Nasty neck injury from attack -- what to do?

[Jilara]

Payback is a grump, they say.

I have some rescue chickens, two of whom come from feral stock, though they were hand-raised by a friend's teenaged daughter. They're great with humans, but very bad with other chickens.

I separated one a long while back because she was being vicious with the other chickens. Well, Juanita, the other feral stock hen, periodically goes psycho and starts attacking the others. She started attacking my gimpy Polish, just before I had to leave for the weekend, drawing blood and pulling out topknot feathers. So I put her in with other psycho hen, who promptly attacked her, but not majorly. There wasn't anything I could do, as she was already kept away from chickens she'd injured, in times past, so there she stayed.

She was fine when I got back last night, but this morning, she had a huge bleeding gash on the back of her neck and had a de-feathered patch. (At this point, I really think the other chicken would kill and eat her, if given a chance.) I tried to bandage it, but she got all the bandages off in short order. It's been treated with peroxide and neosporin, but I don't know what else to do. I've got her by herself in the "liberty cage."

I suspect she's either going to be re-homed or turned into stew, but I'm on the short-term track for right now. (She's a decent layer when she's not psycho or broody.) Anything else I should be doing. The wound on the back of her neck is very ugly, enough I'm not certain if she even has a chance. Should we nurse her through and hope she heals enough to re-home, or just put her out of her misery? She's acting reasonably normal, despite this huge and ugly neck wound.

 

[Granolamom]

One of my hens got attacked by a stray dog about 3 months ago. She had 2 huge, nasty holes with the muscle showing underneath. I flushed her wound with Colloidal Silver 2-3 times a day, and that is the only thing I used on her (she completely recovered). You can get it at GNC (the product name is Silver Biotics), it is a natural antibiotic and costs around $16.
By the way, Peroxide is not very good to use on open wounds, as it destroys the exposed flesh. Neosporin works good, but make sure it's the kind without the painkiller in it.
Good luck to you and your wacky chicken!

 

[catdaddy66]

Anything is worth a try. Cleanse the wound w/ warm water and try to put neosporin on once it is dry. Keep her warm and w/ water, which might do well to have sugar or vitamins. At least warm, dry and hydrated is a more tolerable end if it doesn't work. Good Luck!!

 

[Jilara]

Well, she's seeming to have gotten through the night, despite the muscle showing. The wound is still ugly, but not oozing or anything. She's running around like normal, but making a lot of noise, probably distress. I'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for the advice. I'll also remember the no peroxide in the future.

 

[Granolamom]

Might want to put her in a cage of sorts, and drape a towel over it for part of the day, especially when she's laying. It will keep her more calm, and therefor help the wound to heal better. Good luck!

 

[Brickman House]

May be too late now, but for the future, what I normally do is wash these types of wounds with Bandaid Antibacterial wash, stitch them up, and then BluKote them.

I've had great success with some really ugly wounds this way.