Please need advice pullet with ripped skin on neck

[JPHorvath]

We have a 6-week-old pullet that appears as if it has been attacked by another bird in the brooding pen. We have a hen that had in the past been injured by one of our large roosters mounting her, tore her skin wide open on the side that closed up and healed without our assistance. However this occurred in the winter months, which seemed to have eliminated or reduced the possibility of infection.

My concern is this wound is open and difficult for the pullet to keep clean due to the location. Should I treat the wound; clean it out then stitch it closed or treat it then let it heal on it’s own? I know full-grown chickens are quite resilient to injuries and can heal without any assistance. I have separated her from her siblings placed her in a crate in my quite office. Seems to be doing well allows me to handle her she is eating, drinking and the wound has dried.

Anyone have experience with a similar injury and how did you treat it? I called a local Pharmacy that also sells medical supplies to physicians. I don’t think they have surgical needles with sutures. What else could I use to close the wound? This injury occurred around dusk today, could I still clean and stitch the wound tomorrow or will too much tissue have crystallized preventing the stitches from closing the wound?

 

[Honeysucklefeathers]

I'd clean it as well as possible and put a neosporin type product on it. Keep her separated until it heals. Good luck!

 

[JPHorvath]

I was thinking about cleaning the area with Saline Solution, but I was not sure if Neosporin was the correct treatment.

 

[greenegglover]

That will work fine then I would place a bandage over the wound to keep out flies and dirt. The kind I like is the horse leg wrap at TSC. It only sticks to itself and with a little warm water will peel off the healing scab. Hope this helps!

 

[JPHorvath]

Quote:
I was worried about parasites entering wound area. I will look into horse wrap.

 

[nwfl]

Its scarey when they get wounds like that. Had an EE hen get stuck in barb wire years ago, deep horrible wound. I used a saline wash, betadine, (I stiched her up) and isolated my hen in a crate in house for day to allow it to dry and heal a bit. Then I used the stretch wrap over some gauze and sprayed bitter apple to keep her from messing with the wrap. I changed the guaze next day and smeared triple antibiotic and continued that with bitter apple spray to wrap and area. She healed well in a week to be without wrap. Luckily this was in spring and we had few insects. I kept her in her own pen for nearly a month. her feathers looked crazy for years. Now she hs a farrah faucett flip and long ear tufts. Good luck.

Oh, your wound looks as if it may be fine without stiches. I have used beading needles and upholstry needles with thread dipped in betadine for my birds. They heal remarkably fast for me. Haven't had to do this often four serious wounds in 5 years. A dog pack ripped 11 birds up, leaving all kinds of injuries, they then lived long lives.

 

[ByeByeBlackBird]

Neosporin WITHOUT painkiller is perfectly ok! Just make SURE it has none of the painkiller, it is lethal to birds.

Im going through the same thing, albeit a bit more NASTY looking due to a chick being picked on by one of the girls. ( integrating flocks) Were on day three, i believe and so far shes doing really well!

 

[greenegglover]

Its been a month how did the poor thing heal up?

 

[JPHorvath]

Quote:
Thank you for your concern it has been only one week so far; she appears to be doing well. She has been isolated for the past week. Wound has scabbed over nicely. Eating and drinking properly I guess I will just have to keep her in crate for another week or two until the wound heals further.

I was not able to suture the wound only because I not have a surgical needle and suture available for this type of incident. I spoke with my veterinarian they are willing to sell me a couple sets for $17.00 each. Trying to shop around to see where else I can purchase. Seems expensive for one curved needle and 36” of suture. If anyone has a source for this possibly you could PM me the information.

 

[fdehaven]

I had a similar thing happen and this is what I did...
Clean and dry the area good.
Have someone hold the skin together and then add some super glue
next put blue kite on it. ( get it at away or tractor supply)
Keep putting blue kite on it everyday for a week.
Oh keep it separated for a week or two from other chickens

My chicken healed up nicely and you can hardly tell it was there