URGENT: Coyote Attacked Roo, First Aid Advice Needed!

[hokankai]

I am counting my blessings this afternoon. Today I let the chickens out and decided I wanted to sit outside and read a book and watch the banties so they could have some outside time. All of a sudden I heard all the chickens squawking and flapping so I got up and started running over there. I looked over (I was hidden behind the coop) and saw a coyote had jumped out of the bushes and had a mouthful of my huge BO rooster's tail! I kept running, yelling, and howling (I probably looked like a lunatic) and as soon as the coyote saw me it booked it across the neighbor's yard where it had come from.

I caught Duke and brought him inside, and I am so thankful for that huge fluffy of tail he had. He has two lacerations next to his tail caused by the canines. One is just a skin wound and removed the skin. The other, at the base of his tail, is a tad deeper and is about an inch long or so.

He is calm, eating and drinking, and there wasn't significant bleeding but the wound is still moist.

What do I need to do to prevent infection? I have Triple Antibiotic ointment, Betadine, and injectible Tylan 50. Do I need to bandage it?

Do I need to keep him inside tonight to monitor and make sure his wound stays clean?

Pictures






After the bleeding stopped and was dabbed away

 

[lymanmomof3]

Oh your poor guy!!! I love that he is sitting on your sink in this picture. I came to the forum tonight because my Brahma has an impacted crop and I let her in the house tonight and just when I feel I've lost my darn mind I come here and feel like I'm doing the right thing and taking care of my feathered friend.

I'm sorry, I'm a newbie, kinda, just had the 4 since a day old about a year ago but if your first instinct was keep your guy in the house, I'd say that was the right thing to do. Good luck and thank God you were outside!!

 

[chickencrazy888]

Yes. Do keep him inside not so much to watch him but to keep him warm, and to help with not letting flies into the wound. The first thing is not to let him go into shock. With a deep mark that big, I would give him injectable antibiotic. The coyote will have bacteria in his mouth. Not sure about the Tylan as I have never used it. When this happened to my BO roo, I was recommended to give him Penicillin G procaine 300,000 IU/ml by BYC'ers and the vet. I was told to give him one injection for four days in a row. The vet told me it was o.k. to give him a whole CC, but I opted to give him a 1/2cc because according to poundage really an 1/8cc was enough. Wondering what you cleaned it with. Looks nice. Don't use hydrogen peroxide after first initial cleaning because it can destroy any new tissue/skin growing. Antibiotic ointment on the wound is good. You might also want to get some Blu-Kote, and some sort of fly spray to keep flies and bugs out of the wound. I wouldn't put him back in the flock until the wound is healed over, otherwise the rest of the chickens might keep pecking his scab open. Sure glad the BO's have that fluffy tail. It's what saved my roo's life too. Trying to think of anything else to tell you. The antibiotic injection I gave in his breast. Helps to have someone hold him for you. As long as he's eating and drinking fine, he should be o.k. Just watch out for infection. My roo's wound was bigger and deeper. It took about 3 months for him to heal completely, but he had a wound under his wing, and his leg too. I would double check his skin for other puncture marks. I looked and searched and looked and searched some more all over my roo for wounds and puncture marks. I thought I had found them all, but even after two weeks of looking him over every night and putting antibiotic ointment on him, I still found another wound that I did not find on first initial check. Short story long, check him over well through all those thick feathers, and good luck. Keep us updated.

