Rooster attacked-Question and picture

[carolina chicky]

My rooster was attacked earlier by a dog. We have treated his cuts and bandaged him but he has a large swollen lump on his back. The lump is red but isn't bleeing and it feels kind of hard. We are not sure what to do about it so I am including a pic.

He is limping and acting very tired, but he seems to be okay otherwise.

 

[ivan3]

Are there any bites or bruising around that area? I'd suspect hematoma (blood under skin) or torn muscle. As you say it is hard I'd doubt it is the chicken version of a pneumothorax/air under skin (punctured lung/air sac).

If it doesn't start to resolve post a picture from above with feathers pulled away from area.

(handsome guy, he's in good hands)

Take Care and Good luck to you and your roo!

 

[threehorses]

Answered on your other thread; hope you find it.

 

[jadeflower999]

Puncture wounds from bites are one of the worst kinds of injuries because all that mouth bacteria gets sealed into the skin and causes terrible infections. If the lump developed a day or so later it is probably an abcess and would need to be drained by a professional or the roo may die. Infected sites feel much warmer than the surrounding tissue does. It could also be a hematoma which wouldn't be as bad and would begin to resolve on its own after a few days. If you have the resources and this is not looking better he should go to a vet, the site doesn't have to be draining to be an infection..
Good luck! Hope the poor guy gets better, he's a pretty roo!

 

[carolina chicky]

Thank you all. I believe the lump may be a hematoma. I am going to watch him for a few days and hope he makes it.

 

[threehorses]

How's he doing today?

 

[jjthink]

Poor boy

Do you have him on antibiotic? Probably the most important thing.

You can give a bit of electroltyes for shock/stress.

Rescue Remedy for stress = drop or two in his water.

If not eating or drinking well, it could be because of pain in which case aspirin in water may help (IF he's not actively bleeding and if internal bleeding is not suspected - not sure he's clear of that yet from the descrip). Once believed safe, 1 baby aspirin (no substitutes unless confirmed okay for chickens) crushed per cup of water, changed out twice daily ideally.

Keep him hydrated - watery fruits may work if he's not interested in drinking (e.g. watermelon, onto which you can spritz a bit of electrolyte water, and later when safe spritz on aspirin water)

I don't know what the lump is but hope he will be okay.
JJ

 

[threehorses]

I like the idea of the rescue remedy. I don't know that I'd do the antibiotic - quite - because it has to be a certain antibiotic type. Not just whatever you get from the feedstore. Either a prescribed Baytril, or a penicillin (which does better as an injection, not so much as an oral in birds because of their gut bacteria sensitivity to penicillin - it's dreadful on their digestive tracts when given orally.

As with all things, if the wounds are fresh smelling and not weeping, I don't think I'd risk it.

 

[carolina chicky]

he is not doing well. we just found another major wound between his vent and belly we hadn't seen and it is smelly and FULL of maggots. I don't know what to do

 

[threehorses]

Quote:
Ah, that makes sense. That's why I always recommend searching absolutely every inch of them. Puncture wounds are hard for humans to find, easy for flies. It just takes one to lay 300 eggs.

But all is not a loss yet.

First, Just recheck him thoroughly - every inch - to make sure there are no more surprises.

Take him to the bathtub. Get cleaning stuff ready - hydrogen peroxide, warm water, syringes if you have them, droppers if you don't, iodine, ,a coupel of cups or glasses, paper towels, and the wound dressings. If you have honey, sacrifice the honey bottle and bring it along. Scissors.

Clip the feathers away from the wound near the vent so that you can see it and no feathers dip in it.

If you have a shower-attachment sprayer that you can bring down and vigorously clean that puncture and wash all the maggots off with warm water, do it. Drown them out of that spot. Use your syringes filled with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and a tiny bit of water to literally stick in the puncture hole and squirt it out - squirting like you would want to spray someone 3 feet away from you. Vigor knocks maggots loose. Someone else used a little vinegar in water. I like H2O2 because it also bubbles out infection, dirt, and burns the heck out of maggots. They hate it - they'll come pouring out. Wash them down the drain. (Later pour bleach down the drain followed by a rinse of very hot water.)

You can dry the area and pack with honey. That will suffocate maggots and make them leave the wound. Although i don't recommend honey as a wound treatment alone, if you don't get it all out it's ok as it has slight antibacterial action.

You can do this. Detatch yourself from the situation mentally. Think how you'd want someone to do it for you if that were you.

Once you think you've gotten them all out, then you can clean the wound with iodine and warm water made into a tea-colored solution. Pat dry and don't worry about little bits of iodine/water solution being in there. It kills germs.

Then literally PACK that wound with the neosporin ointment. Squirt it right in there. That way you have ointment that will be melting and releasing it's antibacterial goodies into the wound over time.

Otherwise, leave the wound open to air. Keep him inside away from flies.

Check the wound in another 4 hours to get any new maggots who were late in hatching. And again.

This really is still a very managable and normal chicken-barnyard wound. Dry the bird thoroughly after you treat him, as much as you can to prevent a chill. Get him some food.

As always, I'm available via email. I'll be up a while tonight after I put my feed away from the truck. So if you need me, let me know.

But I'm serious that you can do this, and it's very much worth doing. Maggots are a side-effect of the barnyard. They're no where near a death sentence. Just make sure to check his vent and get them all away from there as well.

And if you have baby powder, it wouldn't hurt to powder the area around that wound after to help it keep dry. In case.

Next time you're at the feedstore, buy a bottle of "screw-worm wound spray" that will kill hatching maggots on wounds, and prevent flies (mostly) from coming near the wound. It's really a great insurance policy and will bring you peace of mind just sitting in your chicken med cabinet!

Hang in there! You're doing good. Kick those maggots' right off of your good chicken and tell them to get lost!