Wound Care Help Please

[24279102]

My hen did heal quite nicely . I do not worry about the wound being moist. If it is clean and dry with a nice scab I leave it alone. Chickens are amazing when it comes to healing. I never separated her from her friends. I knew that they would not bother with her because the area was well hidden from them. They seem to get on better when they can do what they do with their friends!

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: On one of those sites they said its consistency becomes crystalline etc, like you mentioned, and given its applications as a sealant I would guess that's the only reason they use it. However since it's 'highly toxic' I would be willing to bet those who have used it for a good few years regularly (at that ratio I'd guess a decade) will be seeing cancers in their animals in future. Possibly in themselves too if they eat the birds and their eggs... Might be a long shot, true; but then again it also might be a future class-action court case. If I were a Vetirycin user I'd write in and ask them to remove it, the rest of their mixture sounds like it'd do the job minus that component... But some folks aren't as prone to cancer as others, same is true of animals, so it may not be an issue to some. Hope not anyway.

Either way the risk is probably negligible by itself. It is a tiny amount. The issue would likely be with generations developing sensitivity due to repeated exposure, or other carcinogenic environmental factors being the straws that break the camel's back, so to speak. Kinda like collies with Ivermectin. Generational exposure to trace amounts equals a severely allergic reaction that is hereditary. And we're always exposed to many carcinogenic things daily so anything we can remove from that burden helps our bodies cope and reduces risk of cancer. Same for birds obviously. Best wishes with that.

As far as my experience of scabs has been, they're best left on if the wound is healthy beneath. Sometimes the body is not as robust as it ought to be and in that case a scab is stopping drainage of the wound. If the skin around the edges of the scab goes pink or red or any other color than normal, I'd assume the scab should possibly come off to allow a better cleansing of the wound since the body is not 'on top of it'. But with Stockholm tar it will get straight through anything, scab or fur or feathers or normal skin or whatever, so there's no need to even remove dirt or dead tissue, nor to lance or bandage, etc... But USA citizens don't seem to have proper Stockholm tar, though it's worth the effort to obtain if you can. Works on the most hideous wounds, gangrene, golden staph, dog/fox maulings, etc.

Quote: Most chooks seem to love baths. And most like to be tended when in need, too, even the less intelligent sorts of animals can understand good intentions most of the time, and appreciate it. I believe animals are capable of learning compassion or something like it. How else does one explain a bully that becomes a nurturer and protector of its erstwhile victims after receiving TLC when it was in need? I've seen it happen time and time again across so many species; showing them care while they are in need often leads to them doing the same even though it's utterly abnormal behavior for their species.

Quote: Key word being 'unpasteurized' as I'm sure you know. So many folks try to use cooked or adulterated (dead) honey on wounds and find it doesn't work and say it's an old wives' tale. Raw honey contains protein, enzymes, antibiotics, vitamins and minerals, electrolytes, antibacterials, and a whole lot of other stuff we're still exploring and discovering which really does qualify it for high quality performance when used in wounds, but often when you try to research it you find junk science trivia saying it's mostly sugars or whatever... Not too much comprehensive info available in the common mainstream areas.

 

[Chickery Chick]

Hen was doing really good and wound healing nicely but 2 days ago, she quit staying on her perch and doing more sitting on ground. She started acting stumbly, uncordinated and depressed. I put her out this afternoon with the rest of the hens thinking she just needed to get out and exercise. She did eat some fresh sweet corn but not a lot. She then went under a tree and just sat there the rest of the evening. She didn't even want to coup with the rest come dark. I brought her back in the house and administered the 1st penicillin shot 1/4 cc in the breast. I hope I did it right. I found a U-tube video to help me know how. Her exterior part of the wound looks ok, but her whole back side seems to be swollen and under pressure. I though maybe she was constipated, but I fear infection. I just don't know what to think now. Her poops have started to show some green/white in it, prior it was brown/white. I don't know what this means. I had taken her off of Tetracrycline in her water about 2 days ago too. I'm not sure if there is any connection. I figured it would do no good to put her back on that at this point as she may have become immune to its effect. That is why I went with penicillin.
If anyone as any ideas please let me know. Is there something maybe missing in her diet that could cause her to be weak? I had overlooked putting any shells or gravel for her to help digest food. I added that now, but maybe too late?

