Silkie survived hawk attack, any treatment/re-integration tips?

[akitafriendakita]

Two silkies were attacked today, second one only lost a few feathers and was fine but this one.. all I found was this massive pile of feathers and one bloody feather and she was missing for most of the day. Spent hours searching everywhere, under every nook and cranny - figured the hawk carried her off and came back for another or something. Well good news is the first missing silkie came back about an hour ago standing outside their enclosure and she's okay.

She has a 1/2" gash (only the first skin layer is cut) on the top of her wing, a small amount of blood where flight feathers were pulled, otherwise just bald spots. Her wing is still bleeding a little (it has Neosporin on it.) Anything else I should do with the wing? Should I wrap it? It's not bleeding much or at all really, just looks like an open wound. Note: the shiny stuff was when I first applied Neosporin.

She is eating fine and I do not see any signs of internal injury or broken bones, so just checking if I'm missing any tips on this wing injury. Would you wrap it temporarily or would blocking airflow be bad? Also, when can I put her back with the flock? Should I coat the injury in something to make it look less red once she has rested for a day or two?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Leave it open. Wash it either with Hibiclens or sterile saline solution which you can make yourself and put in a clean spray bottle so you can saturate the wound without scrubbing. Be sure the Neosporin is Original Formula and does not contain pain reliever, which is toxic to chickens. As for putting her in with the other chickens I would ask @Eggcessive about that.

 

[Eggcessive]

Good advice on wound care. I would let her have supervised visits but make sure the others do not peck at the wound. You could cover her with a baby T shirt or a homemade shirt to cover the area while she has visitors.

 

[akitafriendakita]

Thanks you two, sounds like an amazing idea! She's doing good and seems like she's a little less shocked, just sleeping now! Thanks again!

 

[akitafriendakita]

Leave it open. Wash it either with Hibiclens or sterile saline solution which you can make yourself and put in a clean spray bottle so you can saturate the wound without scrubbing. Be sure the Neosporin is Original Formula and does not contain pain reliever, which is toxic to chickens. As for putting her in with the other chickens I would ask @Eggcessive about that.

How long would you keep flushing the wound with saline water for? I've been using one of those ear cleaner things that squirt water to squirt it with warm saline water. It's pretty scabbed over now and the saline doesn't really penetrate, but does wash the outside of the scab.

She's doing great, energy is up, doesn't seem as stiff and sore as a few days ago and she seems to have her spunk back because she went ahead and beat up some of her flockmates today when I had her outside. I have her sleep inside though just so I know the other chickens cannot disturb the wound accidentally while she sleeps.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oh, when I had a wounded hen I flushed it twice a day using a spray bottle, blotted it dry gently and then gobbed Neosporin on it. It never did scab over, it just slowly healed from the outer edges. So I don't really know how to answer you. Have you been keeping Neosporin on it? Can you post a pic of it?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Did you ever clip feathers from around the wound so you could see it clearly?

 

[akitafriendakita]

Did you ever clip feathers from around the wound so you could see it clearly?

The photos of her two wounds today, the first on is bigger where the hawk probably nicked her with it's talon because it was a very smooth steady cut that looked knife-like. It went through all her skin but didn't penetrate her muscle luckily. Second one is where the hawk pulled flight feathers and it bled on the elbow of her wing.

I never clipped it since the hawk basically pulled every feather on her shoulder trying to get to her skin, I figured I would leave the feathers and give them a good wash when I leave her with the flock in the small chance that the feathers may puff up to cover the wounds better (so flockmates don't notice them much.)

They used to be more red/dark skin at first but have turned yellow since the scabs formed. The greasiness on her feathers all around it is just from the neosporin. Wounds seem less irritated to me as they were more red/pink around the edges before and it has lightened up a lot, she doesn't react to q-tips touching it so I assume no pain/infection.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Those do look nice and clean to me too. There's no redness around the margins which would indicate infection as you say, and you can see it healing from the outer edges in. Is she separated from the flock? Can you put her out with them in a shady spot in the dog crate for the next few days while healing continues, to prepare to re-integrate her with the flock?