# Revolving Doors



## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

This winter I've had 3 chickens needing care.First was Blue Belle,a victim of a dog attack,recovering from her injuries.Then,Thelma Lou,w/ a swollen eye.I had antibiotic eye ointment and it cleared it up in a couple of days and she went back out.One morning after letting the chickens out,I heard a hen hollering from under the van.She'd been out all night in the cold and rain.After she didn't come out,I chased her out from under there only to discover she had an injured leg.Don't know what happened to her or how long she was there,she was cold and hungry and wet.She hasn't done much but eat and poop and not sure if there's a broken bone but both legs are in proper position and this morning she was standing up for a few minutes.If she shows signs of recovery,I'll nurse her.I'm gonna give her some time and see how she does.She receives a baby aspirin 2x a day and is eating good.She's a 4 y o EE and I don't want to lose her.I'm afraid the neighbors are letting their pit bull run loose.I caught him 1 morning and chained him up,he was a really sweet dog.If I catch him going after my chickens,I'll kill it and they know it,I already shot 1 of their dogs.I don't understand their irresponsibility,they know I don't have a problem killing dogs so why do they let it run loose.And w/ the baby monitor,I hear all.Got loaded shotguns by both doors,ready to go....


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I would be shooting dogs or any threatening animals . People that let their dogs run loose are not responsible and don't care- until their dog gets shot.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Exactly.And they have been warned many times and they know I'm a good shot and I shoot to kill...


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Some people have no common sense when it comes to animals. And if their dog gets shot, boy will they be upset!


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Gimpy continues to improve slowly but much better than I thought.She can stand but I'm limiting her room to encourage her to rest it.Blue Belle also continues to improve but the area on her back has closed and there's a big piece of eschar and I'm not sure how to treat it.I thought of wet to dry dressings but really need a chemical debriding agent to go w/ it.It's very hard and dry.Anybody have thoughts/suggestions for me?Do I try to treat it or let it try to heal on it's own?She's come a long way and I don't want to to do the wrong things now...


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

If it's a scab, let it be. If it's hollow underneath, you'll need to soften it and pull it off so it heels from the inside out. It's hard to suggest things without a picture.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

It's way more than a scab,it is about the size of the palm of my hand.It's thick,dried and yellow and I'm afraid to move it much so I don't know what's underneath.I thought of applying antibiotic ointment to it to maybe soften it up but while nursing cared for like wounds w/ wet to dry dressings and Santyl ointment.The area is on her back by the tail and under her right wing and every dressing I put on is pulled out of whack by her.I would take a pic but can't download anything.It doesn't seem to bother her much unless I'm looking at it so it must still be tender to touch.You can't tell anything is wrong just by looking at her.Dale was gripping about her still being in and I showed him her back.She's safe for now but have to get it healed before she goes back out.I don't want to do the wrong thing at this point and in the beginning I had doubts she would even survive.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

CQ, leave it alone. The feathers growing out will push it off or it will fall off leaving new bare skin.
Unless you see signs of infection it's ok. That's how I did with my EE that was bitten by coyotes last year. She didn't regrow frathers until after molt.
BTW, my girl never came inside. I kept her in my grow out pen until she was eating and drinking without problems on her own.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

nannypattyrn said:


> CQ, leave it alone. The feathers growing out will push it off or it will fall off leaving new bare skin.
> Unless you see signs of infection it's ok. That's how I did with my EE that was bitten by coyotes last year. She didn't regrow frathers until after molt.
> BTW, my girl never came inside. I kept her in my grow out pen until she was eating and drinking without problems on her own.


I agree. Must be healing.


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## Valentine (Dec 4, 2016)

I think we all need a sick bay in our homes for our sick chookies.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

It's not infected,draining or foul smelling.That's why I quit messing w/ it but I'm worried that piece of dead tissue is going to come off and there's going to be a mess under there.In the wild there would be no treatment and it would survive or not.I'll let nature take it's course and just monitor it.She lost so many feathers and it was really cold last month and it is getting cold again and I don't want her to get chilled and that's why she's still in the house.I also don't want the other chickens pecking at it.I just can't sentence a chicken to solitary confinement for being sick/injured.If it was warmer,both would be in the grow-out pen.I have 2 extra cages to clean now.


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## Valentine (Dec 4, 2016)

chickenqueen said:


> It's way more than a scab,it is about the size of the palm of my hand.It's thick,dried and yellow and I'm afraid to move it much so I don't know what's underneath.I thought of applying antibiotic ointment to it to maybe soften it up but while nursing cared for like wounds w/ wet to dry dressings and Santyl ointment.The area is on her back by the tail and under her right wing and every dressing I put on is pulled out of whack by her.I would take a pic but can't download anything.It doesn't seem to bother her much unless I'm looking at it so it must still be tender to touch.You can't tell anything is wrong just by looking at her.Dale was gripping about her still being in and I showed him her back.She's safe for now but have to get it healed before she goes back out.I don't want to do the wrong thing at this point and in the beginning I had doubts she would even survive.


How long has she had this wound? Is it from the dog attack, I can't remember but I thought that was healed. I'd put betadine on it and get some tar and apply that on it to seal it. That's what I did to mine and it healed in a few days, this seems too long. Her feathers are back and all. I hope it's not infected.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I just hope that the scab is on the new skin vs. over it leaving a pocket underneath.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I trimmed off some of the dead tissue.I've got water boiling to make normal saline solution and I'm going to try wet to dry dressings since I got most of the top layer off.I'm gonna try to take a pic w/ Dale's phone and see if I can post it.


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## Valentine (Dec 4, 2016)

seminolewind said:


> I just hope that the scab is on the new skin vs. over it leaving a pocket underneath.


