Large wound on hens neck***WARNING PHOTO***

[Kai98]

It’s going on 4 days now since 4 of my hens were attacked, 3 of which died. The one that survived has a large open wound on the back of her neck. I’m pretty sure I interrupted whatever animal it was that was attacking my hens because the bodies were still warm and one was still alive. I currently have her isolated in the house and I’m treating the wound with saline, vetRx, and bagbalm on a daily basis. I also trimmed as many feathers away from the area that I could. She seems to be alert and still has an appetite but I usually have to help feed her so she doesn’t have to move her neck too much. I’m worried that the injury may become infected or that I’m just prolonging her pain. I didn’t think she’d survive the night but she seems to be a fighter so I want to do everything I can for her.

 

[Rakaiachick]

Good on you for giving your hen a chance. Is it infected or is that just the wound care oniment. Might need an antibiotics.

 

[LaFleche]

That does not look too bad, you seem to be doing a good job.

I do not see any signs of infection at the moment (i.e.red swelling), but you could apply some Blue Kote Spray to prevent flies or other bugs from laying their eggs. It is important to keep the wound rather moist so she will not be immobilized by the rigid inflexible skin.

 

[Kai98]

I’m not entirely sure and that’s why I’m worried. I’ve been slathering her in bag balm so the exposed skin won’t dry up and cause her more pain. The bag balm melts and looks shiny/yellow but I hadn’t put any fresh balm on her when I took the picture. What antibiotics would you recommend and how open should I be rinsing/applying balm? I want to let her rest as much as possible but I don’t want to neglect the wound.

 

[Kai98]

That does not look too bad, you seem to be doing a good job.

I do not see any signs of infection at the moment (i.e.red swelling), but you could apply some Blue Kote Spray to prevent flies or other bugs from laying their eggs. It is important to keep the wound rather moist so she will not be immobilized by the rigid inflexible skin.

That’s good to hear! I’ve been holding my breath the last couple days, I’ve never dealt with such a large injury on a hen before. Should I be covering the wound at all?

 

[LaFleche]

You might want to use triple antibiotic ointment without pain reliever twice a day.

And yes, I think it might be necessary to cover the wound to prevent her from scratching it with her foot and making it worse. I would use sterile gauze patches for burns that do not stick to the wound.

 

[Sommano]

I’m so sorry your hens were attacked and died.
My hen Rebel was attacked by our puppy, her neck wound was big and nasty but from all the help and advice from the wonderful BYC community, I was able to heal her back up.

This is what I learned; You have to clean the wound with anti microbial spray (or something similar), clean off all the feathers, and slather on antibiotic ointment. Keep her away from the rest of the flock. Keep her hydrated. Don’t let her wound dry out, keep ointment on it.
She still has an appetite so that’s good.
Eventually the skin will grow back.
It takes a lot of patience for sure!
Good luck! And keep us up to date on her healing process!

 

[LaFleche]

How is she keeping up?

 

[Eggcessive]

I agree with cleaning the wound twice daily and applying plain Neosporin. Vetericyn, betadine, chlorhexidene, or saline are good to clean the wound.