Update 3/13 Blood :( - HELP! Flock attacked, 1 injured

[robomb]

Thank you! I hope she makes it. My kids are planning to get an enclosed run for my mother's day present this year, after I messaged them that I don't think I can go through this again. My set up is obviously not very secure. How do I keep my one lucky hen safe? I hate to keep her in the coop all day / all night. Not much of a life. Well, maybe until we can reinforce the run.

 

[MissNutmeg]

So, how's your hen this morning? Is she still eating and drinking okay?

 

[robomb]

It's Thursday evening, and she's hanging on! I think she's improving - has been drinking and eating although it's not a ton. She even laid an egg yesterday. Has a terrible pasty butt, I think she's just hunkering down and trying to heal. I've been spraying the Vetericyn on her a couple times a day. I thought it looked better (less red/inflamed) but looking at these pics, it looks black. I hope she's getting better, and not getting putrified skin. I haven't attempted to clean it out because I don't have anyone to hold her and I don't want her trying to flee. Any thoughts on applying an antibacterial like neosporin? I'm really afraid to touch it, but I believe the spray has been helpful.

 

[MissNutmeg]

I would do the Neosporin, it might hurry up the healing process. And so far, from the pic(s), I personally don't think the wound is infected.

 

[robomb]

Okay - I'll spray again and then apply the neosporin. I have to add that I have been using a homeopathic remedy as well - I took a couple of classes in traditional homeopathy, one specifically in first aid. I added Belladonna to her water, since that remedy seemed to fit her symptoms the best. Have no idea if it helped, but I believe it did. I've been giving her meal worms, bird seed and some layer pellets, and have offered her plain yogurt as well. I'll see if she's interested in sprouts tomorrow. I have a space heater in the room, so it's a balmy 75 degrees. I tried using a wet paper towel to clean off some of the pasty butt, but it's pretty caked on there. I feel bad for the healthy survivor alone in the coop - it's supposed to go down in the single digits overnight for the next couple of nights.

I'll post tomorrow after the topical has had a chance to work. Hopefully she will make a full recovery.

 

[MissNutmeg]

Yes, please keep me updated!

 

[robomb]

When I checked her this morning, she had actually changed positions! I took her out to spray her wound and give her food and water, and she was talking a little, and seemed very interested in her new surroundings - looked like she wanted to hop up on top of the dog crate! I'm so impressed with this girl. What a fighter! Question: is it possible that when the animal ripped out her feathers, that it took a hunk of skin and tissue with it? I'm not 100% convinced it's a puncture wound. I'll never get answers to my questions about what happened on Tuesday, but I'm thrilled that she is acting more like herself

 

[robomb]

It has been 4 days since the flock attack, and this girl continues to amaze me. She's doing

[/IMG] so well in spite of the injury to her back. I'm still spraying the Vetericyn and now dabbing neosporin on the open wounds. The edges of the wounds are black, but it doesn't look infected. I don't see pus or inflammation. She's eating and drinking (when I offer it - not sure she's doing either on her own)

 

[MrsBachbach]

Okay - I'll spray again and then apply the neosporin. I have to add that I have been using a homeopathic remedy as well - I took a couple of classes in traditional homeopathy, one specifically in first aid. I added Belladonna to her water, since that remedy seemed to fit her symptoms the best. Have no idea if it helped, but I believe it did. I've been giving her meal worms, bird seed and some layer pellets, and have offered her plain yogurt as well. I'll see if she's interested in sprouts tomorrow. I have a space heater in the room, so it's a balmy 75 degrees. I tried using a wet paper towel to clean off some of the pasty butt, but it's pretty caked on there. I feel bad for the healthy survivor alone in the coop - it's supposed to go down in the single digits overnight for the next couple of nights.

I'll post tomorrow after the topical has had a chance to work. Hopefully she will make a full recovery.

Keep doing what you are doing. I've seen chickens heal from some horrible injurys with a little help from us humans. Cleaning such a wound as that with saline would have been the first step. The antibacterial spray is a good next step, plus something to take care of internal spread of infection would be another step. Not sure if I would of done the asprin on a wound like that because of possibly starting up bleeding somewhere, especially if internal. But, she should heal up fine if infection is kept at bay. Let it close up and then put her back with her friend. A hen apron might be a good idea to help protect her back while you wait for feathers to regrow. Will take her a couple of days to get used to it though. They always try to walk backwards to get out of it.

 

[robomb]

Thanks MrsBachBach - I actually never gave her aspirin because I didn't have any. I also know from my homeopathic training that any anti-inflammatory completely negates the homeopathic treatment, and I opted to treat her homeopathically instead. To be completely honest, I was afraid to touch her wound even with saline water. It's way too cold to have given her a saline bath, and I just didn't know how to begin. I don't have anyone else in my home to hold her if she started flapping her wings while I was trying to clean it. Plus, I'm such a wuss. I feel lousy because maybe it would have helped speed things along. Is it something I ought to do now? I've been using warm wet paper towels to try and clean her vent area (caked with poo). I think I could try cleaning her wound now also.
Let me know if you think cleaning the wound(s) now would be a good idea. I'm so impressed with this chick I also bought two pullets from a local farm to help the survivor stay warm in the coop. She was so happy to have company! She hopped out of the coop to greet them and and began eating and drinking. I think she was depressed to be alone. It was -30 with the wind last night, and only about -10 today.