 

[mithious]

The only thing I have read about green poo, is that is could be the liver shutting down...I am sure there are other things it could be, but that is the one thing that I remember reading that stuck with me...maybe she had internal damage that you couldn't see? It does sound like a systemic infection and that can be very painful...I truly hope I am wrong!!! So very sorry!!!

 

[chooks4life]

I'm sorry, you've lost me once the treatment involves man made antibiotics. I've got very little experience there. Have you been giving her probiotics? Hope she gets better. There are various reasons her poops could be showing green, don't fret unless it smells septic or something like that.

 

[Chickery Chick]

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_have_antibiotics_changed_the_world

I don't believe animals that are to be eaten should be treated with antibiotics. I do not eat my chickens but we do eat their eggs and are pets.

She seems to be doing a bit better this afternoon, but too early to tell. Poop does not smell any different. I do have her on Nyzymes (probiotic)http://www.nzymes.com/store/pc/Sprouted-Granules-for-Pets-Horses-2-lbs-7p3.htm, but it is a very fine powder and maybe she is not getting it picked out in her food dish. I think the powder settled to the bottom. I have Probiocin, which is a jell http://www.probioticsmart.com/pets/probiocin-oral-pet-gel.html and my vet carries in on the shelf too and no prescription required. I will use that instead to insure she is getting it.

Thanks for the advise.

 

[chooks4life]

I agree about the antibiotics, in fact I must raise my animals without them due to familial sensitivity. But I go one step further and don't use them for illness either, because we're breeding super-bugs by using antibiotics so often. If it hasn't eliminated the disease worldwide, then it shouldn't be used, I believe. Otherwise that small percentage that did not respond has developed a more powerful 'bug'. We're risking the eventual extinction of livestock, I think, if nobody allows their flocks to develop natural immunity.

Here's an article I read recently in the British Daily Mail website.

Quote: Not the most reputable newspaper, IMO, their journalism is often slack. But it's a topic which has much proof for it and none against it.

 

[Chickery Chick]

You have a very valid point. Many people/animals have been saved through the medical industry and their antibiotics and many will die because of it.
Unfortunately this will always be an unresolved topic for all environmental and medial debates. I don't like debating.
My hen does not have a contagious disease, she has a wound, so I'm not contributing to a super bug by giving her antibiotics.

 

[chooks4life]

Yeah, there's not really any point debating it, not that I was trying to start a debate anyway. I think the biggest issue is using it with disease rather than wounds. Best wishes and I hope your hen recovers.

 

[Chickery Chick]

I want to thank you for all of your help. I'll also going to repost these in a new forum to help people with wounds and be able to have all the photos together in 1 post.
Veterycin and antibiotics helped and the wound is almost completely healed. The bad news is she keeps filling with fluids, so she has ascities/Internal egg laying. Which is why she probably got the wound in the 1st place....puffed out rear, poop gets on it, and then fly strike.
Cause unknown, other than just genetics of producing hybrids to lay a lots of eggs but life-span is expected to be short with these breeds due to this very commn problem.
We drain her abdomin every few days with a syringe and just suck out clear fluids, but eventually she will die from too much build up. I noticed one of my other hens, a BR, doing the same thing and at one point thought she was going to pass soon because she was gasping for air. There was too much pressure on her lungs with all the fluids and build up in her abdomin. We drain her too now. With the draining it helped her breathing and cone color better now, but both have limited life span with this condition. Poop build up below the vent on her too, common of this condition. They are 4-5 years old and just pets. Egg productin from them and the other 2 hens of the same age(not filling with fluids) have not layed eggs for a very long time.

Anyway, I have learned a lot about chickens and value my experience with all of this and understand wound care and swollen abdomins and probable cause, unfortunatly bad news, but at least I know what it is and can prolong their stay with us a bit longer and make them comfortable until it is time. Here is her most recent photo of her wound. 1 day after taking the stiches out. Small hole is where I drained her.