Yikes! Large wound on hen.

[cathy d]

Hhhmmmm.... I'm no expert but that is odd. They can have gut issues and have nasty poops. There is a snowball effect to chicken poop. Once it's dry and stuck more collects and more and more. A soak in warm epsome salt water dissolves stuck poo. If it's to cold for a soak you can trim the cruddy feathers. She's clearly not feeling well if she's isolating herself and not interested in treats. You can look up causes of dirty butt and see if symptoms match. You can always start your own thread too. Get some better information from someone who knows. Good luck with her.

well my little girl was like that since day 2 always pooping on her feathers and I would take a warm washcloth with epsom salt water and wash her and use a little soft baby brush and brush it off every day until she got older then I would brush it off and wash it every other day. her poops were firm enough I just think maybe she was sitting on it or maybe it's the way she was built where would fall into her feathers she was very feathery down there so as I mentioned I was sick for 2 weeks I was unable to really clean her up and when I did that's when I discovered underneath the poop there was a half dollar size hole. there was a man who posted on BC and his chicken had a poopy butt all the time and so he clipped the feathers off around the vent and under and it solved his problem but I didn't want to do that because I thought that she should have her feathers for protection and I guess I was wrong so are I clip all my birds feathers now and keep them trimmed up so there's no chance of that ever happening to them also I can keep a better eye out for mites the eggs are cleaner. well thank you for your information all information is good information specially for us new Chicken Keepers I hate to say but we had to put her down because her whole chest was full of maggots they just ate a hole all the way up into her chest cavity. all my chickens are really healthy she was one of my healthiest I thought but something like this can happen so quickly and I know people have huge flocks and I wonder how can they check every bird especially when they're free range it's really hard to check each and every bird. my birds are out every day in a decent-size yard behind my house and even when it's cold out I let them go out in be in the Sun encourage them to eat out there in the Sun so I don't know I will just keep on loving them and doing everything I can to show them.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

@cathy dSorry for your loss. You are right we all do the best we can. I had great luck with the girl from this thread but currently have a girl in my basement who's got me scratching my head. They are good at hiding their symptoms. When we don't feel well it makes it all that much more difficult. Keep showing your feathered friends all the love you can. :cd

 

[cathy d]

Thank you very much I appreciate all that you have shared with me.

 

[GraceHomestead]

Sorry it took awhile to respond. I thought I did but with chicks and ducklings in the brooder, trying to seperate chickens and move pigs It has been hectic lol
Here is pictures of her wounds. I forgot to take the left side picture before spraying the blukote.
Left side: more of a hole...skin gone and a black crust on quite a bit. I trimmed the feathers and do daily cleaning. No smell or signs of infection!

Right side: is the side that has closed up and looks rather good.

I love sprayable saline.. It comes in a can and I keep it around for such occasions. I find some hens prefer to heal with their friends. Spray the wound out daily with saline (I get the kind with aloe in it) and put some neosporin in there. Make sure she's peppy and eating. I've had plenty of big wounds heal just fine IF the chicken wasn't immune compromised. The other hens know and pick on them!

I love the saline flush!! I have some from when I had to clean my dads wounds! Def comes in handy!! She is eating and drinking great. She freeranged yesterday with the ducks....and seemed great. You would never know under those wings she has wounds. Well except from all the purple on her back lol man I accidently sprayed my daughters fingers lol still purple!!

Watch her. Make sure no one is pecking the wound. If she starts scabbing up nicely, just wipe with a warm damp cloth to remove dirt, spray saline, air dry and apply neosporin. She sounds tough!

She is still seperated. The left side has a black looking scab and the right side is looking great. Will see if I can get an updated picture today. She def is a tough bird!!

They could have been attacking her because she was gone for so long. They see her as a new arrival. If that's the case and because you live farther from your farm I would keep her at home. The extra stress from finding her new place in the pecking order wouldn't be helpful. If you think she's strong enough to handle herself then putting her with the flock would be fine. You know your birds best!

We kept her home until the wounds werent opened any longer. Now is at the farm but still not with the others. We are going to let her hang out with the others in a cage before turning her loose. I think she needs a few more days to heal..

