Please Help! My hen has been attacked and has an injury on her body on her side. How can I treat it?

[Harry Rooster]

My hen has been attacked, and her feathers are gone from a place on her side, and there is a wound with the meat showing. Not all the way to the bone, and may be able to survive it. The wound is about the size of a 3' x 3" area where there has been some skin pulled away. How can I treat it and help her to survive. She is walking around, not bleeding just a gaping wound and no feathers there. I have her in a cage now, don't know what attacked her but it got my rooster who was trying to protect her. Is there something I should put on it or try to bandage it or what can I do for her? Or what can I give her to keep from it getting infected?

 

[Shan30]

Hello, sorry your having to deal with this.

I hope someone else can chime in as I have never actually had to deal with a large wound and the possibly resulting shock.

The first thing you should do however, is clean out her wound. I usual irrigate wounds with saline solution repetitively to properly clean them out. Pat it dry with a clean towel and coat it with an antibiotic ointment. Just make sure the antibiotic ointment (polysporin) does not contain a painkiller.

Maybe the below link will help...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/203024/cat-attack-hen-skin-ripped-pic-graphic-help-please/10

 

[Judy]

I would clean it up with some mild soap and water, or a wound cleanser such as dilute Betadine or dilute peroxide. (Don't use anything on a chicken that contains a "caine drug such as benzocaine or cetacaine.) From the sound of it, I'd probably pat it for a couple of minutes, or gently squirt it over the wound with a syrings without needle. Then I'd put Neosporin ointment on it. I'd keep her in the house, perhaps a bathroom, til healed -- one reason is to avoid flies laying eggs in the wound. I'd probably put some more Neospirin on it daily til healed, or at least til well scabbed. You can use other topical antibiotic or antiseptics, whatever you have around. BluKote (gentian violet) is fine. I wouldn't try to put a dressing on it.

Chickens can heal up some nasty wounds. As long as she is eating and drinking, she has a good chance.

Some people would probably give her a systemic antibiotic as well, perhaps penicillin or a tetracycline.
Good luck!

 

[ten chicks]

Flockwatcher has given you good advice. I would like to add,watch wound for infection signs of infection are: foul smell coming from wound,redness/swelling,redness/swelling spreading,bird becoming lethargic,not eating/drinking.

Remove any black tissue(necrotic/dead)as it carries bacteria and will cause a serious infection. Keep her separate until healed as other birds will pick/peck at this wound. Wound will heal from the inside out.

keep her warm,when ill/injured birds cannot regulate their body temp,so additional heat is required. Make sure she is eating/drinking.

For pain,you can purchase metacam from a vet or give a low dose aspirin(81mg) or a reg aspirin(325mg)dose is 25mg per lb of body weight. Crush and place in water or sprinkle over feed or give orally(wrap in a pce of meat or cheese).

 

[Harry Rooster]

Thank you all so very much. I will pick up some tetracycline tomorrow. Usually keep that, but I'm out right now. Do have Neosporin and Betadine though. Haven't done anything yet, but will get started on it. Don't know yet if she will eat or not, just happened at the end of the day and of course she is probably too much in pain to eat or drink anything right now. Going to give her some Asprin for pain.

 

[Shan30]

Just looking for an update... How is she today?

 

[Harry Rooster]

She seems a little better, but is not eating, but she did drink some water today, a pretty good bit. I took her out of the cage and put her in an outside enclosure outside my door where she was alone, so she could get some air. I was afraid she was getting depressed being in that small cage. She just sat down beside the water and drank water and looked around. She did get up a couple of times and walk a few steps and back. It was nice outside today not too hot and not cold, just right and a little clouded. I think she liked it. I only left her out there for a little while then brought her back in. I gave her tetracycline in some water, and some asprin in water in a syringe without needle. I also put the tetracycline in her water that she was drinking along with a little electrolyte. I have been cleaning her wound every night with Betadine diluted in warm water and patting dry then applying Polysporin or Neosporin. The Neosporin does have pain relief in it but it's not the kind that would hurt chickens. I had seen where someone said it was okay to use that kind. It is Pramoxine 10mg external analgesic is the pain relief medicine that is in it. I hope she will make it she seems ok, not smelling or seem to be having a fever.
I now have another problem though with my other one just like her, it's her sister. She was not in the attack and has been fine. We kept her pinned up this morning and didn't let her out till this afternoon, then I put her over in the same pen that I had let the hurt hen in, after I took the hurt one in. She was fine, walking around scratching and doing the normal thing. I had to catch her with the net though to put her back in her regular pen and she didn't like it, but she was ok when I put her back. Now just a few minutes ago I went out to check on her and she was not on roost but on the floor acting like she couldn't walk and is breathing hard and seems like she has fever. She had some stuck poop on her back end but not clogging up her butt. Looked like normal poop. Don't have any idea what could be wrong with her. She didn't lay an egg today though. Could she be egg bound? How would I tell? What could be wrong with her. She is breathing very hard and she can stand but acts like she can't walk. I'm going to post in the thread also. Need help now.

