skinned alive -update 18/4/2011 the update we didnt want :(

[spish]

thanks all for the lovely comments, i promise i'll put some pics up real soon, cant find the darn cable for the camera!

 

[pinenut]

i would worry that the muscles on the head has so shrunk that his skull is showing, which tells me that hos bone is still exposed and very vulnerable to bad infections, I would cover the whole thing with as thick of a coat of clay , not only to protect it, but to suck out all of the impurities from the wounds. Don't be afraid to do it, Jesus healed a blind man with spit and mud/clay. it will give the bird time to make more skin to cover its wounds and the clay will fall off when it's no longer needed. Reapply it everyday, over what had not fallen off so the wounds are never exposed until healed completely.
The clay I use is Redmond clay from a local mine, ( check redmondclay.com)but I supposed that even if you had other clay from a health food store will work similarly. bentonite from a. Hardware store or a pottery studio might do better than leaving such deep wounds bare.
I wish I can find the title of the book I bought from the Redmond Mine store when we stopped to buy some Redmond Salt. the lady who wrote it prefaced her book by telling her story that when her son punctured one of his eye on a barb wire while her husband was away in his duties as a pediatrician, and in their isolation, all she could do was to apply a thick layer of her wet clay over his wounded eye. when it was healed she noticed a kind of a scale or lens in the discarded hard clay that fell off. I thought the story too good to be true until I could do nothing but apply thick layer of my wet Redmond clay over my own wounded pullet that look very much like your own bird. It saved it from being picked upon by others, and could not fall off as easily as a bandaid or anything else I could have applied there, all of this in addition to the clay's own healing properties.

 

[QuinnP]

GO HOLLY!!!!!! That brave girl needs some serious treats!

 

[GallusGal]

I had a rooster with a degloving wound that encompassed most of his foot. The skin did eventually grow back, but the big challenge was staving off infection. In addition to antibiotics, I would really suggest the liberal application of SSD cream. They use it for burn victims and it not only prevents infection, but promotes wound healing beautifully. I've used it in avians and reptiles with infections to great result; most recently was a lizard who had a horrifically abcessed leg to the point that the skin had totally seperated from ankle to thigh, died, and had to be trimmed off. The SSD cream with gauze and vet wrap had him better in no time.

Best of luck with your poor girl. Chickens are tough as nails and she could very well make it yet.

 

[schellie69]

Go Holly keep us posted on her progress please.

 

[raventearsx]

I live in a very dangerous environment from a chicken's perspective, and I have had the misfortune of finding birds injured like this one. This is the worst I've seen, but this is what I would do:

Isolate the bird in a sick pen (which you've already done)

Treat the injury with antiseptic. Spray-on is easiest, I use Wound-Kote and never seen a pain reaction.

Leave the bird alone. Stress her as little as possible, provide clean water and food, but the rest will have to be up to her. If she is a tough hen (and I've seen some very resilient birds) she will scab over and heal up over a couple weeks.

Check the wound often for signs of infection or re-injury.

She managed to get away from whatever was trying to eat her, so she obviously has a strong will to live.

Good luck.

 

[sweeterdeeter42]

Bactroban is what they gave me when my skin fell off my forearm from a severe liquid burn. It would probably work well for her head. Also, Aquaphor, the clear stuff that they sell for babies butts and skin which is really a healing ointment/skin protectant, would help keep the wound moist so it doesnt dry out. My wound was much larger than your chickens and it healed fine with these two things. I dont know if they have it or anything like it were you are, though.
We had a chicken who was torn into by a predator, she had a large hole in her back and you could see everything inside. We dont have any livestock vets around, so we packed it and changed the dressings and used healing ointment and stuff on it and she survived. It was pretty disgusting though. But you don't necessarily need a vet in order for her to survive.
And depending on where her scull is showing, she may not have had muscle there in the first place. I know that humans do not have muscle on the top of their heads, but try as I might, I can not find a diagram of chicken muscles anywhere. They cant move their combs around, so they may not have muscles around there. If it looked like she did at first, it may be because the other muscles were inflamed from the trauma and covering the area, and have now gone back to their normal size. Just something to look into.

 

[spish]

updated picture time!!! here is holly having a stroll arond with her new companion Drake the silkie. shes doing ever so well its hard to think that a week ago i was thinking of culling!!!! a lesson to us all!
in the close up you can see the piece of skull....is that anything to be worried about?

 

[schellie69]

I think she looks great and the wound is healing so well I think that as the wound heals that the skin will cover that spot. Keep up the great job. Holly is one special chicken.

 

[Miss Lydia]

spish, I can't believe that is the same bird, I know you can't either. she looks great, you have done wonders and having a friend with her is probably great medicine for her too. keep up the good work, I think the skin will grow back over that area just make sure it stays clean.. all the best.