Injured Chicken. Please help

[Sadiethehen]

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum, but I have a 2 month old chicken who was just attacked by a hawk. She has most the skin on the back of her neck torn off. I cleaned it out thoroughly, but I am scared. The damn hawk already killed two of my other babies. What can I do to help her? I added a picture. I apologize for the graphic nature

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Can you post a picture? Sorry about your pullet and losing the two others. I would keep them secure in a coop and run that is covered and hawk-proof.

Bring the injured one inside to a dog crate with food and water. Vetericyn or a similar wound spray, diluted hibiclens/chlorhexiden, or saline are good to clean the wound twice a day. I would then keep it covered in a layer of plain antibiotic ointment, so that it does not dry out.

Offer fluids when she is out of shock, and try to get her to eat and drink. Time will tell if she has any internal injuries, but many chicken with similar scalping injuries will survive.

 

[Sadiethehen]

Thank you for all your help. I did as you told me to and she survived the night. She seems good this morning. I will continue to clean the wound and keep the medicine on her.

Welcome to BYC. Can you post a picture? Sorry about your pullet and losing the two others. I would keep them secure in a coop and run that is covered and hawk-proof.

Bring the injured one inside to a dog crate with food and water. Vetericyn or a similar wound spray, diluted hibiclens/chlorhexiden, or saline are good to clean the wound twice a day. I would then keep it covered in a layer of plain antibiotic ointment, so that it does not dry out.

Offer fluids when she is out of shock, and try to get her to eat and drink. Time will tell if she has any internal injuries, but many chicken with similar scalping injuries will survive.

 

[WOLF FLOW]

YOU CAN PUT SOME NORMAL CVS WOUND SPRAY ON IT OR SONE NEASPORIN ON IT AND YES DO WHAT @Eggcessive SAID TO DO! HOPE IT GOES WELL I'M PRAYING FOR THE HEN AND FOR YOU!!!

 

[Eggcessive]

Is she eating and drinking today. Does she have any trouble standing and walking? Here are some threads with pictures of similar wounds:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-turkey-scalped-my-11-week-old-chick.1281648/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/scalped-chicken-still-alive.1091319/

 

[Sadiethehen]

Is she eating and drinking today. Does she have any trouble standing and walking? Here are some threads with pictures of similar wounds:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-turkey-scalped-my-11-week-old-chick.1281648/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/scalped-chicken-still-alive.1091319/

She is standing and walking. She isn't eating very well, but she is drinking. The wound looks horrible. There is part of her neck missing. She does really well while I clean it. I just hope she can pull through this.

 

[Eggcessive]

Those wounds always look horrible in the pictures. Hopefully, she doesn’t have any damage internally. Water is most important. You can try to bribe her to eat with scrambled egg, wet chicken feed, tuna, a small bit of chopped meat, or canned cat food. When she begins eating well, go back to mostly chicken feed.

 

[Sadiethehen]

She is standing and walking. She isn't eating very well, but she is drinking. The wound looks horrible. There is part of her neck missing. She does really well while I clean it. I just hope she can pull through this.

Also, I did not give her any vitamins or such in her water. Should I get her antibiotics? The link above that you gave me (thank you so much) said they were giving antibiotics, vitamins and powder aspirin. I didn't do any of that. What do you think?

 

[Eggcessive]

Everyone treats things a bit differently. Most people cannot get antibiotics easily without a vet, so they usually just clean the wounds and use antibiotic ointment. If you can get some FishMox (amoxicillin) locally at your TSC or feed store, that would be a good antibiotic for wounds. It won’t hurt. If she seems in pain, you could give her 1/2 a low dose 81 mg aspirin once or twice a day, but stop after a couple of days, so that it doesn’t cause any bleeding problems in the intestines. A 1/4 to 1/2 B complex tablet might help her and her appetite for a few days.

 

[Sadiethehen]

Everyone treats things a bit differently. Most people cannot get antibiotics easily without a vet, so they usually just clean the wounds and use antibiotic ointment. If you can get some FishMox (amoxicillin) locally at your TSC or feed store, that would be a good antibiotic for wounds. It won’t hurt. If she seems in pain, you could give her 1/2 a low dose 81 mg aspirin once or twice a day, but stop after a couple of days, so that it doesn’t cause any bleeding problems in the intestines. A 1/4 to 1/2 B complex tablet might help her and her appetite for a few days.

Thank you. I will go down to TSC and get that list. I'm also going to try tuna, and cat food to see if she will eat that. I can't tell you how grateful I am to you for your help.