Treating an old wound on a hen (gross pics)

[doomsayer]

I got a free Leghorn hen off of Craig's list. She was the only survivor of a dog attack. I need some help on dressing this wound.

That is the scab I soaked off. There were feathers underneath that were growing back into her skin and it smelled rotten.

That's the wound with no scab. There is not enough skin to close the wound either with stitches or butterflies. Last night I soaked her in Epsom salt bath, cleaned it with diluted peroxide and a disinfectant, then packed the wound with gauze in saline.

Does anyone know a better treatment? I'm getting different info from everyone. One says to just put blue kote, one says iodine no dressings, one says dress it. I'm so confused and I just want to see her healed the best way possible. If I had the cash I'd go to the vet but I just plunked down my life savings on my kitten that broke his leg.

 

[Judy]

I tried enlarging your pic but still can't really see the color of the tissue in the wound.

There are a multitude of ways to treat it. What you are doing is one of them which can be used when the wound has necrotic (dead, rotten) tissue. The idea is that the saline soaked gauze dries and pulls dead tissue away with it when removed. If the tissue looks red and a bit shiny, it is likely what is called granular tissue, which is live and healthy tissue. A scab is essentially dead tissue, and when you remove it, you quite possibly saw red, granular tissue below it.

Peroside and Betadine both kill a portion of any new cells present, so you don't want to use them any more, once granular tissue has formed.

Wide wounds like this can eventually heal by what is called secondary intention, which just means that scar tisue eventually grows across the "hole."

If I were reasonably certain that no dead tissue remained, I would probably smear Neosporin ointment on it once or twice a day and leave it open. Silvadene or another antibiotic ointment would work as well. It's quite possible that BluKote would, too. BluKote is mostly gentian violet, an "old time" antiseptic. I would not use Iodine (Betadine is just modern iodine, sort of) because it is quite painful and can cause iodine toxicity in large enough amounts. My personal preference for Neosporin is because I learned long ago it removes pain from my own wounds, and this is not the new stuff with pain killer in it. I would keep her indoors but would not try to dress it.

Actually, I have seen similar wounds heal when treated by daily washing with Betadine, though that was years ago and no one would do that any more. In a way, what heals wounds is simple cleanliness and good nursing care -- nutrition, hydration, a clean place to rest, etc., along with the body's own natural inclination to heal

Good luck!

 

[doomsayer]

Thanks so much. There is some dead tissue in one section I'm going to get off today. Trying to do little steps so she's not totally stressed. The main part of the wound has the bumpy skin and looks better than I expected.
She was fed grass and whatever bugs she could get and she is pretty bony. This morning she had layer crumble, worms, greens, egg shell, and I made chicken Gatorade for her to drink.

 

[Judy]

Sounds like excellent chicken nursing to me!

A cooked egg for the protein now and then would be good, too.