Hi!
I am a first time chicken owner, and unfortunately, the coop was not closed one night. One of my two hens was attacked by a raccoon(?) which left a large wound on the right shoulder. I have raccoon question-marked because i couldn't see exactly what animal it was during the night, and it was garbage night.
The wound: you can see the shoulder muscle of the right wing, a ligament, and some tissue inside the wound. The skin is very separated. in the main wound area. Just to the left of the wound is more of a deep gash. About 6 hours after the attack - and quick google search - I rinsed the area with hydrogen peroxide and sterile saline. Left it as is, then brought the hen to an all-birds hospital. The doctor prescribed an oral antibiotic and pain medication, then covered the wound with a duoderm dressing (a colloid material, like a second-skin). There was not a lot of blood involved. In fact, there was no dripping of blood anywhere. Only blood spots on the ends of the feather shafts that were torn out.
This was 5 days ago. Everyday, I have been rinsing the wound with sterile normal saline and packing the wound with wet gauze and then a duoderm. Twice a day she gets the pain med and antibiotic orally. She has been eating and pooping and is more active.
I am worried that since I didn't know not to pour hydrogen peroxide on the open wound, that i've done tissue damage. I'm hoping the wet gauze would debride it, but would like to get others' opinion on this. I don't know if I can spend more money at the bird hospital for this... but I feel awful and want to care for my hen the best I can.
I would love to get some advice from people who have seen such large wounds like this. Should I keep doing the wet-to-dry dressings? Do I need to debride the brown-looking tissue with something? If so, what can I use? In your experience, will something like this heal? Even if my hen is acting normal with energy and eating and pooping well, is it a false sign/sense of security that she will survive this?
Please see photos attached.
The first 3 photos are from the first 24hrs.
The last two photos are from the second day, one with and one without the dressing.
I need to add a new photo of what the wound looks like now because there's definitely more of a dark brown tissue color on almost the entire surface of the wound. I just don't know if I should be cutting/scrubbing it off in some way? using honey or something else(?) to debride? Should I get it sutured shut eventually or can this heal over on it's own?
I would appreciate any and all help!
Thank you so much!
Worried and feeling guilty...
Mommly.
I am a first time chicken owner, and unfortunately, the coop was not closed one night. One of my two hens was attacked by a raccoon(?) which left a large wound on the right shoulder. I have raccoon question-marked because i couldn't see exactly what animal it was during the night, and it was garbage night.
The wound: you can see the shoulder muscle of the right wing, a ligament, and some tissue inside the wound. The skin is very separated. in the main wound area. Just to the left of the wound is more of a deep gash. About 6 hours after the attack - and quick google search - I rinsed the area with hydrogen peroxide and sterile saline. Left it as is, then brought the hen to an all-birds hospital. The doctor prescribed an oral antibiotic and pain medication, then covered the wound with a duoderm dressing (a colloid material, like a second-skin). There was not a lot of blood involved. In fact, there was no dripping of blood anywhere. Only blood spots on the ends of the feather shafts that were torn out.
This was 5 days ago. Everyday, I have been rinsing the wound with sterile normal saline and packing the wound with wet gauze and then a duoderm. Twice a day she gets the pain med and antibiotic orally. She has been eating and pooping and is more active.
I am worried that since I didn't know not to pour hydrogen peroxide on the open wound, that i've done tissue damage. I'm hoping the wet gauze would debride it, but would like to get others' opinion on this. I don't know if I can spend more money at the bird hospital for this... but I feel awful and want to care for my hen the best I can.
I would love to get some advice from people who have seen such large wounds like this. Should I keep doing the wet-to-dry dressings? Do I need to debride the brown-looking tissue with something? If so, what can I use? In your experience, will something like this heal? Even if my hen is acting normal with energy and eating and pooping well, is it a false sign/sense of security that she will survive this?
Please see photos attached.
The first 3 photos are from the first 24hrs.
The last two photos are from the second day, one with and one without the dressing.
I need to add a new photo of what the wound looks like now because there's definitely more of a dark brown tissue color on almost the entire surface of the wound. I just don't know if I should be cutting/scrubbing it off in some way? using honey or something else(?) to debride? Should I get it sutured shut eventually or can this heal over on it's own?
I would appreciate any and all help!
Thank you so much!
Worried and feeling guilty...
Mommly.
