Necrotic tissue around wound

[Artemis143]

One of our chickens was bitten by a dog and created a lot of wounding on her backside that needed staples.

The vet prescribed oral antibiotics, but said to not do anything topically for the wound; now it has black necrotic tissue around the wounds edge.

When I called, they said to treat with vetericyn - but that the tissue may need to be surgically removed.

Does anybody have experience with this?

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Can you post any pictures of the wound? Can you see the wounds well without trimming away feathers? Normally I would spray the wound with saline or wound spray twice a day, and then coat in antibiotic ointment twice a day. If the wound is drying out or necrotic it might need some debriding at home. A warm wet compress for 10-15 minutes could be used to soften the scab. A few drops of Dawn could be added if needed, and then rinsed off. Pictures are needed.

 

[Stravager]

Necrotic tissue can spread very fast and can sometimes be hidden very well. My gecko had to have his tail amputated twice because of how fast the infection spread, even with antibiotics and medicated ointments. I would definitely keep a close eye on it.

 

[Artemis143]

Welcome to BYC. Can you post any pictures of the wound? Can you see the wounds well without trimming away feathers? Normally I would spray the wound with saline or wound spray twice a day, and then coat in antibiotic ointment twice a day. If the wound is drying out or necrotic it might need some debriding at home. A warm wet compress for 10-15 minutes could be used to soften the scab. A few drops of Dawn could be added if needed, and then rinsed off. Pictures are needed.

Thank you. Glad to have this resource and for your reply. Here is a picture:

 

[Eggcessive]

I would try softening it with the warm wet compress a couple of times a day, followed by the antibiotic ointment (Neosporin, triple antibiotic, polysporin etc.) Manuka honey or Medi Honey is also good. I have even seen Manuka honey at Walmart lately, so pharmacies probably have it as well. I would send this picture to your vet if you haven’t already. It may cost quite a bit for debridement at the vet. Hopefully, they would not want to use anesthesia since that is dangerous with chickens. I am going to tag @azygous , because she is an experienced person who recently was guiding someone else through extensive wound care.

 

[Artemis143]

Yes, they have the pic & their instructions were to spay vetracyn on all weekend and come in Monday :/ the vet tech talked about cutting away her dead skin which just doesn’t sound like a good idea to me at all. Maybe I should contact a different vet..

I soaked her wounds pretty good tonight but not much softening yet. Once it’s soft, how should I go about clearing away the dead tissue?

Grabbing some Manuka honey tonight. Thx again for the help.

 

[Eggcessive]

In the morning, I would try soaking her in warm water with Dawn or dial soap. The soak may do more than the wet compress. A wash cloth can be used to rub the blackened tissue, once the tissue softens. Then reapply the honey.

 

[Artemis143]

Okay, will try this. Ty

Thinking of mixing the manuka honey with aloe gel to help even more w skin rehydration. I have a feeling the vet is gna want to surgically debride but also know this route of treating w the honey and soaking and sloughing should work … but will just take time.

I don’t want to put chicky through the surgical debriding that reopens her wound & put her through that pain if theres other less invasive options.

What are your thoughts on the wet/dry dressing debridment methods?

 

[Eggcessive]

I have used wet to dry dressings before many years ago. You can pull off the healthy tissue sometimes as well, so if you use those, wet the the dressings again a few minutes before removing the old ones. Use warm saline for that. Saline is easy to make, 2 tsp of salt dissolved in 1 quart of water. It is isotonic like body fluids and better to use. You could try using a wash cloth to rub a little of the softened blackened area after soaking her in saline or soapy water for 10 minutes. I have worked with burns, and that is how we treated them. After debriding, silvadene cream was applied for healing until healed. Neosporin works well, but silvadene may be obtained from a vet or online.

 

[Eggcessive]

Silvadene requires a prescription even online. The Manuka honey is very good and Neosporin as well. I would pick one and stick with it if it works.