What to do for large wound after other chickens kept attacking it??

[micstrachan]

I put it directly into her beak. I gently wrapped a towel around her to keep her from flailing, gently wrapped my left hand around the back of her head, pried her beak open with my finger, and popped the tablet into her mouth with the other hand.

Now, your hen might be difficult to handle due to her exposed back. That is why I wondered if there is a treat you could hide it in like a little piece of cheese, meat, or a tiny piece of bread?

 

[micstrachan]

Oh, and I only gave the ~40mg twice a day.

 

[micstrachan]

@Eggcessive is good with wound care. Kim, will you weigh in? I'm wondering if this wound might be a candidate for sugar packing or something like that? If OP sees the vet tomorrow, she'll get that help, but maybe we can help get her through tonight.

 

[azygous]

If you have 81 grain chewable aspirin, you can give one whole tablet morning, noon, and evening and it will help with the pain.

It was several months ago here on BYC that we had a similar massive injury like this, and the chicken behaved in much the same way as yours. The seemingly normal behavior will lead us to mistakenly believe the chicken can be saved. But such a vast wound is just too much for all of the chicken's organs to deal with. Organ failure usually occurs within a few days or infection will kill even sooner. That other chicken died within four days if I am remembering right.

 

[micstrachan]

Well, @azygous has much more experience than I do and I don’t want to give a false sense of hope. I just know we have seen some recoveries from horrific injuries. Perhaps this one is too extensive. I would hate to prolong suffering if she’s sure to die anyway. Were you able to get her to a vet? They might recommend euthanization if there is no hope.

 

[micstrachan]

@Crazychickensinsummit how is your Leghorn?

 

[Crazychickensinsummit]

@Crazychickensinsummit how is your Leghorn?

2/19/21

Our poor little chicken is actually doing very well with regular & constant care. We are cleaning its deep wound with providine / bedidine twice a day & leaving it open to the air so it won't get too moist allowing it to create an infection. We are also putting triple antibiotic ointment over the entire wound once a day in the evening only. We are also giving it 1/2 of a baby aspirin to help with pain & inflammation once every 4 hrs. or so crushed & mixed with a hard boiled egg yolk & a little water. The chicken loved eating up the hard boiled egg yolk!! It will give her more nutrients & protein to help her keep strength & heal. We are also making sure she always has electrolyte water to drink through out the day along with her regular mixed food of feather fixer feed & cracked corn & black sunflower seeds.
she is really doing surprisingly well!! She responds well to our attention & affection, and talks & makes her happy cooing sounds. We keep a warm heater blowing towards her in her kennel to keep her warm & cozy.
I am planning on having a Vet that I finally found to help us, just check her out, now that she seems to be showing better results! They may feel she could need an antibiotic or some form of corrective surgery?
But right now she is doing really well!! I think she will surprisingly make it!
Thank you all for your concern & input!
-Daniel & Bobbi.

 

[micstrachan]

This is great to hear! I am glad you can get her to a vet. I do think antibiotics will be in order and I hope for her continued improvement.

 

[micstrachan]

@Crazychickensinsummit how is this girl doing? Is she still responding to treatment and have you been able to get her to the vet?

 

[Crazychickensinsummit]

Just to update everyone on our Leghorn recovery

We were finally able to see a vet that specializes in birds. It was a week later mind you, but we did finally get to see him, and he prescribed for her an oral antibiotic and anti-inflamitory/pain reliver and a lot of TLC. I am happy to report that she is making a remarkable recovery. She has grown back a lot of her feathers that she lost and the wound is healing very well. The image below was taken yesterday (Image #1). She is still scabing over, but the scab is much smaller now. We just have to keep putting on a silver sulfadiazine cream everyday while she is healing. I posted the original photo of the wound the day it happened as a comparison (Photo #2). I do appologize about the grossness of Image #2. It was a scary sight for both of us when we saw the wound.