Help! Guinea hen seriously injured

[Phoebetv28]

Hi all!

One of my guinea hens seems to have been attacked by something—we have an automatic door and she must have gotten stuck after it closed, I didn’t even realize until I came to check on them and found her like this.

She has a huge wound on her back, it isn’t bleeding profusely but it is super deep. What should I do? Will she make it? Is the more humane thing to put her out of her misery?

Weirdly, she seems somewhat alert and awake. May be in shock?

Anyway, very much appreciate any advice! I’ve had predator attacks in the past but have never had to administer this kind of first aid. She is in a crate in a dark space right now.

Thank you!

 

[Yardfulla poopers]

Triple antibiotic (neosporin) with no pain reliever in it. Morning and evening. You will be surprised how quickly they recover.

 

[Eggcessive]

Spray some saline or a wound spray on her wound twice a day. Then apply plain triple antibiotic ointment twice a day until it heals. She needs to be separated until it heals inside a dog crate with food and water.

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not a fan of automatic doors because of the time changes. I prefer doing a head count to make sure that every one is inside by dusk. Let us know how she gets along.

 

[fowltemptress]

You don't want to use neosporin on any wounds that are large and deep. Cleaning it initially with water and spraying it with something like Vetericyn or a saline solution a few times a day will do to keep it clean. Birds heal from these sorts of wounds surprisingly quickly, and as long as she's looking as alert as she does in those pictures I wouldn't be worrying.

 

[Phoebetv28]

Spray some saline or a wound spray on her wound twice a day. Then apply plain triple antibiotic ointment twice a day until it heals. She needs to be separated until it heals inside a dog crate with food and water.

Thank you! Unfortunately it’s late enough here that I can’t get any saline wash, do you think it’s a bad idea to wait until morning to clean the wound?

Also, I agree about the automatic door…have definitely learned from this.

 

[Phoebetv28]

You don't want to use neosporin on any wounds that are large and deep. Cleaning it initially with water and spraying it with something like Vetericyn or a saline solution a few times a day will do to keep it clean. Birds heal from these sorts of wounds surprisingly quickly, and as long as she's looking as alert as she does in those pictures I wouldn't be worrying.

Thank you! She does seem alert so far. Hoping she makes it through.

 

[Phoebetv28]

Sorry one last question: should I be trying to track down an antibiotic tomorrow? I noticed that I may be able to get amoxicillin at my local pet store and wondering if it would be good to give her to ward off infection?

 

[Phoebetv28]

Just writing an update here: was able to wash out her wound as best as I could with saline and sprayed vetericyn on it. She’s still alert, eating and pooping. Even laid an egg today which blew my mind.

I did notice that quite a bit of bone is exposed while I was washing the wound. Is there anything different I should do to treat the wound given that? Should I try to get ahold of some antibiotics? I would take her to the vet but she is very stressed and hates being handled, I’m worried that the stress of driving her there and handling her would make things worse. But I am pretty freaked about the fact that the bone is open to the air like this. Any advice?

 

[fowltemptress]

Good to hear she's still alert. You say she hates being handled - does that mean she's struggling and flapping when you try to treat her? If she's got that kind of energy in her that's a good sign, even if it can be annoying.

I don't know about antibiotics, so hopefully someone can advise you there. From a personal standpoint, I don't use them unless infection sets in, and I've been lucky and never had to deal with infection.

I wish vets would advise people over the phone about basic things like wound care. A few years ago I got around it by telling the vet my household had covid and couldn't bring the bird in, so they wound up having to advise me over the phone, but I don't know if that would still work these days. If you do decide to risk the stress of a vet visit, keep her conveyance covered to keep her calmer.

I have had exposed bone on pets before who healed up fine, so try not to let it get to you too much. I'd keep a layer of vaseline on the area to keep it moist. Avoid using antibiotic ointments like neosporin for this purpose. Plain petroleum jelly is actually better for healing tissue in these cases.