Please Help! Guinea Attacked - Hole in side of head / bleeding / lethargic

[farmland5]

Hello,
I posted in the Emergency/Injury section this morning but no one has responded. Maybe its bc its not regarding a chicken?

Our male guinea was attacked by the other male guinea. He's got a hole in the side of his head. This morning I irrigated it with water with a little bit of Betadine. His head is all bloody again so the wound is obviously still very slowly bleeding. I'm not sure if I should be more concerned about the bleeding or risk of infection. On one hand, allowing it to bleed may help reduce infection. But I'm not sure how much they can safely bleed before its dangerous.

I separated him from the flock. He is in dog crate outside in a cool, shady, low stress location. I have offered him Hydro Hen as well as Rescue 911. He has been drinking quite a bit of both. I also offered him food (guinea food, fresh corn, lettuce, fresh herbs, etc) but he is uninterested. He is a bit lethargic. He'll stand in place next to the electrolyte water and close his eyes. He is not acting like a normal guinea foraging around, chirping lots, etc, etc.

This morning his left eye was shut. He is opening it more now, but other than that, he does not seem to be doing any better. I just picked him up to wipe off his head again and he did chirp 1-2 times, which he also did this morning.

Any recommendations? Should I put something on the wound to stop the bleeding? Should I put neosporine on it for infection? Does he sound bad enough for a veterinary visit?

Please see the link containing pictures of the wound from this morning after I cleaned his head.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/guinea-attacked-medical-care-hole-in-head-ear.1670511/

 

[alinas2010]

Sorry to hear about your guinea. Poor guy. The hole in his head is his ear, I believe.

It shouldn’t hurt to flush it out once, but it is probably not needed anymore.

As for the rest of his injury, it doesn’t look terrible, but the poor fellow is probably a bit shocky. Try to encourage his drinking the electrolyte water with a bit of sugar or honey added. Gently dip his beak in or dribble some on top of his beak. You can also try to get him interested in some raw or scrambled egg. Keep him somewhere quiet to recover. He may take a bit to perk up.

Since you’ve rinsed the wounds already, go ahead and apply some type of ointment to them. Triple antibiotic such as neosporin without pain reliever in it will work. If you don’t have that, let us know what you have instead and we can help.

Be sure to check all around his neck area and under feathers for open wounds, too. If you have flies this time of year, keep a very close eye that they don’t bother him.

 

[R2elk]

Hello,
I posted in the Emergency/Injury section this morning but no one has responded. Maybe its bc its not regarding a chicken?

Our male guinea was attacked by the other male guinea. He's got a hole in the side of his head. This morning I irrigated it with water with a little bit of Betadine. His head is all bloody again so the wound is obviously still very slowly bleeding. I'm not sure if I should be more concerned about the bleeding or risk of infection. On one hand, allowing it to bleed may help reduce infection. But I'm not sure how much they can safely bleed before its dangerous.

I separated him from the flock. He is in dog crate outside in a cool, shady, low stress location. I have offered him Hydro Hen as well as Rescue 911. He has been drinking quite a bit of both. I also offered him food (guinea food, fresh corn, lettuce, fresh herbs, etc) but he is uninterested. He is a bit lethargic. He'll stand in place next to the electrolyte water and close his eyes. He is not acting like a normal guinea foraging around, chirping lots, etc, etc.

This morning his left eye was shut. He is opening it more now, but other than that, he does not seem to be doing any better. I just picked him up to wipe off his head again and he did chirp 1-2 times, which he also did this morning.

Any recommendations? Should I put something on the wound to stop the bleeding? Should I put neosporine on it for infection? Does he sound bad enough for a veterinary visit?

Please see the link containing pictures of the wound from this morning after I cleaned his head.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/guinea-attacked-medical-care-hole-in-head-ear.1670511/

A styptic pencil or alum will stop the bleeding. Then paint the area with Blu-Kote.

Give him access to fresh water and proper guinea feed. Stop with the herbs and treats.