I rescued a hen beginning of August with a horrific, moldy, gangrenous wound...*Graphic photos! and

[ChickensRDinos]

Wow! Brava!

 

[Shelz]

You get a "STANDING- O" FROM ME..............chickies recovery, was amazing....and you are a very special person to have helped her make that happen. I wished more people could be like that for animals.

 

[redvelvetspumon]

amazing

 

[Nambroth]

Well done, and thank you for taking the time to help her!

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Despite the amazing effort, and the much better chance for recovery, I've still gotta type a few things that y'all might not wanna read ...

First, and of far greater concern than this one chicken's chances? The infection(s) w/in this wound could now be w/in you, or your friend who assisted, or the child pictured playin' w/ it, despite any/all efforts to prevent it's spread. You should go pick up a gallon of OdaBan, and mix it at the rate of 1:32, and wet everything down for at least one minute -- all kitchen surfaces, most especially, and any other room it's been in. Any containers, or equipment, that's been used in keepin' it. Boiling and bleaching any towels, or discarding them, would have been best.

Second, and of concern for the chicken's future chances? The muscle and skin has been healing w/o being encouraged to fully close, which is gonna make full closure most nearly impossible due to the formation of scar tissue. You could (no doubt, after seein' what you've accomplished) trim back and loosen the skin enough to stitch it (but only to itself) or to fully close using butterfly bandages, or by using strips superglued to the skin just beyond the edges.

Third, and then I'll finally shut up ... it is remarkable, both that the chicken has recovered to this point, and that you put in such great efforts to get it this far. But, your tenderly givin' into what you see in the eyes of a chicken placed the chickens w/in your flock (and the humans w/in your home) at risk. If you're in this position again, which I hope you're not, make certain you isolate them most completely, as if you were dealing w/ a deadly virus or resistant strains of bacteria ... because, even this time? You coulda been.

 

[sourland]

You did everything properly for such a wound. Stitching and closing such a wound would have most likely resulted in abscessation. Again congratulations on a job well done. Granulation and scar tissue are all part of the normal healing process.

 

[cowcreekgeek]

You did everything properly for such a wound. Stitching and closing such a wound would have most likely resulted in abscessation. Again congratulations on a job well done. Granulation and scar tissue are all part of the normal healing process.

To clarify -- the suggestion to close more completely by additional surgery is for a point where the infection is gone, and the wound is showing signs of healing, such as w/ this similar wound that was successfully treated in this way. Indeed, closure immediately, and during the infection, woulda been a HUGE mistake ...

If skin and muscle become connected, as it was w/in the wound in the example provided, it presents many potential problems. However, the skin surrounding such severe wounds released from such connections, and further loosened from the superficial fascia layer, trimmed back slightly to remove scar tissue, and *then* reclosed ... even by folks w/ little or no experience (as was the case w/ the girl performing the procudures in the example provided).

The far better results obtained can more dramatically be seen w/in this series of pictures comparing each subsequent (and equally remarkable) effort she'd made to correctly close the wound ...

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As clearly seen w/in the first image, the skin was previously 'rolled into' the wound, and becoming 'directly connected' to that area of the chicken. In multiple procedures, she removed any necrotic or infected tissue, constantly maintained adequate drainage, and repeatedly release the skin from the wound, finally trimming the edges to properly close the wound to the skin, completely covering (but not connected to) the tissues beneath.

 

[Melabella]

Kuddos to both of you,

That wound sequence of photos is wonderful!

MB

 

[cowcreekgeek]

Kuddos to both of you,

That wound sequence of photos is wonderful!

MB

All credit for the surgical procedure go to hurricanearran, of Denny Island, BC ... where supplies/equipment were very difficult to come by, so she had to be (and was) very creative. When she started? She was terrified, and didn't think she could handle 'the gross stuff' but ... by the time she finished? I'd trust her fix my own wounds, if they were where I couldn't reach 'em myself ~'-)

Same goes for kwinnypoo, after havin' dealt w/ all she has ... havin' the bird get better ain't nearly so remarkable as seein' folks make such tremendous efforts ... so, yeah: Kuddos to 'em both!

 

[kwinnypoo]

This bird was isolated inside my home for 2 months and the wound fully closed before she went outside into the yard. The birds was treated with antibiotics, and topical SSD cream (you can certainly google it's healing and antimicrobial properties). All of this was done after consulting a veterinarian. The bird was always handled with gloves while the wound was in active infection. And being that this bird was rescued in JULY. and it is now December, there is very little chance of infection. This bird has also been in the yard for 2 months, giving her ample time to spread her infection, and there has been no ill effects. I monitored and cleaned that wound daily while it was healing. I WATCHED it close up with granulation tissue from the inside out... I rest assured every night that her wound is fully closed, and infection free.

I appreciate your concerns though.