What's Beat to Clean Minor Wound?

[dsbailey70]

I just found a small wound on my BR, right between where the top of her beak and the bottom of her comb meet. It doesn't look too bad, and the little bit of blood had already dried. She is separated in one half of my coop, with her 'sister', an EE who's her same age. They've grown up together in my brooder before going out to the big coop. What is the best (& safest) thing to clean it with? Is a qtip and a dab or peroxide ok? Would it also be ok afterward to rub a little bit of neosporin (disappearing cream, with lidocaine) on the spot, to prevent infection?

 

[BantamLover21]

You don't need anything special to clean the wound--just some warm, soapy water and a q-tip or paper towel. Don't use the neosporin that you have, since it contains the lidocaine. There have been studies done that show ingredients ending in "caine" or "cain" are toxic to chickens.

Peroxide won't hurt the bird, but it might irritate the tissue a little. If you want to apply it, fine, but if you don't, your bird should still be okay.

 

[dsbailey70]

Ok, thank you. I won't use the peroxide. What about some plain/regular neosporin ointment, with pramoxine (analgesic).. *I'm sorry for the typo in the heading; the site won't let me edit it. I try, but it keeps saying there's an unknown error.

 

[seminolewind]

You can use peroxide. It's fine. You can make it half peroxide and half water, which we did with sick babies in the hospital that got a wound. Antibiotic ointment is fine.

 

[dsbailey70]

I used plain water and a qtip to clean the spot, and then some cvs brand antibiotic cream. It had pramoxine in it, but I'll get something without any pain meds in it tomorrow. The spot's only slightly pink now; no bleeding or oozing. I started to let them forage with the Silkies, in preparation for putting them all together in Friday. Although I didn't see it happen, I imagine they're working out the pecking order. One of the Silkies probably popped her back. Yesterday, she tried a few exploratory pecks at the side of one of the Silkies' faces. I'd bet she just got called on it today...lol