injuries by dogs

[J&A Loveshack Ranch]

I need to find out some info. Over the years, I have been able to save my large white ducks after an owl or hawk would try to get them, leaving a back of nasty raw flesh. I have always sprayed peroxide and water mix to the injury over several days/weeks many times a day and they pulled through and grew new feathers. Will that work for chickens. The last incident is a barred rock with an exposed back looking like a rotisorie chicken at Krogers. She has remained alive and walking around for 2 and a half days now. I dont know if she has drank or ate. I have had her separated from the others and she pecks at her own back. She looked a lot better 2 nights ago. I put a cone around her neck and she acts lame. So I removed that thinking she wouldnt eat or drink. I am ready to go out and redo the back. I was told the blue spray works well for an antibiotic. Any help here?

 

[henpeckedmuch]

Peroxide is great for a new wound to clean it and remove debree but shouldn't be used for long term care as it is harmful to new growth cells. A better solution can be made using Salt and water. About 1 heaping teaspoon of Kosher salt to a quart of water. Boil the water first and then add the salt. use this to clean the wound once or twice a day. An over the counter Antibiotic ointment could be put on the wound as well. The ointment would help to keep dirt from getting into the wound as well.

 

[raykour1]

Can you post a picture by any chance? I had a similar incident this afternoon, where a dog stripped one of my cochin hens of nearly all of her ffeather on her back, tail, top of her wings, and neck. I think most of the SKIN is missing too. She looks like something ready to hit the pot. I am trying to find my camera so I can show the sorry scene.

What I did for this hen
1) wash her
2) apply blue lotion, a equine/dog spray you can get at most feed stores
3) applied antibiotic ointment
4) simply stuck gauze squares to the ointment
5) Gave her 10 cc's of electrolyte solution
6) Put her in a small crate in a dark room with a towel, food, and water.

Of course I have no idea if she will make it till morning but she is surprisingly alert. SHe tried to run away when I was trying to doctor her.

I plan to give her some more electrolytes and make her eat in the morning, then change her bandages tomorrow night. I brought her in the house because as many people on this forum pointed out, flies are bad this time of year and maggots could be a real problem.

 

[burbankchix]

Years ago, I had a backyard chicken that was attached by a dog. She ended up with a mangled ear and a big hole in her chest. I freaked needless to say. I sprayed bactine on her and put her in our garage. Maggots appeared within a few days, ate all the dead flesh and she healed up nicely. Other than the ear, you'd have never known she was attacked. Good luck with yours!

 

[henpeckedmuch]

Well now that someone else has said it I feel somewhat safe from to much critizism in saying maggots only eat dead flesh and can be an important tool in healing. They freak and sicken us with their presence. but, have been used to help heal open, otherwise untreatable wounds for centuries. We probably do more harm trying to remove them then if they are left alone. Many casts, in the past, that were placed on extremites that the bone had pieced through the skin were opened to everyone's horror filled with dead dried maggot husks. But, to everyone's suprize they also often found the old wound healed pink and healthy.

 

[Judy]

Um, you were fortunate that the maggots did not begin eating live flesh after the dead was gone. This can definitely happen; on a back end they will even crawl inside and eat there. If I kept an injured chicken with an open wound like that outdoors, I would go find some Scat (I think that's what it's called -- it's sold for horse wounds, for the same purpose.) Maggots are still occasionally used in hospitals on people, but the are removed when the dead tissue is gone. And I agree about peroxide; same is true for Betadine; great for initial cleaning, or cleaning any really dirty wound, but both will also damage healthy new cells growing in. I could tell you a story about a patient whose wounds were treated for over a year with Betadine, and they did heal; we didn't know this then. They would probably have healed sooner if we had.

A caution about topical antibiotics. Some of them have "caine" drugs in them, which will kill a chicken, as they are highly sensitive to them. These are drugs ending in "caine," such as benzocaine and cetacaine. There's a thread about this here in Emergencies, in a sticky. The pain reliever in Neosporin is ok, though, as it is a different type of drug.

 

[henpeckedmuch]

Google "usings maggots for wound healing" there are many articals as I read them, it says they only eat dead flesh and are air breathers, that is they need access to air to live. I don't know anything about chickens but it would seem that maggots would have a hard time breathing inside of a chicken. Nevertheless, I will bow to your superior knowledge as I have never had a chicken with these problems. It also states they will fall off of their own after the dead flesh is debreded. On the other hand it also states that non-medical maggots can bring unwanted harmful pathogens into the wound. My point was that to remove them with peroxide might cause more harm to the patient. And, that under some circumstances they might be benefitial. It is likely that Abe Lincoln wasn't killed by Booth's bullet, but by the surgeon's clumsy attempt to remove it.
I appreciate the input learned on this forum as I know nothing about treating chickens, only humans.