Massive sore under her wings

[Tatum hills]

To my horror I just discovered two massive sores under one of my hen's wings. I am pretty sure it's from the roister. I noticed her limping a few days ago and I put her in a cage on her own, kind of on bed rest and of course a break from the boy. Tonight I checked her over and she has massive sores! One seems to be a flap of skin sliced off and it's all black in the hole. However I think the black is just dirt, there is no bad smell and it all seems dry. She is lively, bright red comb and eating very well. I am torn between doing nothing to the wound and just give her some antibiotics to help, and sound a full clean up of the wound. If I choose the latter, that'll probably re-open the wound which will then require a lot of care. We are about to go overseas for a month and I don't know if the house sitters will be OK with such intensive care... Advice? Thanks!

 

[Judy]

The black matter needs to be cleaned out, whether it's dirt or necrotic tissue, and Neosporin or the like applied. A systemic antibiotic is probably also a good idea with something this extensive. She would need ongoing care, indoors to keep the maggots out and the rest of the flock from attacking her. She might recover with care, or infection might win out. If you can't find someone willing to do this care, then honestly, it might be best to put her down.

 

[Eggcessive]

Maybe soaking her in a tub of soapy water would clean up the wounds, then you could dry her thoroughly before applying some neosporin ointment. Putting her on an antibiotic in the water might be the quickest way to get her back on track. Your vet could prescribe some amoxicillin or a cephalosporin to give her.

 

[Tatum hills]

Thank you. I am giving her antibiotic. Surprisingly, she doesn't seem sick at all. I know they are great at hiding it but her combos bright red. She is very lively and hungry. Hopefully she'll pull through. I'll give her a bit of a wash today but since we are going away I don't really want to re- open her wound!

 

[paustin]

We had a similar injury with one of our hens- two deep slices under the wing, no bleeding, no sign of infection. My son and I washed the wounds with warm water and applied bag balm for a day or two. She continued to run with the flock w/o any negative side effects. She also ate well and laid eggs daily the entire time she was healing. Only a couple of scars left now.