Chicken with bloody butt from bullying, losing blood at a medium rate, we need ideas as to how to save her.

[Fluffy Chicken Birds]

Our chicken has a bloody butthole, and she shrunk the wound back in. It was conveniently placed on her so that she could pull it back in. It was seemingly caused by bullying, as we saw her getting pecked and didn't think much about it.
We need ideas as to how to save her.

Just after these pictures she kind of sucked the wound in, leaving a clean butt on the outside, but now it's on the inside. We also cleaned her off a little bit, but it really wasn't much better than that. We used poultry wound spray, made with tea tree oil, all the while she was sitting in epsom salt water. As of right now she's just doing what she normally would outside, walking around chickening in the run.

 

[SandyRiverChick]

Good job cleaning the VENT wound. Keep it clean and apply Vetricyn or Triple Antibiotic creme. She is separated from the others, correct? You want to keep it clean, treated, no pecking and no fly strike. When I'm treating a wound I like to go from Vetricyn to Blue Kote, it's just my process and it heals quickly. Good Luck.

 

[Barnette]

Our chicken has a bloody butthole, and she shrunk the wound back in. It was conveniently placed on her so that she could pull it back in. It was seemingly caused by bullying, as we saw her getting pecked and didn't think much about it.
We need ideas as to how to save her.
View attachment 3859974View attachment 3859975
Just after these pictures she kind of sucked the wound in, leaving a clean butt on the outside, but now it's on the inside. We also cleaned her off a little bit, but it really wasn't much better than that. We used poultry wound spray, made with tea tree oil, all the while she was sitting in epsom salt water. As of right now she's just doing what she normally would outside, walking around chickening in the run.

Sounds like you're doing the right things. Keep it clean. One of the issues with this is that she's introducing new bacteria whenever she poops. I would keep her inside so flies don't get attracted to the wound. Clean it regularly and try applying triple antibiotic ointment with a cotton swab.

 

[coach723]

She may have had a prolapse that then got cannibalized by the others. I personally would use a petroleum based triple antibiotic ointment on that, cover as much of the damaged tissue with it that you can, and reapply as needed to keep it covered in the ointment. You may have to continue to clean droppings off to also help keep it clean (the ointment will also help keep droppings from sticking). Not knowing how much damage was done, I would be concerned about infection. If the tissue is damaged enough that there is an opening in the part that went back inside, it could leak into her abdomen. I would watch her closely for any signs of infection. Amoxicillin would be good, if you have some. Oral dose is 57 mg per pound of body weight, twice a day, for 5 days.

 

[Fluffy Chicken Birds]

Thank you all so much, we will try these things, and thanks for your advice.

 

[Fluffy Chicken Birds]

She may have had a prolapse that then got cannibalized by the others. I personally would use a petroleum based triple antibiotic ointment on that, cover as much of the damaged tissue with it that you can, and reapply as needed to keep it covered in the ointment. You may have to continue to clean droppings off to also help keep it clean (the ointment will also help keep droppings from sticking). Not knowing how much damage was done, I would be concerned about infection. If the tissue is damaged enough that there is an opening in the part that went back inside, it could leak into her abdomen. I would watch her closely for any signs of infection. Amoxicillin would be good, if you have some. Oral dose is 57 mg per pound of body weight, twice a day, for 5 days.

I think that is exactly what happened. The scratch is quite deep and bloody. We have Amprolium on hand and have added 3/4 tsp to their waterer along with a little colloidal silver and a probiotic. Do you think an antibiotic is necessary? I am thinking more about parasites than bacteria, especially since they are mostly contained within their run.

Sounds like you're doing the right things. Keep it clean. One of the issues with this is that she's introducing new bacteria whenever she poops. I would keep her inside so flies don't get attracted to the wound. Clean it regularly and try applying triple antibiotic ointment with a cotton swab.

