Turkey crisis--HELP!! WARNING: GRAPHIC PICS--Update

[Blisschick]

I went outside a few minutes ago and noticed some turkey feathers laying on the ground in clumps. I traced them back to one of my hens who was cowering behind one of then pens. I saw blood on her back, so I pulled her out. Upon inspection I discovered that one of the toms had tried to mate with her and had made a huge slices through her skin, all the way to the muscle, on both sides. The right side is worse, about 6 inches long and gaping open, and the one on the left is about half the length. I see where she has healing wounds on top of the skin, so apparently, this has been going on for awhile. I've cleaned the feathers out of the wounds and applied Betadine, but what can I do for the gaping wounds? I'm not sure about stitching her up, but I'm thinking I may have to do that.

I'm also in serious need of turkey saddles.

 

[Blisschick]

I decided that the first wound was too large to leave open, so I went ahead and applied some Orajel to both sides of the wound and stitched up the opposite ends where the good skin was using dental floss. (The yellow is Betadine.) The middle part has old, damaged skin, so I'm not too sure how well it will hold up if sutured, and so I'm still wondering if I should do it or not. It's in the shape of a crescent flap. Opinions?

The left side isn't as bad, and I really need to clean it up better to see how bad it really is. Do you think I would be able to leave this one alone to heal on it's own? I have a really good patient here, but my back is killing me and I'm waiting for her to lose patience with me.

 

[CarriBrown]

Oh no!
Bliss, I would leave that old skin open like that because I'm afraid it will hold in infection if you try to close it up. I think the best thing to do is keep that area flushed and clean, and you may want to put some Fura Zone on it to keep it moist.
I wouldn't mess with her too much at one time. If she's being a good girl and not freaking out, you want to keep her that way. Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[Blisschick]

The first wound wasn't too bad as far as closing up, but now that I've cleaned the second one, I'm worried. It's roughly U-shaped, and very deep on both sides. I'm thinking of putting in a couple of stitches here and there just to kind of close it some, not like the other one.

 

[Bamaman]

I had somewhat of the same thing happen to a 6 week old chicken. I wasn't around, so my dad just clipped the skin off, and put some antibiotic ointment on it. It grew the skn back and feathers, it was a huge chunk of skin, I would have just put it down if i had been home. It was fine after a month or so.

 

[jjthink]

How awful - poor thing. So sorry - but you are doing a superb job!

This looks like a case for more than just topical antibiotics. Deep wounds likely need oral or injectable antibiotics - others can plug in here to ID which ones and dosage for a turkey.

The poor gal is no doubt also in pain. Aspirin dosage for chickens is 5 regular aspirin (325 mg) crushed per gallon of water but with all that blood maybe somebody else should confirm whether it's okay for her to have the blood thinner that aspirin is. And whether it's okay for turkeys in general.

Other than that, and you're probably already doing this, she'll need a stress free environment where she can be at a comfy temp - she can't spare energy to fight cold weather right now.....

Sending lots of wishes for a speedy recovery...
JJ

 

[texaschickmama]

That looks terrible. You are doing a great job taking care of her. I would flush and keep very, very clean. I don't know about keeping it wet, I would think that if you let it dry out it would heal quicker. JMO though, with that and 1.50 you could get a Coca Cola.

 

[Pinenot]

I have a friend that had a roo cut open deeply by something, she used betadine and fishing line to close it up. She put neosporin on ever the cuts. A little neo is better than a lot. They also make dressing sprays that you can use. With it being spur wounds, I would give her an antibiotic.
Hope she gets better soon!

 

[Blisschick]

I fixed up her other side, but it's a mess compared to the long cut. Only one time did she object to me making a stitch, so I gobbed on more Orajel. I'm still pretty freaked that I this, but my nursing side kicked in and I tried to tie the stitches like I've seen doctors do on my kids.

I was a little concerned they were loose in a couple of places, but I figure it'll be okay because the wounds will need to drain as they heal.

I put her in with my Jerseys, who are used to having turkeys end up in their pen. I'll go later on and bring her in for the night once I get an area set up for her. I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow while I'm at work. I don't have any kind of kennel to keep her in.

I may be able to put her in the greenhouse, but I'm afraid she may get too hot. It's still pretty warm here.

I have some powdered Duramyacin...what dosage should I give her?

 

[Pinenot]

I don't know anything about how much med. to give a Turkey. You know...I just had a problem with one of my chickens and I wrote Dr. Peter Brown on how to treat her. I just wonder if that is the best option for you. At least you would have a Dr. opinion. Go to www.firststatevetsupply.com and contact Dr. Brown.

I think your doing good to just get her comfortable at this point.