UPDATED (Feb 3, 2012): Injured young hen [Warning: Graphic images.]

[NatureBoy86]

Wow thats a rough wound, What your doing sounds like the right thing to do. Id (personally) trim any feathers dangling in the wound to reduce any bacteria from getting in. Hope she makes it, ill be following her progress.

 

[startingover]

So sorry about your bird, but I think with time she will be ok. She's going to have to be a house bird for a while!

I have had a few injured like that in the past and all have recovered. The worse one was attacked by a dog and had her whole side ripped open and one spot there was a hole big enough to see inside. But with a lot of care you can save them. Chickens heal remarkably well.

This is my advice - trim all the hanging skin, etc. It will become necrotic. You want to trim down to good flesh. Trim all the feathers away from the wound so that it decreases the risk of harboring bacteria. All my wounded birds I have treated with the a Betadine or Iodine solution. It does a much better job of disinfecting. It is the same stuff used to prep for surgery. Leaves the icky brown looking stain. But it works and that's why it's continued to be used. You can dilute it with water to make a scrub out of it to really wash the wound and you can put it on straight. After I clean a wound really well - I have something here called ISP Ointment. I have used it for about 20 years now. It is the best stuff on earth. I love it. It has all natural ingredients. I found it years ago when my horse had foundered and her bone came through the sole of her foot. Normally this is a death sentence. The ISP manufacturers claimed that it would help regrow the sole over her foot and cover the bone. I was ready to try anything. I had nothing to lose. So I did - and the ISP worked and her sole regrew over the bone. I was hooked forever and it never ceases to amaze me what this stuff can do. You can read about it here: http://horseparkusa.com/ and there is many places online to buy it and it's not that expensive and a little goes a long way.

Anyway - I would put the ISP on it twice a day until healed and then she can go back outside. Keep her area clean where you are going to house her until she is healed. I went an invested in a bunch of cheap white bath towels and use those in my "injury" cage. This way I can just bleach them in the wash after I knock all the poo off.

Good luck!!

 

[dawg53]

It looks as though she possibly had prolapse and the others tore her rear end up. I would cull.

 

[chickenzoo]

To me it looks like her topside was mangled from oil gland to mid back or a little lower. If it looks like that oil gland is still attached with live tissue, I would clean her of and flush all deep wounds with saline. I would remove any damaged feathers. I would put the glad back in position best you can. I would get a spray would dressing such as Blu kote and also get some vet wrap. I would softy wrap her backside with the vet wrap after applying the wound dressing. I would put her in a quiet dark place with a heat lamp or use a heating pad under a towel, to keep her from getting too shocky. Put vitamins in her water. Pain reliever is 3 baby aspirin to a gallon water, but if she is still actively bleeding then I would hold off. Chickens are great healers if given a chance.

Now I can't see her underside by her vent. If her vent area is pulled out, or ate up deeply, then I would put her down. If you can get pics that would be helpful...

 

[terrilhb]

How is she doing?

 

[Prairie Orca]

Update! She's still alive and is doing well in my opinion. Defecated a few times, all of which looked healthy. I've been keeping her in relative darkness most of the day (using a fake fireplace to heat the room, so it provides a little bit of light from the "flames"). I just checked on her earlier and she was sitting in the sink. I noticed something was at her rear end, blending in with the cream colour of the sink. An egg! I take that as a sign that she isn't too stressed out, but all the same I want her to stop laying for a while so that her body has lots of nutrients to use in her recovery.

I've trimmed the feathers around the area. She doesn't appreciate having her wing feathers trimmed.

Here are some pictures I took several hours ago:

If you look at her face you can see that she has gotten some colour back.

That grayish brown you see in the middle of the wounded area is the end of the bone. Underneath that is a hole that may prove tricky to maintain.
Some of the white stuff is Polysporin, but not all. I tried washing it off during the second cleaning but it hurt her so much that she was trying to get away, so I stopped.

Not sure if you guys can see, but the hanging bit of flesh is actually skin - there are feathers attached.

There are some dark spots in the upper right area. They appear to be scabs.

I'm not sure of what to do with the tail feathers that are still attached in the wound area - they're the ones pointing downward to the left of the hanging flesh. You can see the end of the calamus poking out of the skin on some. Should I remove them? It looks like all but one are still very much attached to living tissue.

Just took these pictures about twenty minutes ago:

You can see the bone protruding from the wounded area. You can also see the one wayward feather that I'm considering removing.

Dark spots are showing up. I'm guessing they're scabs. I'm a little concerned because that might mean there is still a bit of bleeding, but I'm not sure.

The bone looks red now. I think that's a good sign, but I don't know much about the way the healing works in this case so I may be wrong.

Removed the dead skin. Three pieces because when I went to cut, I realized it was in such a position that I couldn't see proper, so I had to cut piece by piece. The skin I left behind is healthy upon last inspection.

Slightly different lighting on this picture. No after image showing the chicken without the skin because the camera's battery is dying. I also removed more of the feathers that were close to touching the area.

From those pictures does anyone see anything concerning? I'm honestly not all that familiar with severe wounds.

She ate about twenty minutes ago, with lots of gusto.

Just now I checked on her, and she pecked at me... that's the girl I know!

Again, thank you everyone for your kind words and advice. I'm reading everything and considering all advice.

 

[Lothiriel]

I can't offer any advice -- I think what people have already said here is great. I will say though that I think you are doing a great job and your girl sounds (and looks!) like she's improving and will make it! Wishing you both good luck..

 

[the3ofus+oursixchicks]

Quote:
how can you tell if a hen is in shock?

 

[kari_dawn]

usually, their eyes are dialated, they aren't moving around alot, and they are unresponsive ie-they just let you pick them up when normally they may struggle. They look dazed.

Please keep us updated on her progress.

 

[terrilhb]

I am glad she is still doing well. I hope and pray she stays good. Please keep us updated.