I'm a bad chicken mama-wounded hen

[AKsmama]

I went into the coop today to do some raking and there was one of my cuckoo Marans on the roost. I thought that was unusual, since everyone else was out free ranging and had been since early this morning, but I thought maybe she was just resting. I accidentally knocked the roost she was sitting on with the rake handle, startling her. She ran to the other roost, but I noticed she was moving strangely. I took a closer look and saw a huge gash on her left side, underneath her wing. I mean, this thing is deep and is probably a mating injury- it's exactly where a roo would injure a hen in that way. The thing is, she has obviously had this injury for at least a couple of days, because it is just caked with dirt. Maybe even longer than that. I see no blood at all, no pus, there's no bad smell indicating it's infected. My husband held her while I got out my small bottle of saline wound wash and tried to squirt out the dirt, but that little bottle didn't last long. I didn't have enough kosher salt to make any more, so we did what we could, squirted it with betadine, patted her as dry as we could with gauze pads, and brought her into the house in our hospital cage. She has drunk some water but won't eat (can't say that I blame her). I went tonight and bought more saline wash and kosher salt so I can make my own and more neosporin w/o pain relief so we have plenty on hand. Tomorrow we'll attempt to clean the wound better and I'll go to TSC and get either terramycin or aureomycin- I can't imagine that it's not infected. I'll cook her some egg in the a.m. and see if she is interested. Is there anything else I should do?

We want to give her a chance, but I don't want to prolong any misery for her. I feel so utterly horrible for not noticing her injury sooner. We do have a vet nearby who will see chickens, but of course it's the weekend, and I want to see what we can do for her here first.

 

[klmclain1]

You're a GOOD chicken mama!!! Sounds like you've done a lot of right things. Electrolytes in her water maybe some vitamins??, and protein ... mine like cat food.

 

[Missouri Chicken Chick]

It sounds to me like you've done a great job of taking care of her. If you know of a certain treat she enjoys, I would make sure and give her some of that and see if her appetite will improve. I had a light sussex hen with a similar injury and I didn't do nearly as much as you have done. I did bring her in the house and she, too, was not eating at first. I put vitamins in her water and after a day of not eating decided to try a "treat." She gobbled it right up and then went to eating as normal. I kept her inside for almost a week so I could continue to keep the wound clean and covered with neosporin. After that amount of time, however, she was ready to get back outside because my chickens free range and are not used to being in a cage like that. Unfortunately for the rooster, he remained penned up in the big coop (which has a LARGE run in it) during the day so she could have some more time to heal. That lasted about a week and then I let him loose again. Looking at her now, you would never know there had been anything wrong with her. She will probably be "droopy" for a day or two more, but hopefully she will come around. Again, though, sounds like you're doing a great job at taking care of it.

 

[AKsmama]

Thanks guys. She ate some scrambled egg this morning and is drinking water and seems to be resting comfortably. My DH is turkey hunting this morning, so when he gets home I'll attempt to clean it again. I need his help in holding her. Poor thing, you can tell it's painful, especially after we messed with it yesterday.

 

[klmclain1]

Oh good!

Hang in there...

 

[sparkly_diamond]

Sounds to me like your a fab mama chook! You did all the right things, and it is so easy to miss things with chicken, sometimes it;s not untill they are really ill/hurt that we notice.

Hang in there, I'm sure you given her the best chance possible. Good luck