Silkie Chick with Open Head Wound-not healing after 4 weeks (WARNING: Graphic photos)

[JessG35]

About 4 weeks ago, I found my (at the time) 3 wk-old silkie grazing and acting normally, but with what appeared to be a head wound. It was almost as if she'd been scalped by one of our other hens. It looked like this:

We brought her inside, cleaned her head and covered it with neosporin. She stayed inside alone for a week. It appeared the skin was not open and she continued to act just fine. I'd read a bit on silkies and couldn't find anything about open head injuries. At this point, her head looked like this:

We started letting her graze and play outside for a few hours at a time (supervised of course-to ensure no one would peck at her injury.) After a few days and no problems, we put her back with her brothers and sisters (a mixed flock, born within 12 days, being raised by our broody.) About 8 days later, I came home to find her head a little bloodied and what appeared to be scabbed:

We brought her back in, cleaned her head with a little soap and warm water (when she shook to dry, it splattered blood), dressed it with more neosporin and since then, she's been an "inside chicken."

She's being such a sweetheart (singing, cleaning herself, eating/drinking normally, sitting in laps, perching on shoulders), but her head seems to be getting worse (pictures taken today):

I've trimmed the surrounding feathers, clean her box daily, have been spraying her head with antibiotic first aid spray (through a funnel, to block her eyes, of course) and sporadically dab a little neosporin on it. I'm at a loss of what to do. I promised my mate I wouldn't go spending a fortune at the vet to save a $3 chicken, but I can't imagine how long she could live like this and want to see her get better and rejoin the flock. Like I said, she's acting COMPLETELY normal and doesn't seem to be in any pain (currently sitting on my lap watching a movie.) Is there anyone who can help or has any advice?

 

[lightchick]

She'll probably eventually heal.

 

[Pinkaboo]

​

I think its a ploy to get inside and watch films with you!
You seem to be doing everything you can, it is a a large area it will take time
Wonder if the stuff they have for human wounds work on chickens
You can buy a spray that leaves a covering over a wound but let's it heal underneath


http://www.firstaid4sport.co.uk/Elastoplast-Spray-Plaster-32.5ml--P5482/

 

[CMV]

After 4 weeks the wound should be well progressed through the stages of healing. Despite the fact that there appears to be no infection in the wound, the wound is also clearly not healing. It is time to stop what you are doing and go back to the drawing board. Wash the whole area. Clean everything you have been using off. I am thinking she is not healing because she is reacting to something that is being used on the area- either the cleaning agent or topical cream. I also think she is trying to regrow some of the comb that was lost. Interesting. I never thought a bird would regrow a lost comb, but she is obviously growing something out of her head.

Have you ever used Silvadene cream? It is pretty amazing stuff. For years the only way to get it was via prescription, but these days they sell a weaker version of the original over the counter. I would try that. It is traditionally used on burns, but it is great for regrowing skin on "hard to heal" wounds. Clean the area each day with normal saline/salt water, and then dab on some Silvadene. If you don't see an improvement within a week, she has something else going on.

 

[Eggcessive]

Could it possibly be a tumor, and she was pecked initially, then re-injured, and it's continuing to grow? I haven't seen anything similar before. Does she ever scratch at it with her feet?

 

[clairabelle75]

I agree, I think she will heal, but it is taking longer than you'd expect. This winter my puppy got hold of one of my girls are messed up her wing. We came home to what I thought was a dead chicken, she was laying still in the snow, my husband thought we'd have to euthanize her, but she's healed well and is outside and laying again. I could see right into her wing, bones ligaments, everything. I gave her a couple of baths the first few days to clean her up and then sprayed her liberally every day with silver biotics / colloidial silver (from the health food store) and dripped lavender essential oil all over it and in the wound, then gave it a good smear of honey. I'm not sure which worked best, but in two weeks she was back outside. Here's a photo so you can see what her wound looked like.

You can't see it in the photo, but underneath the feather's at the top was where it went deep. I'm glad there's no infection in your girl (I would sniff my chicken regularly to check

). Good luck, she's a lucky chicken

 

[CMV]

Could it possibly be a tumor, and she was pecked initially, then re-injured, and it's continuing to grow? I haven't seen anything similar before. Does she ever scratch at it with her feet?

