Open wound treatment

[Dave Z]

One of my EE hens has a large open wound that covers an area about the size of a half dollar under her left wing and on her back, which is somewhat featherless from rooster attention. I suspect the roo opened a small wound, which the other birds picked into this large wound. She's pretty much the bottom of the pecking order and I think she's picked at it herself too. It looks like the skin is gone from the whole wound. It looks bad. I first noticed it a couple of days ago, but it's gotten larger. She's alert and eating and drinking normally, but hides under the bushes a lot to keep away from the others. She's still laying too, one a day. Took an extended dust bath this morning, so the wound has a layer of dust on it right now. She seems to feel pretty good in general. I made her a saddle to get the picking under control.

So should I give this a chance to start healing on it's own or does she need to see a vet ASAP? Maybe just get her some antibiotics and isolate her?

 

[newchickengirl]

Had a problem like this before. What I did was irrigate the wound real good for the first few days. Then sprayed a mixture of peroxide and betadine. The sprayed blukote on it for a few days. Eventually was healed. You dont want to close the wound or wash it to much if that makes sense, cause you could be washing the beneficial bacteria away. Good luck

 

[Imp]

Here's a thread with some great advice about wound advice. Check out post #16 from three horses.

Good luck

Imp

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=203024&p=2

 

[Dave Z]

Quote:
Great stuff there - that should be a sticky.

threehorses is awesome - helped me last year when my roo bubba got beat up by a coyote.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

I got this stuff at TSC that's called EMT Gel First aid kit in a tube. It is thick like honey and it is for use on all animals including birds and reptiles. I got it to use on my dog's cut but since it says for birds, I used it on my roos comb that was torn up from the other roo and it healed nicely.