Injured Chicken Neck

[Mellio15]

I’ve seen major injuries even into muscle that they can recover from, but I don’t like the green and I don’t like the fact that her abdominal wall has been completely compromised :/

Knowing that you are saving her from dying of an infection.... might help?

Otherwise, do you have a friend that would help, or, maybe reach out to a local small animal vet (even if not an avain vet if you don’t have access to one), and explain the situation and see if someone might help you in this case?

Also.
What is your coop/ run like?
I don’t mean to take you down a different bad rabbit hole.... but I find predators don’t tend to give up easy and often come back.
Is your coop secure?
Do you put them in at night?
If not, can you maybe add some 1/2” hardware cloth around the lower part of the run area so a predator (I’m guessing raccoon here) can’t reach through and injure anyone else?

If it comes to that, I think I’d be most comfortable reaching out to a local vet.

I have since covered the bottom of the coop with hardware cloth on top of the existing chicken wire. The main problem is that since the gals are still young, they’ve recently been updated to a larger coop and have been perching outside at night again. They did this when I first put them outside and it took me a couple nights of putting them into the coop before they got it. I go out every night and move them into the larger coop now since they still haven’t quite figured that out yet. This injury happened before I got them into the coop and noticed it while I was moving her back to the coop. All my other ladies are fine and I’m hoping the new wire along the bottom solves this for future problems. I’m thinking raccoon or possible stray cat. We have lots of wondering cats in my neighborhood.

 

[Mellio15]

Most recent image of the crop area I was able to get. I feel so horrible for her.

 

[Jenbirdee]

I'm so sorry for your sweet little hen. Yes clip away the feathers from the wound, have someone help you hold her. & I think if you're going to hope and try for healing, she needs an antibiotic.

 

[azygous]

Below is my wound care protocol for injured chickens. You've done some of the stuff, but not other important things. I'll leave it to you to scrutinize the list and then figure out the things still needing to do.

Infection and shock are the two most important things to treat for immediately and prevent happening as they will kill a lot quicker than the wounds will. It's not too late to go back and treat for them now.

Here's what you do in the event of a predator attack to treat the survivor.

1. Treat for shock as the number one step. Give warm Gatoraid or mix a half teaspoon of sugar into a fourth of a cup of warm water with a pinch of salt and baking soda. Have the patient drink it all or syringe it into the beak.

2. Flush the wound well with saline. This is better than soap and water as it maintains the PH of the tissues. But warm soap and water will do. You need to wash away the bacteria from the wound.

3. Inspect the wound carefully. If it has a skin flap dangling, keep that. Do not cut it off. Look for bite, tear or puncture marks indicating a puncture wound. If you see this, the patient will need an oral antibiotic such as amoxicillin. Bacteria from the predator’s mouth can be injected deep into tissue and can kill in as little as 24 to 48 hours. You can order this https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/250mg once a day for ten days. Or you may be able to find this or something similar at TSC or a pet store.

4. Spray with Vetericyn wound treament and let dry. Use a topical antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin or a generic without pain killer in it to coat the wound. If there's a skin flap, lay it across the wound that has just been coated with the ointment. Then smooth on a generous amount over the top of the skin flap to hold it in place.

5. It's useless to try to stitch a wound on a chicken. Don't even try. It's also useless to try to bandage a wound other than on the feet. The chicken will not tolerate it. It will be pulled off faster than you can blink an eye.

6. Clean the wound every day following the above steps. Keep the wound covered with the ointment. Never allow the wound to get dried out or it will not heal.

 

[HeritageFan]

Below is my wound care protocol for injured chickens. You've done some of the stuff, but not other important things. I'll leave it to you to scrutinize the list and then figure out the things still needing to do.

Infection and shock are the two most important things to treat for immediately and prevent happening as they will kill a lot quicker than the wounds will. It's not too late to go back and treat for them now.

Here's what you do in the event of a predator attack to treat the survivor.

1. Treat for shock as the number one step. Give warm Gatoraid or mix a half teaspoon of sugar into a fourth of a cup of warm water with a pinch of salt and baking soda. Have the patient drink it all or syringe it into the beak.

2. Flush the wound well with saline. This is better than soap and water as it maintains the PH of the tissues. But warm soap and water will do. You need to wash away the bacteria from the wound.

3. Inspect the wound carefully. If it has a skin flap dangling, keep that. Do not cut it off. Look for bite, tear or puncture marks indicating a puncture wound. If you see this, the patient will need an oral antibiotic such as amoxicillin. Bacteria from the predator’s mouth can be injected deep into tissue and can kill in as little as 24 to 48 hours. You can order this https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/250mg once a day for ten days. Or you may be able to find this or something similar at TSC or a pet store.

4. Spray with Vetericyn wound treament and let dry. Use a topical antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin or a generic without pain killer in it to coat the wound. If there's a skin flap, lay it across the wound that has just been coated with the ointment. Then smooth on a generous amount over the top of the skin flap to hold it in place.

5. It's useless to try to stitch a wound on a chicken. Don't even try. It's also useless to try to bandage a wound other than on the feet. The chicken will not tolerate it. It will be pulled off faster than you can blink an eye.