This was my thought, too. I disregarded it when I considered her age, though. In a bird so young, cancer is not the likeliest case, but it is not out of the realm of possibility.

 

[JessG35]

Thank you all, for the insight and advice. I've been giving her lots of vitamin E and stopped using neosporin. The mass on her head kept getting bigger, so today I gave her a bath and really cleaned up the area. I realized part of the problem was that her crest feathers had started developing within the scabbed area and were really making it worse. Once the scab softened up a bit from the water, I used some teensy tweezers to pull the surrounding feathers out of the healing wound. Once they were unstuck, there was more new skin forming than I thought, but it looked like the feathers were keeping it from forming over the whole head.

That helped quite a bit, but the scab must've been too moist, because a few minutes later she shook it off again (splattering blood everywhere.)
The tissue exposed now is almost certainly brain material, which is terrifying. It's still quite bloody, but I applied some vitamin E topically and that seems to have helped (although now she's got a sticky head.)

I've been giving her vitamin & electrolyte fluid. She's lethargic, but not behaving oddly otherwise (posture, gait and movements are all normal.) I haven't seen her eat in a few hours (not even treats), but she's drinking and taking the fluids well.

Did I make an awful mistake allowing the hard scab to get so moist? Should I have left the feathers clumped up in the wound? This poor baby, I really hope I haven't done anything to make it worse. I'd convinced myself we could save her, but maybe it wasn't meant to be...

 

[jbakely]

You did fine because you did what you thought was best, with her best interest in mind. I have an injured rooster. Yesterday I came in and told my husband I was not a good chicken nurse- he had gotten his t-shirt off and maggots were in his wound. I cleaned it up as best as I could and said a prayer. I went out today and it looked GREAT! I hope you see the same kind of results tomorrow.
Dealing with injuries, I have found there isn't too much to go on, not tons of direction so I think as long as you are doing what you think will help, then you aren't doing it "wrong". You are asking for help and looking for answers. Good job.

 

[Wol1]

For it to be brain matter, her skull would have to be cracked or a piece gone. Unless you've found a piece of skull, that seems unlikely...but without a picture??? If it's brain, it seems unlikely she would have survived this long. If it's membrane, let it heal. She may be a $3 chicken, but she is a living, pain feeling creature and you have assumed responsibility for her care.

About wound healing time, summarizing from page 418 http://avianmedicine.net/publication_cat/avian-medicine/ a manual for avian vets (I AM NOT A VET):
The first 2-3 days are the "inflammatory phase" spent by the avian body removing dead skin cells, debris, and bacteria. From about day 3 or 4 the "collagen phase" begins and the body begins to produce new capillaries and skin cells that begin to cover the wound. This phase lasts around two weeks. Next is the "maturation phase" which can take weeks to a months during which the collagen layer is strengthened and restructured and the wound is healed.

To summarize pages 419-420:After cleaning the wound with sterile saline, the wound should be stitched or, in the case of an older or more open wound, dressed with bandages. If feathers can be gently plucked without damage, they should be to prevent the feathers matting in the wound and slowing healing. They recommend not using non-water soluble medications, but the sulfadiazine mentioned in a post above is mentioned as ok as are bacitracin, neomycin or polymyxin. Hemorrhoid creams containing live yeast cell derivatives promotes skin and collagen formation. The goal of the dressing, according to this source is to prevent bacteria from entering the wound, and to prevent the wound from drying, to absorb the fluids produced, to help remove dead skin cells during dressing changes, and to keep scabs from forming. The scabs slow the development of new skin cells. Bandages should allow a moist but sterile environment. The recommended bandages are hydrocolloid or hydroactive dressings and moisture vapor permeable. The "hydro" bandages keep the wound moist and don't stick to wounds. The vapor permeable bandages may be preferable as they allow oxygen to move in and out, while preventing water or bacteria from getting in the wound. They are also better for head wounds due to their flexibility and good adhesion to non-wound areas. This type of bandage also reduces the pain of raw nerve endings in the wound area as well. Dressings should be changed every two to three days at first, more often if there is a lot of fluid leakage. Once things begin to "gel" over the wound, the dressings can be changed once a week. These bandages should be covered with sterile gauze and then they would both need to be held on in some way. A cute "bonnet" perhaps? "self adherent bandages", or duct tape. You may want to talk to a pharmacist about obtaining these things.