We tried applying the ointment, but the problem is that the wound is so bloody and mucus-y that it just slid right off. It is really nasty looking, lots of dark red/ purple thick blood and a very deep scratch into the vent

Good job cleaning the VENT wound. Keep it clean and apply Vetricyn or Triple Antibiotic creme. She is separated from the others, correct? You want to keep it clean, treated, no pecking and no fly strike. When I'm treating a wound I like to go from Vetricyn to Blue Kote, it's just my process and it heals quickly. Good Luck.

Thankfully no fly strike. We have this cleanser on hand, which seems to have similar active ingredients to Vetricyn. The Blue Kote sounds like a good product and maybe we should get some ASAP.


We haven't separated her yet. There doesn't seem to be any more pecking because the wound is inside her now and their run doesn't seem to have many flies. But we are not able to monitor her 24/7, so it seems like a good idea to bring her inside, or at least separate her ASAP.

 

[coach723]

Blood or red will attract pecking. If it were to happen again the damage could be devastating. I would crate her until she's healed enough to not be at risk. A sick or weak bird will also attract attention from the others. It can happen quickly.
I would not use blu-kote on this for two reasons. 1. Blu-kote is intended for shallow or superficial injuries, not deep wounds. 2. It discolors the tissue making it very hard to tell if it's healthy healing tissue or not.
You can try using honey (manuka is good for wounds) to see if that will stick better. I would try to put pressure on the wound and get all bleeding stopped first so it's not so wet, then try applying.
Amprolium only treats coccidiosis and isn't going to be helpful on this particular issue.

 

[Fluffy Chicken Birds]

Hello, we took her to a vet and it turns out that yes, her vent prolapsed and then she got scratched. We got some prescriptions and moved her to her own cage, where she has decent room and space to herself. I will list the prescriptions soon. She is looking much better and making her usual sounds, thank you all for your help thus far.

 

[Fluffy Chicken Birds]

Just wanted to write an update and ask for insight, tried calling the vet but no response yet. The stool sample was negative for all parasites and ova. That is good and we had discontinued the medicated water as soon as we got home with her that day... We knew the sample would give us a clear direction if they did need an antibiotic or antiparasitic. The meds we got are meloxicam (treated for 7 days and need to discard eggs for 8 additional days) and calcium for egg production.

Over the last week, she has lost a good bit of weight. She has not laid a single egg. She is not eating much, but she is pooping a bit, more liquid-y than usual. Her vent looks okay, no sign of the injury at all... It must be healing inside her. We have her in a large dog crate we're borrowing from a friend, so she doesn't have a ton of room to move around.

She seemed really bored and listless. So we put her in the coop last night and everything was fine overnight. It was a bit relieving that we did, because we had a bear come through. Then we moved her back to the crate this morning.

Blood or red will attract pecking. If it were to happen again the damage could be devastating. I would crate her until she's healed enough to not be at risk. A sick or weak bird will also attract attention from the others. It can happen quickly.

You were 100% right. This afternoon we made the mistake of letting her in the run for a little bit. It seemed like a good idea at the time to let her move around more and have a better dust bath. But then she started fighting with the other girls. It wasn't them picking on her, to start with anyway. Sadly, they attacked her comb and now she has a small spike missing.

We immediately moved her back to the crate. We are considering starting tube feeding her because she is looking quite emaciated. We didn't buy the recovery blend because it is $60 locally and we're already $300 in to this injury with vet bills for one bird. Probably going to make a mash with water and layer crumbles to tube feed her. Maybe adding some extra protein and sugar... The recovery blend was just soy protein isolate, sunflower oil, sugar, and vitamins.

We are concerned about when/ how/ if she will fully recover and be able to be reintegrated.

 

[coach723]

If she were mine, I would do a round of amoxicillin. You may have trouble getting it without a vet. We used to be able to get it as fish medication, but it's all been banned now. If you have any human pills, you could use those. Not sure why the vet didn't think it was needed for this kind of injury as it could possibly be open to the abdomen. Just my thoughts, and I don't have a vet that will see birds, so I'm usually on my own.