Wounds not closing & diarrhea — 5+ weeks

[MysteryChicken]

Hmm. Will it still make a scab this far out? Even immediately after the attack it wasn’t bleeding/didn’t clot. The couple of days I missed rinsing & applying ointment a second time, the tissue (looks like muscle) dried and looked a bit like jerky (though no where near as dry or hard!). It has only been purple due to the BluKote so there’s no telling what color(s) it really is. I will drop back to once daily spray & ointment & see how it goes.

Did you see the screenshot I posted above regarding wound healing?

Not couple days of drying out, but over the course of a few hours, with 1 - 2 cleanings, & moisture applications a day.

Like clean, & moisten once in the morning, & once before bed. Gives more then an enough to air out.

A scab should still form, but it won't be the scab you're used to seeing.

 

[MixedFlock23]

Blue kote must never, ever be used on wounds larger than a small scratch. Reasons are many, but it disguises the state of the wound and dries it out which are counter productive.

Another reason for the rolled edge of the wound is granulation, a term for tissue building from the outer edge of the wound toward the center, the center closing last.

Frankly, I cannot make out the state of the wound for all the junk on the wound, mostly the blue color. I'm going to suggest you concentrate on cleansing the wound thoroughly each day with saline wash and/or Hibiclens, and debride all pus, all dead skin, everything except new pink skin. A rough wash cloth does a fair job of debriding. Use it and ignore your fears it will hurt her. Death hurts way more, and it's you that will do the hurting.

Keep the wound moist at all times between wound cleansing. A general oral antibiotic is a good idea. Tube feeding should not be done as long as she's eating on her own.

I will bring her inside and clean debride anything I think needs removed, but (other than ointment) I believe all remaining tissue is alive.
I didn’t know that about BluKote. Thank you. Should I use a rough washcloth on the muscle? I’ve only sprayed & rinsed the muscle, never scrubbed it.
The wound has been kept moist since day 1 with triple antibiotic ointment. I will switch to plain Vaseline and start her on another round of oral antibiotics.
Thank you.

 

[MixedFlock23]

Not couple days of drying out, but over the course of a few hours, with 1 - 2 cleanings, & moisture applications a day.

Like clean, & moisten once in the morning, & once before bed. Gives more then an enough to air out.

A scab should still form, but it won't be the scab you're used to seeing.

This is what I’ve been doing. Every day I try to rinse & reapply ointment in the morning and again in the evening. A couple of days (not consecutive) in the last 40 days, I have missed either morning or evening though, so only treated her once those days. But I’ve cleansed & applied ointment daily (most all days 2xs/day).
There is still a bit of ointment near the edges when it’s time to reapply most of the time.
Thank you!

 

[azygous]

Scrub any tissue that doesn't appear to be alive. Muscle tissue is exempt. Remove any and all pus. These inhibit new tissue growth. It should be done every day if you see any.

 

[MixedFlock23]

Here’s what it looks like after a scrubbing with a washcloth, dawn, & warm water, then patted dry. (I took photos then applied vetericyn & then Vaseline.) The edges have the clear membrane (now dyed bluish) under them and in most all spots the skin is joined to membrane, but in one spot water can still seep inside her. I leaned her over and drained out the bit of water that went inside.

Tonight a nurse practitioner will help. Perhaps we will need to cut more tissue away to get the healing process going. I cannot tell what is inside the leg wound. I don’t want to pull out intestines or something.

She’s very alert, chirping and eating (reduced amounts though) and drinking (normally). Comb & eyes look good to me. Photos attached.

Thank you!

 

[azygous]

Much better. The ridge around the unhealed portion does appear to be normal granulation. Your nurse friend will be able to point you to any tissue that needs still to be removed. I learned a lot from my nurse friends over the years.

 

[MixedFlock23]

End of July update photos:
We discovered a third wound had opened on her knee. I’m not sure how we missed this, but I suppose it opened larger after the initial injury as it continued to open more & more before it began it heal.
The wound on her back had some tissue that had curled under and healed to itself and stopped closing over the wound. I used cuticle trimmers and haircutting scissors to cut off the rolled edges and restart the healing process. I also debrided the wounds (removed dead tissues) as often as I saw any neurotic areas. This was hard for me to do since I get queasy, but I kept thinking of how much better it will be all healed up. It was not healing with dead tissues in the way. Poops finally changed from diarrhea (for nearly two months!) to solid again.

 

[azygous]

Appreciate the update. Good progress. You've been working hard at it and it's paying off. Serious wounds take weeks to heal, but I think she's got a good shot at it now.

 

[MixedFlock23]

August healing updates:
By the end of July (7 weeks after the attack), her back wound was healed over and had feathers! Her side wound was teeny and her knee/leg wound was on its way to healing. I still debrided it at least weekly. I finally started believing that she would survive this.

Daily I treated her wounds with saline rinse, debrided if needed (I used a hemostat to reach way inside the round and pull out anything dead), then sprayed vetricyn, let it dry, then ointment (June was neosporin, July was some Vaseline and then mostly I switched to Hen Healer). Daily I gave her extra protein like shredded chicken or tuna.

 

[MixedFlock23]

And today’s update!
Silver is doing great! She’s been back in with a flock (the baby flock, not her original flock), and she’s one of the top birds. She’s in with a Silkie momma & her two 2-week old chicks, and our bantam pullets (ages 1-3 months). Momma Twilight hen is the other top bird. Nobody (pullet or chick) messes with Silver or Twilight.
Silver’s back wound has been healed for over a month, her small side wound closed this week (just a pin prick sized hole was there last I checked), and her knee is healed over! All she needs now is feathers on her knee and some more physical therapy. I forgot to mention that I had her “ankles?” hobbled together for about a week to draw in her one leg that she kept extended behind her. Now both legs stay under her, but she still has a limp. She’s a bit pigeon toed & I am not quite sure how to help that one leg turn her foot back out. I will try wrapping athletic tape around her leg in a candy cane stripe type way to help it rotate out.
I feed her all flock and crickets for extra protein. She still has a ways to go to gain her weight back, but she’s a fighter and will pull through!
I’ve since added a new no dig predator apron of vinyl coated welded wire (2”x3” squares)(don’t use chicken wire, it will rust in less than 5 years). I have 100’ of linear fencing plus extending a bit over corners, so hardware cloth was too pricey for us. I’ve added new netting with a strong tensile strength to prevent hawks/owls (they got through the first defense of bird netting for orchards, but none have attacked since under that netting I have 2” chicken wire). (Now it’s hawk netting & 2” chicken wire on top, 2x4” welded wire and 1” chicken wire on the sides, and vinyl coated 2”x3” as the apron.) The gate also got an update. I removed the bricks under the threshold and poured a concrete slab about a foot or so out in each direction and as wide as the door & posts. It also got a second lock.

I’ll attach her updated photos.
I’ve learned a lot about wound care and the importance of debridement and re-injuring a wound edge if healing stalls due to rolling under. I hope I don’t have any future lessons though!