My hen was attacked by a hawk, I need help determining if intestines are exposed where skin is missing. (graphic image)

[applepie_chicken]

On Wed Sep 28th, my chicken was attacked. We have been spraying her wounds using Vetericyn once a day. She has 5 to 6 wounds. one other wound under her wing which is larger with exposed meat, but we think that that is just exposed muscle. The wound we are concerned with is on her rear to the right and lower, relative to her vent.

Looking at it in person we thought it was just fatty tissue, but after viewing a picture my imagination is running wild. Does anyone know what might be going on at this wound? What is the yellowish portion at the right half of the wound? Is this just skin?

Additional information:
Hen is a buff orpington chicken. She is approximately 2 years old. She has been eating and drinking water sparingly and only when we hold it in front of her. She managed to have a healthy looking poop today (Friday Sep 30th), and seems to be doing better than the days before.

 

[Eggcessive]

I think it looks like fat and skin. I would continue to spray the wounds, and use some plain antibiotic ointment on the wounds. Good luck, and let us know how she gets along.

 

[applepie_chicken]

Thank you for the fast response. We will keep you updated! She is a very special girl.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

How is your hen doing? I'm hoping she is doing okay. Yes it does look like fatty tissue.
I just saw @azygous post a wound care protocol thing on another thread. I will go and copy and bring it here.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

Wound care protocol:

1. Treat for shock as the number one step. Give warm Gatoraid or mix a half teaspoon of sugar into a fourth of a cup of warm water with a pinch of salt and baking soda. Have the patient drink it all or syringe it into the beak.

2. Flush the wound well with saline. This is better than soap and water as it maintains the PH of the tissues. But warm soap and water will do. You need to wash away the bacteria from the wound.

3. Inspect the wound carefully. If it has a skin flap dangling, keep that. Do not cut it off. Look for bite, tear or puncture marks indicating a puncture wound. If you see this, the patient will need an oral antibiotic such as amoxicillin. Bacteria from the predator’s mouth can be injected deep into tissue and can kill in as little as 24 to 48 hours. You can order this https://www.kvsupply.com/item/aqua-mox-250mg-capsules-100-count/P06184/250mg once a day for ten days. Or you may be able to find this or something similar at TSC or a pet store.

4. Spray with Vetericyn wound treament and let dry. Use a topical antibiotic ointment such as Neosporin or a generic without pain killer in it to coat the wound. If there's a skin flap, lay it across the wound that has just been coated with the ointment. Then smooth on a generous amount over the top of the skin flap to hold it in place.

5. It's useless to try to stitch a wound on a chicken. Don't even try. It's also useless to try to bandage a wound other than on the feet. The chicken will not tolerate it. It will be pulled off faster than you can blink an eye.

6. Clean the wound every day following the above steps. Keep the wound covered with the ointment. Never allow the wound to get dried out or it will not heal.

 

[applepie_chicken]

Thank you for the information. She is preening and moving around, but not as hungry today as she was the previous days. She still drinks water when presented, but is less interested in the dry or wet food mash. We feed and give her water to drink every couple of hours in the day. We are reluctant to give antibiotics at this point since these can also cause other issues with their ecosystem, but the recent lack in hunger has us concerned and we are considering starting (although hopefully this is not too late! :/ ) . We so far have only been spraying with vetericyn, and have not yet started rubbing neosporin on the wounds.

 

[Eggcessive]

With 2 open wounds, especially the abdominal one, I would use some antibiotic ointment or chlorhexidene cream.

 

[applepie_chicken]

We broke down and gave her 1/2 tablet of Bactrim (the dose recommended for a large fowl. We had concern over the green/yellow on skin at side of her big wound under her wing. :/

She was not very happy about taking the tablet and feeding it was an ordeal :/

We used the following method:

Only our bird would jerk her head back wiggle the neck ect and try to stand then sit suddenly pulling back. We were probably being too timid for fear of hurting her and not assertive enough :/ eventually I found a moment where she let her guard down and I shoved it back in her throat avoiding the center tongue area.

Below is a picture of the area under wing. She still has ability to raise and move her wing around.

 

[applepie_chicken]

Here are other pictures of the wounds we are less concerned about. Most of the black looks like scabbed blood.

She was already in process of molting when attacked.

*Just a headshot of our pretty girl being a tough camper!

She is famous for making a dinosaur squeal as part of her regular vocabulary and trying to swallow our fingers whole!

 

[applepie_chicken]

Should I still be giving her antibiotic ointment in addition to taking antibiotic tablets?