's outside with an open wound there's a real danger of flies laying eggs and getting maggots into the wound. Maggots can eat into the animal and kill them. There is a product sold for horses (called something like Scat) that you can use on her open wound to prevent flies from getting at it. Also, if the others sense there is something wrong, they may attack her -- which they will also likely do if they see blood. Some people use BluKote to color the wound blue (more like purple) to prevent others from seeing the blood.