Injured chicken what else can we do to save her and help her to heal has an opening in her chest.

[Karen Phelps]

I am new to this site so I don't know how to use it..Two nights ago something got into the chicken pen and killed one of the chickens. The other one has an opening in her breast area....don't know chicken anatomy...could be esophagus. We are using steri strips or butterflies to try to close it. It has food in it so don't know how to help it to heal. Using telfa pad and wrapping with vet tape.. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Karen

 

[Chemguy]

If it has food in it, the crop has been torn open. It won't heal unless it is stitched back together. There is a thread on here about crop surgery, with photos. That might be very useful to you, if you are determined to save the chicken.

 

[SteveBaz]

Sorry to welcome you at this time, but welcome to the BYC at this time

BluKote Ointment and Spray - Effective treatment of surface wounds, abrasions, and its an antiseptic, fast-drying too if I remember right. It works like a spray on Band-Aid and seals. That would be a good choice. I would put sugar in the water with some apple cider vinegar organic and or some Vita-Sol vitamin drops which will help with the stress and shock. Fresh water in a dropper/syringe & not squirt by droplets & dripped on top of the beak. Their reflex will cause them to catch the droplets with their tongue. Some will even drink the droplets from the tip of the syringe, (no needle). Best of luck. Joining us under fire your first few posts oh boy. Good luck anyway.

 

[Karen Phelps]

Thank you for the tips. Will try some of you ideas. We checked with the vet and it would cost $100 to $150 for her to put the chicken under anesthesia and stitch the opening. We just don't have that kind of money. I don't know whether we could try to stitch her ourselves. I have been unable to find suture material with a needle. Do you think that there is any chance that she would heal with what we have been doing. I hate to give up on her but we just can't afford the vet.

We have cleaned the area with betadine, for a couple of days used steri strips and yesterday used butterflies. We covered the wound with telfa and wrapped with vet tape. We put antibiotics in her water....the kind we used for the baby chicks. My daughter next door is taking care of the chickens. We just had a vet bill of over $600 for a very sick horse so that took any extra cash we had. He is doing well and eating again. Much as we love them, pets can be very expensive.

Thank you for your suggestions.

Karen

 

[CMV]

Chemguy is right. You need to stitch the wound or put the bird down. She is not going to heal the way she is now. You can get some stitching supplies from your vet if you have a decent relationship with him/her. (You can use regular thread, but I really don't recommend this as it tends to cause problems, but if that's all you have, then use it. The bird is not going to survive otherwise.) Then suture her up. It's just like sewing. No big deal. Keep her eyes covered while you work, wrap her body snugly in a towel and she will shut right down and sit as still as can be. You also need to get some PenG and syringes (about $8-$12) from your local ag store, and start some antibiotic injections. You need to do this quickly. The longer you wait the greater the likelihood of infection.

 

[SteveBaz]

Chemguy is right. You need to stitch the wound or put the bird down. She is not going to heal the way she is now. You can get some stitching supplies from your vet if you have a decent relationship with him/her. (You can use regular thread, but I really don't recommend this as it tends to cause problems, but if that's all you have, then use it. The bird is not going to survive otherwise.) Then suture her up. It's just like sewing. No big deal. Keep her eyes covered while you work, wrap her body snugly in a towel and she will shut right down and sit as still as can be. You also need to get some PenG and syringes (about $8-$12) from your local ag store, and start some antibiotic injections. You need to do this quickly. The longer you wait the greater the likelihood of infection.

Like was mentioned by the poster above NO BIG DEAL. Here is how you will do it if you have the stomach for it and can take the noise and screaming. Get a note pad to write to each other if needed, ear plugs (not kidding) a syringe (for cleaning the area and cut up a plain old sponge in 1/4's 4 pieces for dabbing, a small bowl for rinsing. thread 4 needles so they are ready for each stitch. Your going to need a medium size old towel or big rag. Remember how you bundle the kids up tight with the blanket. Well bundle the chicken tight as you can without killing it and cut a whole. From the outside in on both sides. Stitch 1 on one end and then the other. Then again 1 more on the inside closest the middle and it starts pulling it closed until its closed. She will be screaming but your not killing her the noise is because she is tight in the towel. Then do nothing for 2 days to see its healing and make sure she is in a very small cat carry or something that confines her so she can not really move around. Good luck you can do it and she will live. After 2 days and you see no infection or puss spray Blu-Cote on it. Best of luck it will save her. The other choice is to CULL Her.

 

[mothrhen]

Good luck with your hen. Please keep us posted with how it goes.

 

[PoultryPedia]

MUCH EASIER SOLUTION:

Super-Glue the opening shut.
Yes--really!

You might want to trim or pull a few feathers around the opening. Then clean the area a bit with a damp Q-tip. Let it dry a little (Doesn't have to be perfectly dry, though).
Then just follow the instructions on the tube for glueing two surfaces together using that specific super glue (such as whether to dry applied glue a few seconds before pressing two surfaces together, how long to hold the two surfaces together afterward, etc).

After a couple minutes, you can put some triple antibiotic ointment similar to Neosporin (Choose one that does NOT include "pain relief") on the glued spot.

Doctors often use a sterile similar glue on people nowadays. But a lot of people (including me) have used plain old Super Glue on themselves & their animals very successfully!

Most recently--a few months ago I used it on a small gash that I found impossible to stitch on my horse's neck. It healed beautifully.

 

[mstricer]

Sorry about your hen. Chance are she will die from the shock of the attack, not mentioning the stress from trying to sew her up. I hope all goes well for you. I will keep you in my thoughts.
Welcome to BYC.

 

[Karen Phelps]

Thanks for the advice!! Never thought about super glue. Before we read these posts,we took a chance and put some stitches in. We cleaned her with betadine, made sure the area was dry then put in about 4 stitches. I couldn't find suture material so we used clear thread and a curved needle. I held her wings next to her while my daughter put in the stitches. We didn't know about using more than one needle and alternating the stitches from one side to the other. We cleaned the area again with betadine, applied a couple of telfa pads and rewrapped her with vet wrap. She was quiet and didn't move a lot. We have been putting antibiotics in her water. She is in a small dog cage to keep her quiet.

Thanks for all the concern and suggestions. We will keep you posted on her progress. Guess we will have to wait a few days to see whether she heals. The feathers were pulled off so we were dealing with bare skin. This summer the chickens attacked one of the young ducks and pulled the feathers and skin off the back of it's neck. We used an ointment from the vet and redressed it every day...much like we are doing for the chicken. The wound healed and the feathers grew back. You couldn't tell which duck was injured..Unfortunately some racoons killed both ducks.

This has been a very sad year for the animals...hope it improves soon!!!

Karen