I knew my girl was missing the flock and at only 100 ft from the house it was easy to make multiple checks a day.
Good luck with her and feel free to post and ask questions!

Thanks!! Yeah I cant wait to be living at the farm!! We start working on the house this spring!! Excited for sure!!

I'm wondering if she has a secret nest somewhere and has been looking to hatch chicks and perhaps came out when she heard you arrive to get fed. 2 weeks is a long time to isolate herself from the flock even with an injury. Is she acting broody at all?
ReplyQuoteMulti

We have looked everywhere and even moved the ramp where she ran to and found a bunch of leaves but no eggs. She is not acting broody. The opened wound is now adheared and closed (still yucky no feathers and just skin but its not open flapping skin like it was) so we took her to the farm. She is still seperated but near the others so she can see and hear them. My daughter was checking her wounds yesterday and the rooster didnt like it and was calling from his pen lol

Thanks everyone!

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

@GraceHomestead
The balance between moist wound healing and dry wound healing is a tough one. I would recommend a saddle for her when she goes back with the roo. It will protect her fresh new skin from accidents and help keep it a little cleaner. You can buy one in a range of prices or if you make one yourself. I use a double strap or cross strap saddle. You can make a no sew saddle as well.
Keep up the good work!

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

So we had horribly wet muddy weather recently and I removed her saddle. Her wound has been all healed for a while but not great feather coverage. The rest of her skin was dry and flaky so I thought I'd let her air out and shake off while her saddle dried. Then I found this.

So I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a little more detailed care description.
Stockinette

I cut about a foot long piece off and that's what I'll cover her with.
Still folded I cut slits in it.

Open like it will be over her body.

My fingers is where her head will be.
This is the hardest part. I pulled it over her head and you can see where the hole for her wing is.

When I removed her first bandage you can see the sugar stuck to dead and gross skin. It is then removed with the bandage leaving healthy tissue behind.

I proactively put VCO on her feathers to try and stop them from being crusted with sugar. She likes to snack on the little balls of coconut sugar that form. LOL
Sugar on her wound.

I pulled the stockinette back and made a T shaped cut for her leg.

Here she is all bandaged and saddled up. The new stockinette is a little snug for now but will loosen as she wears it.

I tucked the stockinette in all around her neck. It does fray and this simple inward fold seems to really help. If not...

You can see she caught a little bit of the frayed edge and pulled it. Once that happens it will slowly unravel till it comes off. Stockinette is cheep. Ripped or too dirty I replace it.

 

[mobius]

Oh my goodness! So sorry to hear her wound broke open...poor baby.

You know, I ordered four inch stockinette from Amazon because of you and it is in my first aid kit.

Let us know how it is going. Your continued pics will certainly help anyone, including me, trying to heal one of their chickies.

Question: if you are already using stockinette, what purpose does the saddle play? Just wanting to uderstand...

Nothing new here except a broody I am trying to break.

Best of cluck..

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

@mobius It was my fault. I'm guessing her skin was still to thin in that area. I should have put her saddle back on once it was dry. Instead I waited a little longer thinking she was ok. She may need a saddle for life at this point. I'll have to make more fashionable ones for her.

The saddle is extra protection. The stockinette I have isn't real thick and it snags easily. When I brought her in for her second check today she had already gotten a muddy spot on the chest area and a small snag. I also made her saddle in black to camouflage the beige stockinette. I've heard flock mates can be picky about appearance. I didn't want her to be singled out.

I have 3 others in saddles now too. They have fun patterns in the tones of their feathers.

 

[mobius]

I think we could call it "Decorative Healing"!! I am keeping fingers crossed for your girl...she is so good about all this!

Broody looks like she broke tody (hoping).

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

She is a real trooper. It was a good month of work last time. She's already gotten into the swing of things this time. I do bandage changes 2x a day for a week or so. All depends on how she heals. Then I go to once a day. She hadn't had a bandage or stockinette for months but was wearing her saddle. Until it got wet... She may never have feathers in that spot. Who knows.