Injured Hen

[LittleHens]

Hey!
So i have a young hen that's a couples months old. She is injured on the head. A hawk tried to grab her but she managed to get a way. So the first layer of skin is ripped off but it's still hanging. I keeping on trying to keep that skin on top so it can heal and grow back but it falls back. Any Advice would be helpful.

 

[azygous]

I had a chick get scalped by a rooster, and it was just like your hen. The entire layer of skin from the back of her little head was gone. It's hard to believe, but in six weeks, the skin gradually grew in from the edges and closed the wound completely. And no infection.

The secret is to keep the wound meticulously clean, using soap and water or peroxide. Then what I did was to use a product for burn victims called Silvadene. It inhibited infection, and most important, it kept the wound MOIST.

You can use any kind of antibiotic ointment as long as you keep the wound clean and moist. If you let the wound begin to dry out, it will invite infection and it will also stop healing.

It's a big challenge to keep a nasty wound on a chicken clean, but if I could do it with a baby chick, you can do it with a hen. You may need to isolate the hen if the others insist on pecking the wound, though. I didn't have the problem with the other chicks pecking the wound because the Silvadene was white and disguised the wound. It was also nasty tasting, so the chicks left it alone after the first couple of tastes.

 

[LittleHens]

Okay thanks so much! Ill keep it clean and I did seperate it from the others! Thanks again!

 

[azygous]

I hope I stressed the fact you need to make a ritual of cleaning the wound in the morning and evening and keeping a moist anti-bacterial cream on it to prevent it drying out.

It will amaze you how fast the tissue will grow in around the edges, closing the wound until there's just a pin-hole left. Don't be tempted to let it go at that stage. Keep up the twice daily cleansing and ointment until it completely closes.

Feathers will grow in around the scar and will cover it, making it hard to tell she was ever injured, although they may not lie flat on her head. She may look like my girl, like Woodstock the Peanuts character.

 

[LittleHens]

Alright! One more thing though if you could help me out.... There's a price of skin/meat that hanging down should I but that price off or what should I do with it? It's bothering her. You could kinda see it in the pic above.

 

[azygous]

I'd be inclined to cut the loose piece off. Trying to cover the wound with a flap of skin only encourages bacteria to try to grow under it. The wound will heal more uniformly, as I described, if allowed to heal from the edges inward.

In my chick's case, the rooster ate her flap so it relieved me of the decision to remove it or leave it.

I had also attempted to suture her wound, trying to draw the two sides of the wound together. The stitches wouldn't hold because the skin was so thin. I wrote a long story about the ordeal and I think I'll try to post it to my personal page if you want to check back there later. There are also photos of the chick and her gaping wound already posted in the album there in the default album, I think.

 

[LittleHens]

I took care of that! Thanks for everything! Ill be taking care of it now so the wound will heal quickly! Ill defiantly take a look at the pictures!

 

[azygous]

You're in for the long haul! You may be tempted to give up after caring for her wound for a couple weeks. It's definitely a bothersome chore. But you'll be thankful, when she's healed and so will she, that you kept at it.

I couldn't figure out how to post the article I wrote about the scalped chick, so I posted it in sections down in the comment section under the default album.

I pointed out that the critical period is the first 72 hours. If infection is going to be a problem, it will show up during this period.

 

[rc4u]

myself i would go to a hobby store and by some medium CA and activator...as used in hospitals and by doctors....{maybe not same brand} but i use it on my cuts and it works great.... then if not bleeding bad put it in place and put glue around and spray activator to set instint and you have repaired it just like doctors for cuts..jeff

 

[LittleHens]

That may help but idk I'm just applying medicine and trying to keep it clean so it will heal. But thanks for the advice ill keep in mind!