Topic of the Week - Treating Chicken Injuries

[ArmelChix]

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Injuries in our flocks are something most, if not all of us, have to deal with at time point during our chicken-keeping venture. Whether it's a small, minor scrape, or a life-threatening injury, it needs to be looked after and in most cases taken care of, to ensure the bird makes a fast and full recovery. This week I would like to hear your thoughts and practices on chicken injuries and treatments. Specifically:

- What do you have on hand for injuries (in your first aid box)?
- How do you handle injuries and treat them?
- What do you do with the injured bird during its recovery?


For a complete list of our Topic of the Week threads, see here:https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/topic-of-the-week-thread-archive

One thing I now have in my first aid kit is a large jug of Chlorhexidine. Chlorhexidine is the product that is used by vets to swab a surgical site on one of their patients, for instance. I had a chicken with a leg injury that would not heal properly. It looked like it would heal completely (I was using all of my typical topical healing products and ointments etc) but then a pus filled area would grow again. A scab wood form over it and the thing would look really ugly all over again. This happened over and over until I asked a vet online He instructed me to soak the chicken in a chlorhexidine solution twice a day for about 15 minutes. He also advised me to stop putting antibiotic ointments on it. It took about 10 days for the wound to be completely healed but it did finally heal over. When it healed, it looked like a big lump on her skin and I wasn't sure that it was completely healed ... but with time I could see that there was no more infection. Eventually the lump went down, the skin went back to normal, and bow there's no scar or indication of an injury.