It may just be the colour of her skin bruised and all I wouldn't worry you are doing everything. She's a lucky you are taking such good care of her.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

I think a picture is a good idea.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

Here is the best I can do


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

That was after I trimmed alot of it.It was black underneath but a smaller area than I expected.Still don't know what else is under there.Hopefully the wet to dry dressings will work on it.I'll keep you posted and I'm open to suggestions.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

The scab/eschar - if the wound is getting smaller- fine. If not, it may need wet to dry. One is healing and the other is preventing healing.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

That's what my EE girl looked like after she was attacked by a dog or coyote. I did wet to dry for a few days but your chicken will shed that given a little more time. Then she will have a bare spot until the next molt.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

If it had a pocket of pus it would be seeping around the edges, green, and foul smelling a day she would be off in a corner.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

It's not draining and there is no foul smell.She gets out of her cage and acts like a normal chicken.I think it bothers me more than it bothers her,she didn't even flinch while I was trimming it.I'm doing wet to dry dressings and see what happens after it softens up.I'm worried there's a big hole underneath but it won't heal until I get the eschar off.Blue Belle will be 5 this June.She hasn't been in the house since she went in the grow out pen but she has become very comfortable and now she is territorial,charging Precious when she comes in.She's become a very different hen than she was before the attack,though she will go over to the other injured hen and lay next to her cage.I clean their cages every 2-3 days and today is one of those days.The last time,Gimpy "walked"a little and was not using her wing for support and today I hope she walks a little more.I'm still limiting her movements but I think she will eventually heal.Both are doing much better than I thought they would.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I honestly wouldn't do wet to dry, at this point, I think it could cause her more problems. My EE just went about her business and one day I noticed the scab was loose and then goneand her scab was twice as big. I could see almost to her backbone. Try to just let her go about her day and just watch her. She'll be fine.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I could see her backbone and a few ligaments,it was a very deep wound.Was the scab on your hen the same as the one on mine?I don't want to do any damage since it has healed except for this.A coyote attack and a dog attack are pretty much the same.I was thinking a soft scab comes off easier and w/ less damage than a dry scab.I remember in the early '80's using heat lamps to dry out large,deep wounds,like bed sores.Then it changed to keeping those wounds moist and covered and that's how they are still treated today.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I wish I still had her pictures, but I deleted them. My girl had a 6 inch gash across her back wing to wing. I kept her up until she wasn't hurting and could move without pain. I let her out with the others after a few days because she was getting depressed and wasn't eating well. I did wet to dry as best as I could during that time with betadine. I kept neosporin ointment on it as long as I could catch her. As her scab dried, it looked just like yours, I let her go about her business. The scab came off leaving bare pink new skin which didn't feather until just this past 2 months with the molt. You can't tell any difference now.


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## nannypattyrn (Aug 23, 2015)

I was always told to not pick at a scab but leave it alone. Removing eschar in humans is different than animals.


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Does it improve day to day? If there was a problem, it would smell. My horse had a deep gash once. every day I had to pull the scab off because the healing tissue needed to heal from the bottom up. There was no way to bandage it. Everyday I had to rip the scab off to let the hole heal up. So I pulled the scab off daily, washed area with gauze and soapy water ,dried and packed with 3x antibiotic. It healed up to level to the rest of her skin and was done.

If yours had a rip to the bone, it needs to heal from inside to outside. with no smell. I can't really tell what's going on in your picture.


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## Valentine (Dec 4, 2016)

chickenqueen said:


> Here is the best I can do


That looks nasty but not untreatable, I'm guessing what you mean by wet and dry is one will extract whatever that needs to come out the other is to heal? I would apply a hydrogel (water based) wound treatment. A spray such as Vetericyn. Or diluted hydrogen peroxide 3% Isolate her in a clean warm facility and keep an eye on it so the wound heals properly. What I'm seeing in the photo is gangrene, I would not have popped the blister my suggestion is allow it to heal of its own accord it will fall off.
Wet gangrene is serious. A sign of infection is smelling fluid leaking from the wound that is not healing. To prevent the spread of infection, the affected part may have to be removed. I guess you know all of that. Good luck.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I couldn't get the dressing to stay on so I'm going to let nature take it's course.As long as it isn't draining/foul smelling I'll let it go.When I trimmed it,the edges were loose w/ new skin underneath.I hope it continues to heal.She's turning into a house pet.I keep goldfish crackers on the table for my birds.Now when I have them and am handing them out to the birds,Blue Belle gets in line for hers.She gobbles them down then pecks at the crumbs the birds drop.I have a feeling I'm going to face resistance when it's time to put her back out.


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## WeeLittleChicken (Aug 31, 2012)

If it doesn't smell, there's no ooze, it's not hot to the touch, and it's not turning red or getting bigger you're fine. I just got done dealing with a rabbit for 6 months who first got fleas, then went psycho and ripped off a good deal of flesh on the bottom of her feet (think half-dollar sized holes right on the back heal exposing bone) and it took forever but I did get her healed up. Her wound was over a bone and L-shaped, and exposed to pee every time she needed to go so I had to keep it wet bandaged with antibiotic ointment and then when it was healed up more and I thought it could close the wound I let her go dry. I think it's been about six months... she's got two dime sized scabs. Certainly beats the six giant open wounds she started with!! Honestly though from the photo it looks like you should be OK just keeping it dry and safe from being pecked at. Good luck with her!


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I'm going to leave it alone except to monitor it and trim it when needed.


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## chickenqueen (Jan 9, 2016)

I'm going to let it go and monitor it and trim it as needed.


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