 

[Shan30]

When it rains it pours doesn't it. If you suspect that she may be egg bound you will need to pick her up and feel her abdomen. Do this gently as you do not want to break the egg. Pick up another of your hens to compare. Is she she eating and drinking? Pale? Visiting nest boxes without laying?

If you do feel an egg, she needs calcium and a warm bath. Applying a lubricant to her vent after the bath may help.

 

[Harry Rooster]

Yes, you're right! When it rains it does pour. Fortunately, after reading all about egg bound and what to do about it, and checking on her all through the night up till now, she is now doing fine. My husband scared me to death calling me out to tell me something was bad wrong with her and that he had found her on the floor. When I came out and got her, my first impression, was that she might have fallen off the roost somehow. I think my first thought was right. I think she was just terrified and scared and probably somewhat hurt, but not seriously, from the fall, and was in shock about it, and that is probably why she was breathing hard. She felt kind of hot to me, but it might just be because it has been warm here for the past couple or three days and it was warm last night too, so she was probably just hot. But she acted like she couldn't walk, but I think that's just because it was the middle of the night and she was sleepy and not fully awake. She seems fine now, running around eating and drinking ect. She didn't lay an egg yesterday though, I don't believe. She usually always lays in her box, but there was no egg yesterday. That's why I was worried that she might have been egg bound. She is young, not quite a year yet, but has been laying now for about 2 months with no problem. I will update, if anything happens and if she is still ok, later on. My other hen that was attacked is drinking water, but hasn't eaten anything yet. Been giving her asprin about twice a day and tetracycline in water with syringe and also in her drinking water with some electrolytes in the water also, but not much. She is alert and lays in front of the plant light I have in there on her. She is warm and seems to be doing okay considering the pain she must be in. I'm going to try to get pictures and post them if I can. I don't know where to post them except on my album in the Sponsors gallery. If there is another way to post them on here, please let me know, I would like to put them in my post somehow. Or would it be best to post in gallery? Thanks so very much for your help. So glad there was nothing wrong, I was getting ready to do and exam and warm bath and tums.

 

[Harry Rooster]

Okay, she is still okay. No smell coming from her. Been giving her Tetracycline in her water, which she doesn't drink a lot of, but give her a syringe full of water, Tetracycline, and electrolytes in it once a day, and asprin once a day. Clean wound once a day. She drank some water from her water bottle yesterday also, but not much today, and still not eating anything. Have tried scrambled eggs, bird seed, bread, grapes cut up, spaghetti strings, all her favorites, but nothing. Got some yogurt today and going to try to give her some of that tonight in a dropper. Hope she will take it. She is alert and no smell coming from the wound. No punctures, but some skin off and a small piece of meat on top of her back by her wing. Don't know what else to do to get her to eat. She laid an egg night before last when we first cleaned her wound, after we cleaned her, an egg fell out, it was night time. Laid one yesterday also but stepped on it an broke it. Hasn't laid one today that I can tell unless she's sitting on it. I will know in a few minutes, when I go get her to give her her medicine. Any suggestions on what I can do about the eating? How long can she go without eating? She is drinking a little bit and I give her the syringe full of water with the other stuff mixed in it. She drinks about a half of a Nyquil measuring cup full of that when I give it to her. Should I do it twice a day instead of just once? She seemed to feel better yesterday when I was able to let her sit outside in the closed pen for a while, but couldn't today because of the misting rain, so she's ben in the cage all day today. I think she's depressed being away from her brother and sister and cooped up in that small cage all day. She is warm an cozy though.