Hole (injury) near vent. 39 days old. Healing questions

[ChickenLadyChick]

My 3 year old ISA was attacked on March 6th by *something* during the day. We have since installed camera but it hasn't returned.

Long story short, it left her eyes swollen shut and scabbed for 2 weeks, all feathers removed from her head, scalp lacerations and a weird scab on her bottom (about 2 inches below her vent.) On the first day, I was able to get her to eat and drink by tapping on a ceramic glass. She had the will to live, I have time and love to give.

Now we are 39 days out since the injury day. Her eyes and head are perfect. All of her feathers grew back and she looks fabulous. On Tuesday while cleaning her bottom, the scab/plug came off exposing a hole about the size of a dime/roundness of a Sharpie marker. I flushed the hole with saline and used wound spray. (I have NO IDEA how to treat a HOLE that you can peer in to and see her body wall, located on a CHICKENS BUTT!)

Since Tuesday, I clean the hole with saline/ do a rinse 2/3x daily. The fluid is generally clear but does have a cloudiness, but not discolored. Then use Vetericyn. I then hold her upright with the hole pointed "down" to allow any access saline/etc to drain out. I don't know, it seems weird to me to let anything "extra" sit in whatever cavity this hole leads to.

Today I noted a thin yellow/white colored film growing around the "inside" of the hole. I gave it a swab with a qtip and it is definitely attached. So I added a little ointment to the rim in hopes that this is fresh skin starting to grow around and inward. The injury does seep a little. I'm gone for 10 hours a day, so theres a little seepage I wipe from her bottom at the end of the day. I also give her calcium citrate with D3 daily for a boost since she started laying again after the injury and molt.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? I thought maybe something attacked her belly button site and maybe "pushed" it in creating this hole, but Google has lead me to nothing related to what I'm experiencing.

She eats A LOT, forges in her own pen, drinks great, normal poops (she's has been in a bird cage indoors so I can monitor her since injury), moves normal (no penguin stance/waddle), her belly isn't hard nor too soft, active, jumps without issue, injury site is not excessively red. She is a seemingly healthy chicken, minus the extra hole on her butt.

Any advice, suggestions, comments are welcome, please be kind. I'm doing the best with my prior experience/Google knowledge.

I have attached a few photos.
1/2) Day I found her.
3) A few days after with lots of ointment.
4) After her scabs came off
5) 39 days post injury. Looking fab.
6/7) The hole, about 2 inches under her vent. With and w/o flash. The yellow is at the back of the hole, her "wall".

 

[azygous]

Sounds like you're doing things right if she's eating like a pig and is otherwise behaving normally.

Is that yellow plug part of the wound or is it a wound ointment? If it's pus, a waxy substance in chickens, it should be removed and the hole packed with an antibiotic ointment. You may also use Manuka honey to pack the hole, as it might stay longer.

The rim around the inside of the hole is likely granulation, a process where a rim of new tissue begins to grow from the outer edges inward until the wound closes. This is a very good sign that she's healing.

 

[ChickenLadyChick]

Sounds like you're doing things right if she's eating like a pig and is otherwise behaving normally.

Is that yellow plug part of the wound or is it a wound ointment? If it's pus, a waxy substance in chickens, it should be removed and the hole packed with an antibiotic ointment. You may also use Manuka honey to pack the hole, as it might stay longer.

The rim around the inside of the hole is likely granulation, a process where a rim of new tissue begins to grow from the outer edges inward until the wound closes. This is a very good sign that she's healing.

It's hard to tell depth from the photo, but the yellow is what I would call the "back wall" of the injury. It's not a plug, it's not waxy nor pus like, it's just an internal yellow *wall*. But tomorrow I will go to the store and purchase Manuka honey and give that and some antibiotic ointment a try!

Thank you for the comment and suggestion! I hope we are on our way to complete healing!