Injured pullet now has abscess. How to treat? See p.2.

[redhen689]

Update: Day 10!!!

I applied antibiotic ointment twice a day. I noticed that the skin from around the wound seemed to shrink and the surrounding skin stretched to cover most of the hole rather quickly. At first I put an bandaid cross-wise behind her head to keep the loose skin pulled a bit to sort of make the opening smaller. I only did that once, because it was too hard to get the bandaid off, and when I tried, ouch-proof bandaids, she would use her foot to scrath it off. I then resorted to wrapping a narrow piece of gauze loosely around her neck two times and tied it. I tried to catch one of the rounds of gauze under her lower neck featthers to stretch the skin up a bit. I tried to put an non-adherant dressing under it, but she would fight to remove it until it was out.
I am amazed at how fast this has closed up. I know that center area is still not finished healing, but it has been amazing to see the progress day after day.

Now there is a bit of a lump on the left side of her head. I don't know if it is just some skin that got folded up on itself and healed funny, or if there might be infection in there. How would I know? She seems okay. Should I lance it just to be sure, or watch it to see if it grows/spreads?

It's on the left side of the base of her skull in this photo:

It's a little more visable in this photo. At a quick glance it almost looks like an engorged tick...

 

[klf73]

I would not stitch. I stretched skin back together and glued but mine was easy to pull together and it still looked like it pulled a bit. I had to gray games attack my coro sussex of the same age, came in the same batch

even funnier is the games were 2 roos and the coros look to be 2 pullets, maybe they didn't like the color?

this is them then..
this is the one I glued

and left this one be, it scabbed over and was bigger than I thought, holes I didn't see, but was fine

couple weeks after
glued one, see how feathers look spikey?

not glued on left

now
not glued one on right , glued on left

eta- I would keep it clean and let it scab, make sure bugs stay away, preferably indoors...

 

[klf73]

sorry, I missed the original post date

That's a tough one not seeing it in person. Does the tissue around it feel warm?

problem with chickens is the pus isn't usally liquid, it becomes pretty firm

hopefully someone with a little more experience chimes in

 

[redhen689]

**** NEW QUESTIONS****

The pullet's wound has closed unbelievably quickly, however the lump I was mildly concerned about has grown significantly in the past 24 hours, and i am convinced it is an abscess.

I am thinking that I will need to lance it/drain it tomorrow. Any input on how I should restrain her, or go about it?

Pain control?
Antibiotics other than topical?
Helpful hints?

 

[Titania]

Wow! That was a horrible injury but it looks like you're doing a good job.

I don't know too much about this, but for what it's worth, I'll put in my 2 cents in case it helps.

For lancing, it is my experience that chicken's abcesses are thick not liquidy and pussy. So, I would cut a straight, clean line all the way across and scrape it out. To seal the skin, use superglue to glue the cut back together. (It's a hospital trick that is a better alternative to stitches. Before you do that, clean it out well with either iodine and/or epsom salt bath water. Lots and lots of water to get it completely clean. Pack it with neosporin. then you can glue the skin back together. I used those self-adhesive animal bandages to keep a wound area covered that are like a thinner ace bandage. You might try that??? And rinse it everyday with just water or epsom salt bath water solution or put a warm compress of that over the wound...that will help to leach out infections and keep the growing area moist enough to heal.

For the skin on the neck, it looks o.k. Too late to glue stuff back together I think. Still, be careful to rinse and keep things clean everyday. It will help things grow. One thing I heard about helping skin and wounds heal is a mixture of betadine (the liquid kind like you use in a surgery room) mixed with sugar to make a paste. The sugar might help the cells to undergo mitosis and heal more quickly.

Also, put her on oral antibiotics if you haven't already. Alot of people go with the Tylan. When I went to the feed store for the one time I had to do something similar, they gave me some duramycin to put in her water. Whatever you do, just make sure she's on it to stave off any other infections from the open wound.

Good luck! You're doing a great job!

 

[Titania]

I forgot to mention that you don't need to worry about pain management. Just go for it. Keep her down, preferrably lying down with a towl over her eyes. They usually calm down right away. If a second person helps, it makes it a ton easier. They don't feel pain in the way we think, more pain from anxiety for their well being. So, as long as you have her relaxed, be sure and quick to do the lancing and cleaning. Don't worry about pain. the less medications you have to give her, the better.

 

[greenkjb]

I have treated several abscesses on pet cats and I would lance it enough so that you can drain it and clean it out, but I would not close it up again, because the infection will just build up again. I always treated my cat's abscesses with 1/2 strength peroxide (kind of pour it over) and more neosporin. If it can drain and stay clean it should heal. Hope this helps!