I sutured my hen today after dog attack-need advice

[HandyMom]

Two days post attack, she laid another egg! Sutures are holding, wound is dry, not oozy, no red inflammation. She was fussing at being in a little dog crate, so I let her back out in the back yard. She is happily scratching around. So far so good.

 

[equine chick]

I agree no peroxide, we rarely use peroxide to clean wounds in the hospital other than specific procedures. If you have saline, even contact lens solution that is the best but if not just some bottled water. The water is pretty close to sterile. Clean the wound daily. Check the chest wound for some thing called krepisus. Chest owunds can get gangrene easily due to air leak in the chest. The krepisus when pressed will fell similar to rice krispies and you almost feel like they are popping. If this happens you need to get her to a vet. I commend you I am a nurse and I really don't know if I could have done that. You are a great chicken mom.

 

[mylulusmom]

Thank you, it wasn't easy. I'm a make believe nurse who got her degree at the School Of Hard Knocks, My daughter (Lulu) now 22 yrs had cancer @ 6 months of age. Her treatments lasted 5 years.Father did Kidney dialysis, Mom and daughter ...Diabetes. There isnt much basic stuff that flips my stomach anymore. Though the smell from her attack almost got me.
I used the Peroxide only because I had nothing else in the house! No betadine, No plain Neosporin, etc. No saline. (Back in the day I had boxes full of this stuff!.)
I can boil some water and let it cool, then flush with that. I'll add a "pinch" of sea salt to it. Should I put the tip of the syringe down into the wound on her back?, just under the skin? Or go down past the fat layer too? It is a puncture wound, and that darn dog had big teeth! No holes in her chest. She may have a busted wing too. Thats the only time she squawks...when I lift that wing to clean off the draining yuck thats seeping out and down her side under the wing.
The antibiotics will continue for the 10 days as Rx. ( We ALWAYS finish our antibiotics!

)I just hate giving it to her because Im afraid I'm sending it down into her lungs instead of her throat!

Any suggestions for that issue?

You guys are terrriffficcc. Thanks SO MUCH. Sue

 

[mylulusmom]

Quote:
Sounds like she's on her way!! Keeping my fingers crossed for you. No eggs from my girl yet, but she may need weeks after this attack...IF she makes it at all.
Sue

 

[Dora'smom]

I agree with the betadine (Iodine) irrigation. It's easy to add a squirt of betadine into a water bottle until it is the right color.
Thanks for the tip (whomever left it) that you can buy suture in advance. I'm a nurse and hadn't thought of that. I've had one bird injury to deal with so far, and luckily didn't need suture.

 

[mylulusmom]

Well, tomorrow I write a list for the drug store! Betadine goes on top of the list.

I just gave "Mamma" her Baytril antibiotic and while I had her in the sink (just incase it turned into a sticky mess...a cherry mess) I gave the area around the wound a gentle squeeze... OMG it was gross. Pus and Blood,(thats no issue for me) but the SMELL..UGH!
Enough to gag a maggot! I squeezed out what would come out without hurting her and then did a flush with salt water. Thats when my daughter said "NOW" I can smell it! I have the exhaust fan on in the kitchen to take the smell out. Sprayed the room with lysol and bleached the sink and counter...UGh.. I grabbed a canning jar and boiled some water and "canned " some sterile salt water to have some on hand. . Tomorrow the Betadine.
Mamma seems to like the Baytrils taste. Once I got a few drops into her mouth, she let me open her maouth and put it in slowly , tasting it as it went down...she is such a love. Then she tried to eat my ring when I was trying to clean her up. Thats a good sign!
I hope this is not all in vain. I have started something that I would not have had I realized how hurt she really was. But its Friday night now and it's 48 + hrs since she was chewed up and spit out. I bet she beat the poop out of the dog that grabbed her! She is a RIR about 8-9 lbs. The right wing IS most likely broken, but she never flew anyway.
Comments and suggestions are welcomed.

 

[radiodog]

you can also use super glue to 'suture' a skin tear....not in the muscle - too deep.

 

[mylulusmom]

Well friends, we are now 4 days post attack, third day of antibiotics.... and she is eating . She ate about 1/2 cup of lettuce, which is good cause she has not drank very much. She has nibbled on this and that, but still does not have a good appetite. She has become more active, and is preening herself. She's trying to peck off the dead skin that is hanging a bit. The big wound has developed a hard crust, like the"crunch"of a fresh ham. Rock hard. She's not going to peck anything off of that. I suppose its the scab, but having never seen a scab on a chicken before, so I feel a bit at a loss!
We cleaned out the cage today and put some fresh hay in for her to nest in. It was 50 degrees here today (! Yeah) so we put her outside and I flushed her wound out there. Smell is very minimal now, practically gone. I asked my daughetr to watch her when I carried the cage over to the compost pile and dumped it. I came back a minute later and she was gone! " Great Chicken babysitter you are!" I said to my daughter. We looked all around and we couldnt find her! Then I saw the kitchen door was still opened a crack. Sure enough, she had gone back into the house and was standing where the cage had been! Good Service at this Hotel!!!!
We have a very small home and I wanted to share how we kept the smell from the pooping down to a bare minimum. Each time she pooped, I took about a tablespoon of Sweet PDZ and put in on the little pile of poop in the hay. It works So Well. Dries it up, and kills the odor. Harmless to the birds. I use it in the coop too.
So it appears we are on the mend... Unless she takes a turn for the worse. If she does make it, I will swear that the Baytril is a wonder drug. If I knew how to put a photo onto the computer from my camera, I'd show how bad she looks. She is purple and pink, and black and now some green bruising under the wing.
What a week. I had to up my Blood Pressure Meds. Banging headache since Thursday. Oh... kids and animals...
Sue