Spyrling
Chirping
- Feb 21, 2022
- 17
- 20
- 59
Hi all, I wanted to share some photos of the injury that my buff sussex hen Olivette sustained and what I did about it.
I hadn't noticed anything off about her, no limping, she was still eating etc., and so it was by chance that she was in the nesting box and I gave her a little scratch under the wing that I noticed a hard lump. It turned out to be a massive wound about 3.5 inches in height.
At first I thought the black lump was rotted skin and flesh, as my immediate concern was some kind of macerated wound. Turned out the lump was a cap of dried blood, pus and feathers, and thankfully, there was still a flap of skin underneath.
Recalling how the last trip to the vet cost $170 and wanting to avoid that, I prepped her for some DIY home suturing with invisible nylon thread and a sewing needle (sterilised in boiling water). The bathroom had the brightest light and made clean up easier. The wound was directly underneath the wing here ... impossible to tell unless you were looking for it.
I started by soaking the dried blood pieces with warm water and gauze to loosen it up. It came away with a little tugging but no tearing. There were 3 or 4 pieces like this that came off in chunks, but the rest had to prised off bit by bit with some tweezers.
I also trimmed the feathers around the wound as close as possible so fluff wouldn't get trapped underneath. Here it is cleaned up some more and almost ready to be sutured. There wasn't any fresh pus. I think the injury must have happened in the last couple of days.
Then, using needle and thread from my sewing kit (they don't sell suture kits at the pharmacy and I wanted to fix her up asap so didn't bother ordering online), I sutured her up. I had to ask my partner to help hold her down on her side while I did this. She hadn't flinched or shown any sign of discomfort while cleaning the wound but she definitely flinched a few times whenever I pierced her skin. I was careful to only stitch the skin and fat, and not the flesh underneath. It was tricky because the skin was really taut. The first suture (right in the middle) busted after a few minutes so I had to redo it. In total, she recieved 4 sutures. I covered the wound with Betadine solution to reduce the risk of infection.
She got a few mealworms for being such a great patient and is now recovering in the crate. Initially she was looking pretty stunned but she's since had some food and water.
Definitely one of the weirder things I've done in my life!
We don't know exactly how it happened, but have suspicions that it was an accident when the rooster tried to mount her. Maybe she struggled to get away and his claw just caught.
Will keep you updated with progress pictures.
I hadn't noticed anything off about her, no limping, she was still eating etc., and so it was by chance that she was in the nesting box and I gave her a little scratch under the wing that I noticed a hard lump. It turned out to be a massive wound about 3.5 inches in height.
At first I thought the black lump was rotted skin and flesh, as my immediate concern was some kind of macerated wound. Turned out the lump was a cap of dried blood, pus and feathers, and thankfully, there was still a flap of skin underneath.
Recalling how the last trip to the vet cost $170 and wanting to avoid that, I prepped her for some DIY home suturing with invisible nylon thread and a sewing needle (sterilised in boiling water). The bathroom had the brightest light and made clean up easier. The wound was directly underneath the wing here ... impossible to tell unless you were looking for it.
I started by soaking the dried blood pieces with warm water and gauze to loosen it up. It came away with a little tugging but no tearing. There were 3 or 4 pieces like this that came off in chunks, but the rest had to prised off bit by bit with some tweezers.
I also trimmed the feathers around the wound as close as possible so fluff wouldn't get trapped underneath. Here it is cleaned up some more and almost ready to be sutured. There wasn't any fresh pus. I think the injury must have happened in the last couple of days.
Then, using needle and thread from my sewing kit (they don't sell suture kits at the pharmacy and I wanted to fix her up asap so didn't bother ordering online), I sutured her up. I had to ask my partner to help hold her down on her side while I did this. She hadn't flinched or shown any sign of discomfort while cleaning the wound but she definitely flinched a few times whenever I pierced her skin. I was careful to only stitch the skin and fat, and not the flesh underneath. It was tricky because the skin was really taut. The first suture (right in the middle) busted after a few minutes so I had to redo it. In total, she recieved 4 sutures. I covered the wound with Betadine solution to reduce the risk of infection.
She got a few mealworms for being such a great patient and is now recovering in the crate. Initially she was looking pretty stunned but she's since had some food and water.
Definitely one of the weirder things I've done in my life!
We don't know exactly how it happened, but have suspicions that it was an accident when the rooster tried to mount her. Maybe she struggled to get away and his claw just caught.
Will keep you updated with progress pictures.
