Injured Hen! Air sounds coming from wound.

[Crystalrkelly]

Hi there! I have an injured 4 month old hen. We recently bought 6 hens and a roo to add to our flock of current hens that are 1.5 years old.

One of the 4 month old hens somehow escaped my run, and was injured when our Dachshund found it and pulled all of its tail feather out and made a pretty significant wound around its cloaca. I cleaned the wound with sterile wound cleaner, and put a wound salve on it. The hen is lying around a good bit but she is eating and drinking. I have her in an extra large dog crate in my house to keep her safe from the other chickens etc. My biggest worry is that I keep hearing air noises coming out her wound area. So, when she makes any normal chicken noises or moves, it just sounds like air coming out of her. What could that be?

I have no idea how to upload pictures or I would have done so. I tried to upload to tinypic, but it told me the pictures were too large.

Thank you.

 

[Fishsticks06]

Hi there! I have an injured 4 month old hen. We recently bought 6 hens and a roo to add to our flock of current hens that are 1.5 years old.

One of the 4 month old hens somehow escaped my run, and was injured when our Dachshund found it and pulled all of its tail feather out and made a pretty significant wound around its cloaca. I cleaned the wound with sterile wound cleaner, and put a wound salve on it. The hen is lying around a good bit but she is eating and drinking. I have her in an extra large dog crate in my house to keep her safe from the other chickens etc. My biggest worry is that I keep hearing air noises coming out her wound area. So, when she makes any normal chicken noises or moves, it just sounds like air coming out of her. What could that be?

I have no idea how to upload pictures or I would have done so. I tried to upload to tinypic, but it told me the pictures were too large.

Thank you.

Oh no, poor girl. I hope she’s okay. I can’t help you with your medical problems, I’ve never had any severe injuries with my chickens (thankfully) and I hope you don’t encounter any more problems like this. Welcome to BYC though, I’m glad you joined. Since this is a new post, you’ll probably get a lot of attention and answers. But a lot of forums can go unread. Other than that, hope she does well and welcome!

 

[phrog6901]

One of my chickens got attracted by stray dogs and they way that they nite her; sideways across the rear, I needed to take her to the vet for stitches. Unfortunatly, where she was bit and having to be stitched up, she will never have tail feathers again. Today, Lady Assley, Baronass of Winchester is healthy & happy but we did have to wean her off of Jepordy, Wheel of Fortune and the Animal channel.. .

 

[coach723]

Can you post pictures of your hen and the wound/s? She may have a ruptured or punctured air sac. It may heal on it's own, it just depends on how significant the damage is. Is a vet an option for you? Sometimes with air sacs infection can be a problem. Does she seem to be breathing OK, not labored? Here is a diagram showing where the air sacs are located, and a link to another thread with a suggestion for sealing it so it might heal which might help. Since you are hearing air, I wouldn't flush the wound significantly as it could put fluid in the air sac.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...cture-wound-please-help.912377/#post-13880201

This is also very informative on how their respiratory system works:

 

[Crystalrkelly]

I have a small animal vet and a large animal vet. I’m not sure if my small one will see chickens or not as they mostly see cats and dogs. I am going to call Monday when they are open and see if they will. As far as loading a picture, can you give me the steps to do that? Also, she does not seem to be having any problems breathing at all.

 

[coach723]

In the box you type in, at the bottom is a box that say's 'upload a file'. If you click on that then you can add your saved picture/s. It's good that she is not having breathing issues. If it's a small puncture or tear then it may heal. If you are still hearing air on Monday, or if she has trouble breathing, then I would call and ask if they can be of any help. For other wounds I would clean them up as well as you can, wipe rather than flush where you are hearing air so you don't risk getting fluid in an air sac. Trim feathers back from wounded areas to help keep them clean. You can use plain neosporin or triple antibiotic ointment (no pain killer) on the wounds.

 

[Crystalrkelly]

 

[Crystalrkelly]

 

[Crystalrkelly]

 

[Crystalrkelly]

So her cloaca is undamaged below this area. It has a lot of air coming out when she eats, makes noises or moves, so I believe the air sac is damaged. I will call the vet first thing Monday.