 

[hokankai]

Thank you so much! I did find another laceration under his tail nub from the bottom teeth. I put him on the roost because we were leaving but I'll bring him inside when I get home. He doesn't seem like he's in shock though, thank goodness. I'll go to the feed store and look for penicillin

 

[Partyfowl]

Yes. Do keep him inside not so much to watch him but to keep him warm, and to help with not letting flies into the wound.  The first thing is not to let him go into shock.  With a deep mark that big, I would give him injectable antibiotic.  The coyote will have bacteria in his mouth. Not sure about the Tylan as I have never used it. When this happened to my BO roo, I was recommended to give him Penicillin G procaine 300,000 IU/ml by BYC'ers and the vet. I was told to give him one injection for four days in a row.  The vet told me it was o.k. to give him a whole CC, but I opted to give him a 1/2cc because according to poundage really an 1/8cc was enough. Wondering what you cleaned it with.  Looks nice.  Don't use hydrogen peroxide after first initial cleaning because it can destroy any new tissue/skin growing.  Antibiotic ointment on the wound is good.  You might also want to get some Blu-Kote, and some sort of fly spray to keep flies and bugs out of the wound. I wouldn't put him back in the flock until the wound is healed over, otherwise the rest of the chickens might keep pecking his scab open.  Sure glad the BO's have that fluffy tail. It's what saved my roo's life too.  Trying to think of anything else to tell you.  The antibiotic injection I gave in his breast.  Helps to have someone hold him for you.  As long as he's eating and drinking fine, he should be o.k.  Just watch out for infection.  My roo's wound was bigger and deeper. It took about 3 months for him to heal completely, but he had a wound under his wing, and his leg too.  I would double check his skin for other puncture marks.  I looked and searched and looked and searched some more all over my roo for wounds and puncture marks.  I thought I had found them all, but even after two weeks of looking him over every night and putting antibiotic ointment on him, I still found another wound that I did not find on first initial check.  Short story long, check him over well through all those thick feathers, and good luck.  Keep us updated. 

Well said. The only other thing I do with my injured birds on antibiotics is give them some probiotics. This will help restore healthy bacteria as well as fight harmful bacteria flowing throughout the system. You can get it at a feed store or a Gnc type store. Alternatively add in some yogurt or fermented feed.

 

[Michaels1715]

Hi, I just wanted to mention something you might want to look into - it's called "liquid skin" or "liquid bandage", or the brand that I have - "New Skin". It's a liquid containing an antiseptic that dries quickly, leaving a protective layer, or "skin", over the wound (but it still allows air in). It STINGS bad, for me at least - worse than alcohol even, but when I put it on minor wounds on my Silkie roo, he didn't give any indication of discomfort. It sure does work.
My sister had a severely injured hen that had been attacked by a raccoon - she didn't think she was going to make it. But she drove out to a 24-hour CVS and came back with some liquid bandage, and the hen ended up recovering nicely. I have also seen someone else mention it somewhere in these forums.
I'm no expert, and I don't know if a liquid bandage would be recommended for the type of wounds your roo has or not - I just wanted to let you know about it, and also that it can be used on chickens.
Good luck!
Sharon

 

[hokankai]

I don't think New Skin would be good in this situation, because his muscle is exposed and the other wound is pretty deep. I dabbed the wounds clean and smothered them in antibiotic ointment. I put a gauze pad on the wound and will be getting some Vetericyn tomorrow for him. He seems to be surprisingly well. I carried him out to the coop tonight and he sat on the roost happy as a clam. However I need to go get him again because I forgot about the possibility of flies being a problem...

Edit: I bought him in tonight and set him up in a dog crate. He's very confused, LOL. I also took off the gauze he had on and replaced it with this, nice gauze and taped it on and around his tail. Tomorrow I need to pick up some Aspirin, because he was shivering a bit while I was fiddling with him which is probably from pain. Poor buddy

 

[TacomaChickNMom]

Also, if you think he might be in a lot of pain, they make topical antibiotic that has a pain reliever in it also....

 

[jillweese]

We have used the tylosin in injectable antibiotics on our chickens and they did fine. Also have had chickens gotten attacked by dogs and sewed up wounds and I used gentian violet on wounds and let them dry up. It will take lots if time to heal, antibiotics and vitamins in the drinking water also. Oh yeah I hear AR15's work best or the coyote problems.....

 

[jillweese]

Use a heat lamp for him if you got one.