Predator injury. Don't need help just sharing

[Ethan P Dobbins]

About 1-2 months ago had a mink get into my coop and it ate the butt and guts out of one of my hens. Found her dead. 3 days ago i found another hen injured in the same way, but alive with only some skin missing & bruising. Seems the new rooster put a stop to the little chicken killer's antics (and ive since tacked up hardware cloth and set a trap). You could see her belly fat and muscle originally but after a few days she seems to be healing slowly. Gave her 1/2cc oxytetracycline injection initially and slathered her with a comfrey salve/triple pain relieving antibiotic/muciprocin/lidocaine ointment mixture. Forgot to clean the wound because it *looked* clean but ive since been cleaning her off with iodine before applying the salve. This is her wound this morning before cleaning. Most of the mung is just spilled food and pine shavings and cleaned right off. Shes
back to acting normal again already and has even laid an egg. I expect the skin to heal back over and for her to make a full recovery.

 

[Sally PB]

Let us know how she does. And if you catch the perpetrator.

 

[Ethan P Dobbins]

Let us know how she does. And if you catch the perpetrator.

She laid another egg today but her butt has gotten a lot redder. The photo looks a lot worse than it is but it's still pretty gnarly. Gave her another dose of antibiotic. Should have kept up on it and gave it to her prophylactically and didn't If redness hasn't visibly lessened in a day or so I'll give her a big dose of penicillin and try that out instead. Keep her on it daily till she's healed. No "infection" smell though. Been cleaning her and applying more iodine and salve twice a day. May bump that up to 3-4. Both photos are also before cleaning. She's acting much better though so hopefully she's healing. The redness just has me a bit more worried for her now.

 

[Ethan P Dobbins]

still as red as a boiled lobster but she is healing. I've did daily doses of penicillin 1.5cc for several days and recently dropped to 1cc. Subcutaneous under the skin of the breast. Still putting salve on every day.

 

[Chickileta]

About 1-2 months ago had a mink get into my coop and it ate the butt and guts out of one of my hens. Found her dead. 3 days ago i found another hen injured in the same way, but alive with only some skin missing & bruising. Seems the new rooster put a stop to the little chicken killer's antics (and ive since tacked up hardware cloth and set a trap). You could see her belly fat and muscle originally but after a few days she seems to be healing slowly. Gave her 1/2cc oxytetracycline injection initially and slathered her with a comfrey salve/triple pain relieving antibiotic/muciprocin/lidocaine ointment mixture. Forgot to clean the wound because it *looked* clean but ive since been cleaning her off with iodine before applying the salve. This is her wound this morning before cleaning. Most of the mung is just spilled food and pine shavings and cleaned right off. Shes
back to acting normal again already and has even laid an egg. I expect the skin to heal back over and for her to make a full recovery.

Thank you so much, my hen has an abdominal injury.. swelled up big and has real obvious bruising. A little blood was on the towel I wrapped her in. Not sure what to do next.

 

[Ethan P Dobbins]

Thank you so much, my hen has an abdominal injury.. swelled up big and has real obvious bruising. A little blood was on the towel I wrapped her in. Not sure what to do next.

While you can still get a hold of it without a vet I would recommend getting a big bottle of penicillin and/or oxtetracycline to keep in your fridge even if you don't use it this time. June 12th you're not going to be able to get it anymore without a vet. For a grown 8 lb ish hen 1cc-1.5 per day for a few days given sub q under the skin for pen-g and .5-1cc for the oxy tetracycline and oxytetracycline does not need daily dosing. It's designed to stay in cattle for 3 days but in smaller animals 48 hours may be a better dosage but I would not exceed three doses as it is very irritating to tissues. But the amount given is somewhat depending on the severity of the infection. If it's just lightly infected I will give it a lighter dose but if it is nasty like this one was I will load her up. I gave my hen 1.5 for about a week because she had gangrene starting. It's often a good idea to start off with a heavy dose and then move to a lighter dose. If it is infected it maybe red and hot to the touch may smell differently than it should. But homeopathic remedies for such wounds are things like honey which is antibacterial and different herbs with antibacterial and healing properties. I've been told it's not recommended to use comfrey for super deep like puncture wounds because it can cause them to heal over as it causes rapid growth of new skin. But that was a good thing in my case because this hen was missing a big hunk of skin. But I would at least keep antibiotic ointment on your hen. Keep her clean. Disinfect and clean the wound and put new antibiotic on it daily. Either blue coat or iodine or even just clean water would be okay. I used clean water followed by iodine. I have had a hand get the top of her head ripped off by another hen in a fight and simply kept antibiotic on it daily and it healed on its own even though her skull was showing. Here is a photo of my hen as of today. When it first happened you could see muscle, sinew, and fat. Just a little more ripping and it would have got into the abdominal cavity as all that was left was that thin muscle holding her guts in one spot. I need to get a hold of a suture kit for future use for things like this (and for me).