Unknown infection on my hen's neck!

[kittencuddlez]

Today I found my 5 month old mixed breed hen (silver laced polish + black astruloup) with a wound on her neck that appears infected with blood crusted around it and yellow discoloration which I think is puss. She has had a history of an eye injury due to it being pecked at by others in the flock. She appears fine overall besides the wound and has been eating and drinking without issue, poop looks normal and healthy. No other hen or roo has this injury, and I haven't treated it with anything because I'm unsure of how or what to treat this with but I do have medicines at home, as I cannot go to a vet to treat this none in the area or next county that will see chickens. I'm looking for home remedies. She is currently quarantined from the flock inside of our house in a container with hay bedding, food and water . Anyone have ideas how to safely treat her and also what might have caused this I suspect its caused by one of our roosters maybe being to rough.

 

[Debbie292d]

Hi,

If there are any feathers in the way of the wound, you could cut them with a scissors or kitchen scissors.

Then I would clean the wound with a saline, or saline Betadine solution. You can make your own easy enough if you wish. I'll post how below. Use a soft rag to try to get the dried blood and what might be an infection off of it. After you've cleaned it, I'd apply an antimicrobial spray like Vetericyn or a triple-antibiotic ointment (without a painkiller). I would not bandage it. Check and redo the cleaning and reapply more spray or ointment a couple of times a day. I'd keep her in for a few days until that heals up a little.

You might want to either get some Blu-Kote spray or use food coloring with a bit of water to color it blue before you put her with her flock. That'll keep them from pecking on it.

If you have any chicken vitamins, I'd give her some as a vitamin boost will help her heal.



DIY Saline Solution:
Eight teaspoons of table salt added to 1-gallon jug of distilled water to produce a normal saline solution.

or

Boil one cup of water with a lid on for 15 minutes
Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature
Add half a teaspoon of salt and stir until dissolved
Pour the solution into a jar or bottle and cover