Scab on a deep wound on the chicken stomach

[JuliaSunshine]

I have a pullet that was bitten by a dog 26 days ago and she's slowly healing.
The wound is a combination of a cut and deep puncture and it's been gradually sealing up from the lower, shallower part.
Now the upper part seems to be sealing up too but the scab is still very thick and big and I can see the skin is forming next to the upper scab.
Can the skin seal over the scab?
Should I take off the scab or will it fall off naturally?
She's eating and walking quite well now. I've been rinsing her wound and put in Manuka honey everyday for 3 weeks and now every second day.

 

[azygous]

Wound healing can be a bit mystifying. It helps to understand how a large wound grows new tissue in order to understand why a scab isn't the best thing for the wound.

If you will notice, there is a ridge of new tissue circling the outer edge of the wound. This is called granulation, and it's how new skin cells grow - from the outer edge toward the center. It can take up to six to eight weeks to completely cover the wound, ending with a little pinhole at the center which will be the last to close.

Allowing a thick scab to form, as has happened in this wound, hinders the growth of new cells and prevents them from marching toward the center as they wish to do. I think you might already be thinking that this scab must come off, so it shouldn't be a big surprise that is what I'm recommending. Another reason to keep a scab from forming is to prevent bacteria from getting trapped under the scab, which can halt the growth of healthy new skin cells, and you could end up dealing with infection on top of everything.

Here's what to do. Fix a tub of 105F water with a healthy squirt of dish detergent and an antiseptic like Betadine. Soak the hen in it for around fifteen minutes, and this will make the scab soft and mushy, easy to scrap off. Get it all off so only the raw wound is left.

To prevent another scab from forming, clean the wound each day and keep it moist with either Manuka honey or antibacterial ointment. The wound must not be allowed to dry out for even one day as this will slow down the growth of new skin cells to a virtual standstill.

Keeping the wound moist and preventing a scab will help the wound heal as fast as possible. After the scab removal, the wound should then close in about three to four more weeks.

 

[JuliaSunshine]

Wound healing can be a bit mystifying. It helps to understand how a large wound grows new tissue in order to understand why a scab isn't the best thing for the wound.

If you will notice, there is a ridge of new tissue circling the outer edge of the wound. This is called granulation, and it's how new skin cells grow - from the outer edge toward the center. It can take up to six to eight weeks to completely cover the wound, ending with a little pinhole at the center which will be the last to close.

Allowing a thick scab to form, as has happened in this wound, hinders the growth of new cells and prevents them from marching toward the center as they wish to do. I think you might already be thinking that this scab must come off, so it shouldn't be a big surprise that is what I'm recommending. Another reason to keep a scab from forming is to prevent bacteria from getting trapped under the scab, which can halt the growth of healthy new skin cells, and you could end up dealing with infection on top of everything.

Here's what to do. Fix a tub of 105F water with a healthy squirt of dish detergent and an antiseptic like Betadine. Soak the hen in it for around fifteen minutes, and this will make the scab soft and mushy, easy to scrap off. Get it all off so only the raw wound is left.

To prevent another scab from forming, clean the wound each day and keep it moist with either Manuka honey or antibacterial ointment. The wound must not be allowed to dry out for even one day as this will slow down the growth of new skin cells to a virtual standstill.

Keeping the wound moist and preventing a scab will help the wound heal as fast as possible. After the scab removal, the wound should then close in about three to four more weeks.

I've been wondering if I should take the scab off but my husband thought chickens should be able to heal on their own without our fussing over them too much.
But the way the new skin growing around the scab really made me think that I should do something with the scab.
Thank you for your thorough instructions.
I'm just curious though, is it just chickens or humans too need to keep a wound free of scab?
I guess people would have gotten stitches for a big wound like this so no scab would have formed.
It's amazing how a chicken could live with such a big hole on the stomach.
It's hard to keep the wound moist as the honey just drips down from it after being applied.
Maybe I'll try to fix a pad on the wound somehow.
I wonder if she would've survived without me treating her every day. It's been such a long and arduous process.

 

[azygous]

People wounds behave as chicken wounds do, and all animal wounds do, as well. The only difference is the DNA that programs cells to be chicken or human or dog or horse. Bacteria is a danger with all wounds, and wound care is a must if you don't wish your animal or human to sicken or lose the limb or even die from infection caused by proliferation of bacteria. Not treating a wound, whether on a human or chicken or horse, invites the greater probability of infection as bacteria are everywhere, outside us and inside us.

Yes, it's medical practice to debride wounds in order to prevent infection. When my daughter was six, she had a head-on collision with a boy at school. I was called to fetch her to the ER where her noggin was stitched up. Later, during followup visits, the doctor removed her tiny scab regularly so the wound healed cleanly, leaving almost no scar, important for a pretty young lady, he said.

Much later, I had a run-in with a burn pit and was severely burned on my legs. My wound care consisted of daily debriding to remove all bacteria and dying or dead tissue and my legs were smeared in between with an ointment to keep the burns moist. Again, this prevented infection on the large wound areas, and my legs healed with only moderate scarring. Research in the area of animal medicine has found that wound debriding is very beneficial in healing both large and small wounds. It's become standard procedure in wound care for animals.

 

[JuliaSunshine]

People wounds behave as chicken wounds do, and all animal wounds do, as well. The only difference is the DNA that programs cells to be chicken or human or dog or horse. Bacteria is a danger with all wounds, and wound care is a must if you don't wish your animal or human to sicken or lose the limb or even die from infection caused by proliferation of bacteria. Not treating a wound, whether on a human or chicken or horse, invites the greater probability of infection as bacteria are everywhere, outside us and inside us.

Yes, it's medical practice to debride wounds in order to prevent infection. When my daughter was six, she had a head-on collision with a boy at school. I was called to fetch her to the ER where her noggin was stitched up. Later, during followup visits, the doctor removed her tiny scab regularly so the wound healed cleanly, leaving almost no scar, important for a pretty young lady, he said.

Much later, I had a run-in with a burn pit and was severely burned on my legs. My wound care consisted of daily debriding to remove all bacteria and dying or dead tissue. Again, this prevented infection on the large wound areas, and my legs healed with only moderate scarring. Research in the area of animal medicine has found that wound debriding is very beneficial in healing both large and small wounds. It's become standard procedure in wound care for animals.

Good to know. Thank you very much.
BTW, do you think I can get rid of the scab by putting Vaseline on it? I'll keep it wrapped up too.
I'm worried about using our well water to soak her as it has bacteria. We don't drink it.
I guess I can boil and cool it but it'd be nice if there's another way to get rid of the scab without soaking her. Any suggestions?

 

[azygous]

Vaseline won't do much to soften the scab. I would boil up some water and treat her with the dish detergent. I can testify from direct experience removing a thick black scab on a rooster that the detergent will make jelly out of the scab.

I specified 105F for the temperature of the water because the hotter water helps ferret out bacteria. Skin tissue begins to burn at 108F, so be very careful not to use water any hotter than 105F.

 

[JuliaSunshine]

Vaseline won't do much to soften the scab. I would boil up some water and treat her with the dish detergent. I can testify from direct experience removing a thick black scab on a rooster that the detergent will make jelly out of the scab.

I specified 105F for the temperature of the water because the hotter water helps ferret out bacteria. Skin tissue begins to burn at 108F, so be very careful not to use water any hotter than 105F.

Thank you again. I'll just do the soaking then.
I hope her scab comes off easily too.
I've been worried about her scab so long that I'm now looking forward to seeing it gone.