6. Clean the wound every day following the above steps. Keep the wound covered with the ointment. Never allow the wound to get dried out or it will not heal.

This First for sure.

Is there any odor from the wound?

If you have a small animal vet that you work with/ have a relationship with (can get an RX from), I’d think that Gentamicin would be the best bet if you decide to treat her.
https://www.chewy.com/gentamicin-ge...XTQ5oV5i4qKFhGHuTWMq6RfCB0gHDpVbhoCptAQAvD_Bw
E
...needs an rx
I would personally go w Zithromax/ azithromiacin (sp?) as a second. Clavamox as a distant third.

But. I know more about 4 legged critters than the 2 legged feathered friends when it comes to severe injuries :/

Please take @azygous ‘s advice before mine, esp if you don’t have/ can’t get to a vet!

 

[Mellio15]

This First for sure.

Is there any odor from the wound?

If you have a small animal vet that you work with/ have a relationship with (can get an RX from), I’d think that Gentamicin would be the best bet if you decide to treat her.
https://www.chewy.com/gentamicin-ge...XTQ5oV5i4qKFhGHuTWMq6RfCB0gHDpVbhoCptAQAvD_Bw
E
...needs an rx
I would personally go w Zithromax/ azithromiacin (sp?) as a second. Clavamox as a distant third.

But. I know more about 4 legged critters than the 2 legged feathered friends when it comes to severe injuries :/

Please take @azygous ‘s advice before mine, esp if you don’t have/ can’t get to a vet!

Thank you both, I’ve reached out to a local vet. Closed for the night but awaiting a return email and will call tomorrow morning to see my options.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She is drinking a lotttttt but I think she’s having issues swallowing sometimes. Will drink a lot and then after a couple mins, some will come back up.

Here is the best picture I have so far. I try not to poke and prod. Not 100% sure what I’m looking at

Wondering if she is having a crop or esophagus problem?? I will try and get a video of the “swallowing problem”. She will sit and drink for a while like normal and appears to swallow fine but then water will come back out of her mouth after a while.

Do you notice any fluids/water leaking from the wound when she drinks a lot?

It's very hard to see the wound and how it's affected the crop. You will at some point have to really examine the wounds more closely, trim the feathers away so you can see it better and give it a good cleaning.

If vet care is an option, of course that would be best.

 

[DarkKnight]

Below is my wound care protocol for injured chickens. You've done some of the stuff, but not other important things. I'll leave it to you to scrutinize the list and then figure out the things still needing to do.

Infection and shock are the two most important things to treat for immediately and prevent happening as they will kill a lot quicker than the wounds will. It's not too late to go back and treat for them now.

Here's what you do in the event of a predator attack to treat the survivor.

1. Treat for shock as the number one step. Give warm Gatoraid or mix a half teaspoon of sugar into a fourth of a cup of warm water with a pinch of salt and baking soda. Have the patient drink it all or syringe it into the beak.

2. Flush the wound well with saline. This is better than soap and water as it maintains the PH of the tissues. But warm soap and water will do. You need to wash away the bacteria from the wound.

3. Inspect the wound carefully. If it has a skin flap dangling, keep that. Do not cut it off. Look for bite, tear or puncture marks indicating a puncture wound. If you see this, the patient will need an oral antibiotic such as amoxicillin. Bacteria from the predator’s mouth can be injected deep into tissue and can kill in as little as 24 to 48 hours. You can order this https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/250mg once a day for ten days. Or you may be able to find this or something similar at TSC or a pet store.

4. Spray with Vetericyn wound treament and let dry. Use a topical antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin or a generic without pain killer in it to coat the wound. If there's a skin flap, lay it across the wound that has just been coated with the ointment. Then smooth on a generous amount over the top of the skin flap to hold it in place.

5. It's useless to try to stitch a wound on a chicken. Don't even try. It's also useless to try to bandage a wound other than on the feet. The chicken will not tolerate it. It will be pulled off faster than you can blink an eye.

6. Clean the wound every day following the above steps. Keep the wound covered with the ointment. Never allow the wound to get dried out or it will not heal.

Animals in general don’t like bandaging, but we have an answer for that. Is there really no ‘cone of shame’ for chickens?

 

[HeritageFan]

Animals in general don’t like bandaging, but we have an answer for that. Is there really no ‘cone of shame’ for chickens?

Gosh. Idk how you could keep it on!
Cats/dogs have a skull that is significantly more wide than their neck- and they also have relatively short necks compared to the birds
....if you have an idea.. let’s brainstorm!

 

[Debbie292d]

Gosh. Idk how you could keep it on!
Cats/dogs have a skull that is significantly more wide than their neck- and they also have relatively short necks compared to the birds
....if you have an idea.. let’s brainstorm!

Sorry to wake this thread up, but was searching for something else and saw this. I have macaw parrots and the vet sold me a cone for one of them. (Waste of money if you can find some hard plastic and make your own.)

It was exactly the same thing as for dogs/cats but was of course smaller, but longer so they couldn't bend down and get an edge of it to pull on. It stayed on him even though he wrestled with himself trying to get to it. A parrot in a cage is more limited than a chicken would be, but still, I think it would work.