injured pullet needs help please, can I save her? updated pic

[klf73]

I have a pullet that was in a pen awaiting their new coop. I noticed one of the pullets was being over-mated and didn't realize how badly. I spread her feathers in the pic, she naturally doesnt' look this bald. I only have her with one roo now and noticed she looked uncomfortable when he got off her. I grabbed her out to put a saddle on and saw this mess. I feel awful and need to know if she can be saved. I flushed it and there is healthy tissue all around it, I put a bunch of neosporin on it to soften what was left and am going to flush it again.

How can I save her?

If I continually flush off the necrotic tissue and keep the medicine on to prevent drying of the healthy tissue can I eventually close this back up?

Dh and I are both full time students and with 7 kids and me just having surgery last week on my shoulder I fell behind....it's all my fault and I need to fix this. Any help and direction is greatly appreciated

 

[MustLoveHens]

Ouch! Poor thing!! Well, as I am not a vet I can only tell you what I would do if she were mine but here it goes.
I know you have been flushing the wound but since you did not indicate with what, bear with my answer and forgive my spelling!
So if she were mine:
The first thing is to clean the wound with either a betadine and water solution-mixed to the color of strong tea. Or one can use a chlorhexadine (sp) solution. The chlorhexadine does not need to be "cut" with water as it is rather mild and not as "stinging" as betadine is. Flush the would so it is clean and all the necrotic tissue is gone. You might have to scrub a little to get the dirt off.
Then after it is all clean you can use either neosprin or Furaseptin if you want to use goopy stuff or you can use Blue Kote or Furaseptin spray. If you chose Blue Kote, then get the bottle with the baubber applicator. It's so much easier to use on poultry!
Most importantly, I also would give her a shot of penicillan right in her beast muscle.
Place her in a quiet area all by herself and give her vitamins and electrolytes and sugar in her water. Observe her to make sure she is eating and drinking. You might also find that a heat lamp may help her if she seems shocky or "chilled".
Chickens are really amazing healers and once you get the wound cared for and give her a shot of penicillan she should come right around. It may be a while until she can go in with the rooster again and there may or may not be permanent damage done to her feather bed. You might also find that until her feathers grow back you may need to coat her bear spots with Blue Kote to help prevent sun burn.

Also I'd check over the rooster to trim toe nails and spurs if he has them so he does not do more damage to the other hens.

The items I mentioned can be found at your local feed store or co-op if you don't have them already. Not sure if you've used penicillan before but if not, Penicillan needs to be refrigerated and it's thick so i use a 18 guage needle and let it set on the counter for about 5 mins to help warm it up so I can get it to mix better.

HTH and good luck to your hen

 

[klf73]

after the dead tissue is gone do I stitch back together? or will it not close since it has been opened for a while?

 

[MustLoveHens]

Generally suturing depends on the wound. A nice fresh wound with good tissue you should be able to suture up after you get all the grossness out of it.. An older wound not so much. Also looking at the pic it looks like more of a puncture? to me. If it's a puncture wound then you want to leave it unsutured and treat it like a puncture/open wound. Punctures need to be kept cleaned and left open so as much air as possible can get in the wound. You can still treat it with antibiotic ointments though. Puncture wounds tend to get infected easier then open wounds, like a gash or cut, because of the "anatomy" of them. Hot, close confines where air cannot get inside to dry it out and help kill of bacteria.
An older would is best treated like an open wound since older wounds usually have been exposed to more bacteria and dirt and gross things. Depending on the age of the wound and your hens behavior, you might find that you may need to treat her with penacillan more then once.
You might find that you have to flush the wound a couple times a day at first especially if it is more of a puncture.
I, myslef, don't suture a wound unless it is fresh. If I find one that is old/older then I treat it like an open wound.

 

[klf73]

thanks, we really appreciate the help. it is definitely not fresh so we will treat accordingly. I will grab the meds tomorrow. She is very lively and eating fine which is why I didn't notice it.

 

[MustLoveHens]

Your most welcome! I'm glad she is active and alert! Best of luck and I hope she heals up quickly!

 

[klf73]

here she is today. I am so happy she is doing well

 

[klf73]

is is ok to put her and her sister back with one roo? or better to wait till it finishes healing? they both have saddle on and are starting to regrow their feathers. there were just too many roos in the pen...

 

[nurse_turtle]

I had a Dominique girl who survived a dog attack and had an injury WAY worse than your baby. My Mom nursed her back to health. I didn't want her to be away from her Roo any longer than necessary, so as soon as some feathers started growing back around it, I made her an apron to cover the wound and protect her from her man's mating claws. Everything is well.