Possible infected wound

[jillianjo]

One of our girls was attacked by a hawk a week ago. She had a couple wounds that seem to be healing ok, but one is looking pretty gross. It was a little over an inch long when it happened and seemed pretty deep. We used butterfly closures to bring the edges closer together. We’ve been using Vetericyn several times a day, as well as applying antibiotic ointment and keeping her bandaged up (the injury is on the middle of her back so it’s been easy for us to put a gauze pad on it and wrap sterile bandage around her abdomen to hold it in place). We have also been giving her meloxicam (leftover from a previous chicken’s illness and vet visit) as well as amoxicillin (57g per pound twice a day). We’re also putting nutridrench in her water. She’s been living in our bathtub since it happened while we try to heal her. Eating, drinking, and pooping just fine.

This was after 3 days. There was a little bit of drainage and we were concerned with the dark edges of the wound. Up until this point we had only been spraying with Vetericyn once a day (we were worried about opening up the bandages) but we started spraying 3-4 times a day after this.

This was after 5 days. Butterfly closures were loosening. She spent the first few days with very weak legs. She seemed to have a hard time standing, let alone walking. She was alert, just seemed content to rest a lot. Eventually she started standing and talking slow steps. In the last couple days she’s started to be a lot more active. She’s been able to walk around and even jump off the couch (scared the absolute crap out of me lol, I didn’t think she was healed enough but she didn’t seem to care what I thought). It seemed like great progress, but her moving a lot more meant the bandage she had on wasn’t staying in place very well. So this morning we thought we would try spraying it down and leaving it open. She’s still living in the bathtub so she isn’t in a dirty environment (we have a towel down so it isn’t slippery and we change it every time she poops). She did seem to want to pick and preen at the wound occasionally (she’s been in a preening FRENZY since she’s been stuck inside) but we tried to discourage it when we saw it. However, after only a few hours with no bandage I checked her again and saw a lot of yellow on the wound. At first I thought it was fat from under her skin but now I’m wondering if it’s pus. We re-bandaged her and put on plenty of neosporin.

This is after about 9 hours from when we first unbandaged her (6 days from when the injury happened and about 36 hours from the previous photo). It’s not a great picture since I took it just now before bedtime but I’m going to try and get a better picture in the daylight tomorrow. The wound also looks very dark in pictures, but I would say it person it’s more of a dark red (kind of a dark scabby color) as opposed to the almost black that it looks in the pictures.

Any advice? Is the green/yellow gunk pus? Should we try to remove the pus or just let it be? It just seems so…. solid? I guess I picture pus being runny, I wasn’t sure if it’s normal for it to be that consistency on chickens. It doesn’t smell bad, for what it’s worth. I poked it some with a q tip and it didn’t seem to ooze and seemed very attached. We’ve done bumblefoot removal before so I don’t think removing pus would be out of our comfort zone, but I’m not even sure it is pus or if that’s the correct action to take in this case. Any help would be appreciated!

Her name is Chippers, btw. Bonus video of Chippers watching TV with us today:

https://imgur.com/a/HlqzHdM

 

[Debbie292d]

I think you have done marvelous for Chippers. Does that area feel hot? It doesn't look red either. If not, I don't think I'd worry about that yellow quite yet, as I think that's normal healing. You've kept bacteria out and dressed and treated it for 6 days, so I'd give it another day or two and see if that yellow dissipates or else loosens up so you can wipe it off. Chippers is adorable!

Good luck, I think she'll be fine soon!

 

[jillianjo]

I think you have done marvelous for Chippers. Does that area feel hot? It doesn't look red either. If not, I don't think I'd worry about that yellow quite yet, as I think that's normal healing. You've kept bacteria out and dressed and treated it for 6 days, so I'd give it another day or two and see if that yellow dissipates or else loosens up so you can wipe it off. Chippers is adorable!

Good luck, I think she'll be fine soon!

Thank you! We’ve been trying our best! I think it just scared me, I was feeling pretty confident the last couple days with how much more active she’s gotten so when I saw that nasty yellow color my heart sank.

I haven’t noticed it feeling hot in that area but I’ll be sure to check in the morning when we clean her again.

 

[Debbie292d]

Thank you! We’ve been trying our best! I think it just scared me, I was feeling pretty confident the last couple days with how much more active she’s gotten so when I saw that nasty yellow color my heart sank.

I haven’t noticed it feeling hot in that area but I’ll be sure to check in the morning when we clean her again.

I actually have seen that hard yellowish stuff on a wound of my own once, and I know it wasn't infected but was healing and it itched lol.

I have faith, and you've done such a good job with her that I highly doubt it's anything bad. But, guessing in the morning it should look better. Do tell!

 

[coach723]

If it was infection you you most likely smell a very bad smell from it. Healing wounds often have some yellowish scabbing, it also varies with size and depth of wounds. She looks very alert and chipper, I think she's going to be ok. It's most often best to leave wounds uncovered, bandaging can actually seal bacteria in, they tend to do better left open to the air, as long as they are not in a place where they will be getting dirt and contamination in them, like feet. This link has some pictures of healing wounds, for reference:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wounds-pictures-of-how-they-heal.1325817/#post-21627607

 

[jillianjo]

It's most often best to leave wounds uncovered, bandaging can actually seal bacteria in, they tend to do better left open to the air, as long as they are not in a place where they will be getting dirt and contamination in them, like feet.

Thanks! Do you think it’s ok to leave it uncovered even if we see her picking at it? She is in a clean environment but she has been spending a LOT of time preening (either she’s bored from being in the house or she is a very vain chicken lol), so when we’ve left the wound uncovered it’s definitely caught her attention. Its been making me nervous to uncover it for too long.

 

[coach723]

I would just watch, see if she's actually messing with the wound, or if she's just cleaning everything up around it. Most birds spend a lot of time preening and if she wasn't feeling good, she has lots of catching up to do! If she does seem to be messing with the actual wound, then I might try a light weight hen saddle to cover the area so she can't get at it, but still allow air in there. Or a thin wrapping of gauze. I would just check it often, make sure their is no irritation. It's looking pretty dry and scabbed, so a covering is probably not as much of an issue now, as long as it doesn't rub.