when i was moving the pen this morning, one of my 4 week old Bourbon Red poults got it's foot caught and it ripped the top of it's foot open. as far as i can tell, there isn't any structural damage to the foot, but a large flap of skin was ripped off (well, it's still attached on one end). i brought it inside, cleaned the wound well with water and then peroxide. it was bleeding pretty profusely, which scared the dickens out of me. i slathered it with neosporin really good to help stop the bleeding and wrapped it with gauze and surgical tape.
the poult, which is now in my bathtub, seems ok. it's walking around a bit, but it also holds it's foot up some- i can't tell if that is from being injured or from all the bandaging. i've not seen it eat or drink yet, but it hasn't had much time, so i'm not worried about that yet.
so, other than keeping the wound clean, is there anything else i need to be doing? should i worry about tetanus? is there something i can do for that? the chicken wire is brand new so i'm hoping it can't be too bad. i've never had an injured baby, so i'm especially paranoid- it doesn't help that these are my first turkeys and i keep reading that they often drop dead from nothing...
i just went and redressed his foot. the bleeding has stopped, so i'm feeling much better. i had tried to fold the skin back over the wound the first time, but i think it's going to die and have to come off- it's shrinking and won't cover the wound now. any opinions on whether it's better to wait for it to die before removing it or cutting it off now?
what about superglue? i use it all the time on small cuts, but i've never used it to keep a skin flap in place. is it effective for that or is it best to just leave it open to the air to do whatever it will do?
thanks for any help.
the poult, which is now in my bathtub, seems ok. it's walking around a bit, but it also holds it's foot up some- i can't tell if that is from being injured or from all the bandaging. i've not seen it eat or drink yet, but it hasn't had much time, so i'm not worried about that yet.
so, other than keeping the wound clean, is there anything else i need to be doing? should i worry about tetanus? is there something i can do for that? the chicken wire is brand new so i'm hoping it can't be too bad. i've never had an injured baby, so i'm especially paranoid- it doesn't help that these are my first turkeys and i keep reading that they often drop dead from nothing...
i just went and redressed his foot. the bleeding has stopped, so i'm feeling much better. i had tried to fold the skin back over the wound the first time, but i think it's going to die and have to come off- it's shrinking and won't cover the wound now. any opinions on whether it's better to wait for it to die before removing it or cutting it off now?
what about superglue? i use it all the time on small cuts, but i've never used it to keep a skin flap in place. is it effective for that or is it best to just leave it open to the air to do whatever it will do?
thanks for any help.