Please Help Treat my little D'uccle! Puncture wound from Hawk!

[purpletiger]

Hi everyone! My sweet little D'uccle named LeeLoo was attacked by a red-tailed hawk while i was putting up an extension cord to add a heat to keep the chickens water from freezing. The hawk was no more than five feet away from me when it attacked! I ran the hawk off and was able to save her!

I was hoping you guys could help me treat her wounds. I checked her over and all I could find was one deep puncture wound where her neck meets her body. She also has a superficial scratch on the other side of her wing with a pretty large bruise. My concern is the puncture wound. I have no idea how deep it is. The first night I tried flushing it out with Betadine, which I didn't know isn't the best for healing tissue. I didn't want to mess with her too much the first night because she was in shock. Now i'm flushing it with a saline solution once to twice a day. She's under a heat lamp. A day later she's walking and taking, so shes in pretty high spirits. Eating and drinking a little too. I do with she would eat more. I have weighed her though and she hasn't lost any weight. She did gain a little though.

My question is should I put her on antibiotics right away as a preventative or should I just watch the wound? Does it look infected to you guys? I noticed it was a little swollen. She was picking at it so a put a cone over her head to prevent that. What antibiotic should a use if i were to use some? She's a small bird, 1 pound and 12 ounces. Any help would be greatly appreciated! This is my first time dealing with a wound like this. Here's some pics of the wound. Thanks!

Bruising under her wing on the other side.

 

[Eggcessive]

Pretty little d’uccle, like my girl Millie. You are doing what I would do. The betadine was fine initially, and saline is fine to use twice a day. You can also use Vetericyn Wound Spray, but slaine is good. I would apply some plain Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic Ointment twice a day to a dried wound. It should heal fine. If you notice any pus, then an antibiotic may be needed, but she looks fine right now, so I would wait. Hope she gets all back to normal, and glad that you were right there to help her.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

You did great! Use triple antibiotic like @Eggcessive said and the bird will be fine. I see no signs of infection but that doesn’t mean preventative measures aren’t necessary.

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

What a lucky girl! It could have been so much worse! Best of luck with her! Bear hugs!

 

[MissChick@dee]

Betadine is what I use. It’s good you got the wounds clean. You can use triple antibiotic to keep it moist to help it drain. Your little girl was lucky you were there and you took appropriate action.
@Eggcessive gave very good advice. You could add 3 baby aspirin to a gallon of water (wouldn’t use more than 3 she’s small) for pain.
It’s a long process but she can recover. This is a picture of my “Judy” notice the deep blue? The force of a hawk is tremendous. Judy was ripped so badly...the pic is a year after so hang in there!
You might want to offer treats that are high in protein. Tuna, cooked chicken meat, scrambled eggs. Please encourage her to drink...I put just a bit of pedilite (flavored is VERY sweet) and my girl loved it especially if I made a fuss...and acted like I was sharing MY drink lol. But it worked!
Best wishes. Keep us posted.

 

[purpletiger]

Thank you for all the kind words and advice everyone! It helps! She's doing a lot better today! Eating, drinking, pooping, and she's even laid two eggs! I don't need eggs! I need her to get better! Lol! Her favorite things to eat right now are boiled eggs, walnuts, sardines, mealworms, wet feed, and boiled raisins. She loves water mixed with a little grape juice.

I'm so happy shes doing well! She's my favorite of my flock. I've been giving her short visits with her flock, because I don't want them to forget her. The pecking order can be brutal and I don't want her to have to start over! This cold weather is making it very difficult though! I'm going have to re-acclimatize her to the cold weather too.

Also could someone inform me how to make a saline solution for flushing wounds? I couldn't find any. I've been using distilled water and table salt and boiling it to sterilize it. Would any of you know how many teaspoons of salt per quart of water? I've read anywhere from 1/4 to 2 teaspoons. Currently I've been using 1/4 teaspoon to a quart of water. Is that enough?

And yes! I forgot to mention every time I flush the wound I put some triple antibiotic in it.

You can also use Vetericyn Wound Spray, but slaine is good. I would apply some plain Neosporin or Triple Antibiotic Ointment twice a day to a dried wound. It should heal fine.

I just hope I got the wound clean enough the first day. I didn't mess with it too much because she was in shock and shivering pretty bad. It was also below freezing that day and I had to slowly warm her up cause I didn't want to shock her even more with the extreme temperature differences.

Also when would I use the Vetericyn wound spray? After putting on the triple antibiotic or before? Do I use the Vetericyn spray instead of the saline or do I use both? Should I cover the wound or just leave it open? I've currently been leaving it opened.

It’s a long process but she can recover. This is a picture of my “Judy” notice the deep blue? The force of a hawk is tremendous. Judy was ripped so badly...the pic is a year after so hang in there!
You might want to offer treats that are high in protein. Tuna, cooked chicken meat, scrambled eggs. Please encourage her to drink...I put just a bit of pedilite (flavored is VERY sweet) and my girl loved it especially if I made a fuss...and acted like I was sharing MY drink lol. But it worked!
Best wishes. Keep us posted.

Leeloo was extremely lucky! That hawk could have easily taken off with her, or punctured a vital organ. It was definitely a red tailed hawk! There was some force from the hawk, but where it happened was where our coop, house and garage meet. So I think the hawk sort of had to drop down rather than swoop down. If It swooped down It probably would of killed her on impact.

Poor Judy! That pic is a year after! Wow. Her injuries must of been horrific! I can't believe what chickens can heal from! Good luck and I hope she continues to recover! Just curious did you post a thread of her journey to recovery?

Here's some Pics of her wound today. Does it look ok? I feel like there might be some swelling? Is that normal?

Sorry for the long post! Thank you everyone for your help!

 

[Eggcessive]

Just use the Vetericyn on the wound, or use the saline, not both. Dry the wound, then apply a thin layer of the ointment.

Saline is 2 tsp or 9 grams of water to a liter (100 ml) of tap water. Keep up the good work. She looks cute in her picture.

 

[purpletiger]

I know it's only been a few days, but I just wanted to know what you guys think of the wound? Does it look infected or anything? I've been spraying Vetericyn on and in it 3 times a day. I've been flushing it once a day and packing it with triple antibiotic. She seems to be doing very well. The yellowness around the wound concerns me a bit. Also are the red veins normal? What would an infection/puss look like on a chicken? Her bruising and scratch on the other side of her are almost non existent, which is good. I had to make a plastic cone for her head cause she figured out how to get around the fabric one. Please let me know what you think. Thanks again for everyone's help!

P.S. The wound looks wet in the pictures because I just cleaned it.

Saline is 2 tsp or 9 grams of water to a liter (100 ml) of tap water.

Thank you Eggcessive for the saline solution measurements.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Love the E collar! Brilliant!!
She’s looking so much better you did a awesome job
Could you start to reintroduce her? Perhaps putting her in a crate or wire off a little area where she could gradually spend more and more time yet be safe?

 

[MissChick@dee]

The yellow is pus. Chickens pus is the strangest substance ever. Judy had that too. It was thick and hard. Not like like what you think of when it comes to like squeezing a zit or a abscess. Truthfully I would not do anything with it. You actually have to cut it out, yikes! I just left it and applied full strength betadine on it topically to help dry it out. There was no way I was going to cut it out of Judy it would of been a huge opening!
It’s how chickens heal. That’s why her (Judy’s) tissue still looked blue. Cause it was deep. You might think about giving her antibiotics. I did not but that’s just me. I think she’s looking good. Sounds like she’s eating and drinking and gaining her strength. Chickens are amazing what they can overcome with a little TLC.