When will my chicken heal

[Carolyn99]

My chicken - Gretchen - was attacked by a raccoon and badly hurt. She had a large silver dollar tear over her thigh, and it finally got a scab, but would not heal. I read that I should remove the scab. I did, partly, and it healed a little more, but a new scab has formed. Also, she had a large section where the feathers were torn off, and the skin was pulled off the breast. I took her to the vet and he said that the skin would heal, put it 'puckered up' and hardened and then pulled away from the other skin. So if you press at all on it, you can see the muscle of her breast. When she first was hurt, I had left her outside separated from the other chickens. I did not know about flystrike. Sure enough, she got all these maggots. So nasty. I had to pull them all off with tweezers, (over 100!), but I knew many had gone to 'dead space' under her skin. So I took her back to the vet. Meanwhile, it's been a month! And she has not healed. She has this very big 'scab' from the puckered skin and the skin does not appear able to stick to it. I'm so worried she will get flystrike again. For a while I kept her in the garage in a dog cage wrapped in screening. But she seems perky and misses the other hens. So I have been letting her out for short periods during the day. Do I just keep waiting? I don't think it's infected. But I wonder when on earth she will be finally healed. She I pull or cut the 'scab off'?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

My gals had scabs for at least a month, probably more for the one with a broken wing

 

[Kiki]

Can you post clear pictures of this area?

 

[Carolyn99]

My gals had scabs for at least a month, probably more for the one with a broken wing

Thanks so much for letting me know. My vet (from suburban Philadelphia - I'm not sure how many chickens they saw), said it should heal in a week, so I was worried when over 3 weeks went by and she was still had a large scab. It is slowly healing though.

 

[Chipper12]

Wondering how her wound with no skin healed? I had racoon completely tear off skin 3x4 on side under wing, just the thin inner lining covering insides. Wondering if that can heal or is she a permanent house chcken? Ty

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Wondering how her wound with no skin healed? I had racoon completely tear off skin 3x4 on side under wing, just the thin inner lining covering insides. Wondering if that can heal or is she a permanent house chcken? Ty

Welcome To BYC

The OP (Original Poster) has not been on since last year, so they may not see your question.
Can you post photos of your hen's injuries?

Chickens can often recover from severe injuries with care. Wounds will heal over and a lot of times feathers will regrow as well.

General care for wounds is to clean them well with saline, betadine or chlorhexidine. Trim away any feathers that may be close to the wound so it stays cleaner and they don't stick into the wound. After cleaning, apply triple antibiotic ointment. Access the wound at least daily, taking note of any pus, odors, etc. that would indicate infection. Daily application of triple antibiotic ointment is often all that is needed, but sometimes the wound may need to be cleaned out again with one of your antiseptics.