Wound Care Help and Help Determining Wound Severity Needed Please

[laurenleigh]

Our five year old australorp, Beatrice, was attacked this evening, I am not sure by what. This is our first time in five years of owning chickens to deal with serious wounds and I'd like some guidance on wound care and help determining how serious her injury is. I will update in the morning with pictures but
was hoping to get some piece of mind before bed.

I made some Dakin's solution and irrigated as best I could (1 gallon water, 1T bleach, 1 tsp baking soda). The injury is on her back and she lost most of her tail feathers. I plan to do a curbside pick up tomorrow morning at TSC and get Vetericyn wound spray. I'm also looking at getting some Makuna honey on Amazon, which should get here Tuesday (three days after initial injury). Should I get anything else to care for her? I plan to contact a vet to see if we can get her some antibiotics.

She wasn't bleeding but does have some raw cuts. They look more like chunks of flesh missing and I didn't see any obvious puncture wounds. There is a chunk of flesh missing that is about a quarter inch deep and two inches long near her tailbone. That looks like the fatty layer that holds the feathers was pulled off along with her feathers. Most of the back of her tailbone is raw. There is another spot on her side kind of under her wing that seems more concerning. It isn't nearly as deep but I can see what looks just like raw chicken breast meat.

Is she likely to recover from these injuries? Is the exposed muscle/flesh especially bad? Is there any way to determine if she could have had internal injuries? My hope is that if I can keep it clean that she will be ok. Thank you for your help!

 

[CluckerCarrolls]

Do you have photos? Defiantly separate her from the flock and give her some electrolytes. If she seems really bad, take her to a farm vet.

 

[Kiki]

Do you have photos? Defiantly separate her from the flock and give her some electrolytes. If she seems really bad, take her to a farm vet.

X2...get a few clear pictures please.

 

[laurenleigh]

I don't have photos yet as I found the injury as they were going to bed for the night (they'd been free ranging all day). I don't have anything to put her in yet and am looking at picking up a dog crate tomorrow, too.

Is the main concern with isolating them to keep the others from pecking at her? We have three other chickens and they have a 8x16' enclosure. While she is isolated, would she be able to free range with the others?

 

[CluckerCarrolls]

The main concern is them pecking her and making injuries worse. She could free range, but her cuts could get infected due to bugs and such.

 

[Kiki]

And you really need to keep her away from flies.
The last thing you want to deal with is fly strike. It is beyond nasty.

 

[laurenleigh]

Here are some pictures from this morning. She is hanging out on our screened in porch until we get a dog crate for her.

I have makuna honey on the way and am picking up chlorhexidine, vetericyn, and some nutridrench and meal worms this morning. Am I missing anything?

She is moving around great and mostly seems upset that she's stuck on the patio.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I made some Dakin's solution and irrigated as best I could (1 gallon water, 1T bleach, 1 tsp baking soda). The injury is on her back and she lost most of her tail feathers. I plan to do a curbside pick up tomorrow morning at TSC and get Vetericyn wound spray. I'm also looking at getting some Makuna honey on Amazon, which should get here Tuesday (three days after initial injury). Should I get anything else to care for her? I plan to contact a vet to see if we can get her some antibiotics.

She wasn't bleeding but does have some raw cuts. They look more like chunks of flesh missing and I didn't see any obvious puncture wounds.

Is the main concern with isolating them to keep the others from pecking at her? We have three other chickens and they have a 8x16' enclosure. While she is isolated, would she be able to free range with the others?

I have makuna honey on the way and am picking up chlorhexidine, vetericyn, and some nutridrench and meal worms this morning. Am I missing anything?

She is moving around great and mostly seems upset that she's stuck on the patio.

Sounds like you cleaned the wounds well with the Dakin's Solution.
If you have neosporin or vetericyn apply those to the wounds and keep them moist.

Some do use Manuka honey and have had good results, to me, honey will make a mess.

Chlorhexidine would be good to use to keep the wounds flushed if they get soiled or start to smell.
It can take a while for her to heal, it's good she's eating/drinking and wanting out to be with the others.
Watch for infection - pus, odor, lethargy, etc.
Antibiotics are not a bad idea to have on hand - sometimes they are needed especially if the wound is infected. Other times a chicken heals just fine without them. Your vet can give you a script or you can use Amoxicillin (Fish Mox) which can often be found at Tractor Supply. Dose for Amoxicillin is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 7-10 days.

The others may pick at her wounds and you sure do want to keep flies off the wounds. So...
you could give her some outside time with you there so you can manage interactions and see that flies are not buzzing her. Chickens are social and I do believe it helps with their recovery to be with their friends, but she likely will need to be brought in for the most part.

 

[laurenleigh]

thank you all for the advice! i have her set up on our screened porch in a crate. i irrigated with water, then irrigated with diluted chlorhexidine (2T in a gallon of water) followed by more water irrigation. then i sprayed well with the vetericyn. she's tolerating my messing with her very well and it is already looking a bit better than it did last night. she ate some scrambled eggs and meal worms, so that made me happy! thank you again!

 

[nikolairapunzel]

A few years ago one of our hens got pecked really badly by another chicken. She was pecked down to the bone and her head appeared scalped. It was terrible. We thought about putting her down but she ate fine, acted fine except skittish around the other chickens. We used bluekote on her head for months. I am sold on its effectiveness. Every night or 2, my daughter would get her off the roost and we would spray her head. It took months and months, but her skin finally grew back and closed the hole. It was the size of a quarter approx where there had been nothing . This went on the whole summer. She never got flies in her wound, no pecking due to the blue kote color, no pus, nothing. It was amazing. She still had no feathers on her head. She molted the next spring and some of her feathers grew back. She still has a bald spot, but is doing great. So, if you got through this long story, you might want to get some blue kote to dress the wound and to keep the others from pecking her.