Wound Care for Chickens

Chickens are curious creatures and sometimes get into things that cause injury. You may also have birds picking on one another or face a predator attack. Knowing some basic wound care treatments to treat your chickens can be helpful.

It’s hard to find a vet that will treat chickens and it never fails that our birds have been sick or injured either in the evenings or on the weekend when the vet’s office is closed.

When something is wrong with our birds, my stress level skyrockets. Having supplies on hand helps, especially if I need to act quickly. So, I put together a chicken first aid kit.

I’m not a vet and only have experience dealing with our chickens. I do have children and have attended to many injuries during the last 25 years. If you have kids, especially boys, you’ve probably cleaned a few wounds yourself. My best friend was a registered nurse and the lessons she taught me about wound care have been invaluable. This post is for informational purposes only and should not take the place of veterinarian care.

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Wound Care

If your chicken is injured by a predator or even another chicken, assess the wound. Start with cleaning it so you can get a good look at it.

For cleaning the wound, I like using peroxide. You may have to flush several times. Dilute with water and use a 1:1 ratio.

To clean, I’ll use a syringe to get the hydrogen peroxide solution on the wound. This helps keep the entire bird from getting wet.

If your bird is panicked, wrap its head in a towel. It should calm them down. You may need to trim the feathers to get to the wound but only cut what is needed. Birds need their feathers for warmth and protection and usually, they won’t grow back until the next molt. 

Trimming feathers is similar to cutting your fingernails. Just be careful, feathers could have blood in them if they are new or not finished growing. The quills should be white or clear and look hollow.

If the wounded area is large, you may need to bathe the bird to clean. I only do this if absolutely necessary. Have you heard the saying “Madder than a wet hen!” Seriously y’all!

So, if I have to bathe the bird, I’ll use regular soap and water instead of peroxide.

Now that you have a good look at it, do you feel you can treat it yourself? If it’s minor, you probably can.

For a minor injury, laceration or a puncture wound, you will need:

• Hydrogen peroxide
• 4×4 pads
• Antibiotic ointment without pain relief
• Vet wrap
• Scissors
• Syringe for irrigation
• Paper towel
• Bath Towel

Minor abrasion

For a minor abrasion, after cleaning with the peroxide solution, pat dry with a paper towel then use Blu-Kote. It has an antiseptic in it but will also dye the skin blue. This helps to keep the other birds from pecking at it.

As said earlier, birds are curious creatures. They will peck at bare flesh or red spots. They love blood! Blue-Kote shouldn’t be used on open wounds as it will burn.

Now, if no other injuries, your bird should be able to return to the flock. I like to quarantine at least 24 hours after an injury or illness to monitor their behavior. We set up an old guinea pig cage as our “sick bay” in our bathroom. 

After an injury, the birds need to rest so their bodies can heal. Returning a sick or injured bird to the flock too soon could turn deadly. If they are limping or lethargic, the other birds may attack them. Check out my blog on The Dark Side of Chickens.

Chickens are great at disguising any illness or injury. They know they would be easy prey for a predator. Returning them to the flock, they will forage and do normal chicken things, when they may need rest. Plus, it makes me feel better having them inside where I can keep a close eye on them.

Laceration

If the injury is a laceration or puncture wound, clean with peroxide and water. Use the 1:1 mixture to keep from burning the tissue too bad.

If there is bleeding and it doesn’t stop within a few minutes, apply cornstarch to the wound. Sprinkle and lightly press with a paper towel but don’t rub. Cornstarch has natural drying properties that aid in clotting. This was recommended by my vet years ago when cutting our dog’s nails (it never fails-I also seem to cut one too short).

Several people in my chicken group use Clotisol, a blood clotting suspension. They swear by it. Thankfully, I haven’t had any experience using it. I may add to my first aid kit but for now, the cornstarch has worked fine.

Dressing the Wound

Now that the wound is clean, it may need to be dressed. Apply Neosporin (without pain reliever) or triple antibiotic ointment to the wound. Depending on the size of the wound, I like to use a Q-Tip, tongue depressor, or popsicle stick so I don’t contaminate the container or the wound.  If the puncture wound is deep, try to get the Neosporin down in the wound. This will help keep germs out. Additionally, the ointment will keep the wound moist so it won’t crust over while the underneath layer heals.

I have a blogging friend, Patsy, that’s an RN and has a farm. She makes a wound care ointment with coconut oil and essential oils that packs a powerful punch against sores and wounds plus promotes healing.

To make:

• Mix 4 oz of coconut oil
• Add 50 drops each of lavender and tea tree oil
• Use a bullet blender to mix or melt the coconut oil and let it cool to almost solid again then mix the oils in.

She has a second mixture with 25 drops of the oil instead of 50 that she uses as the bird is getting better.

I usually don’t like to use bandages on wounds, unless the bird is messing with it too much (preening, picking, etc.) or they’re returning to a dirt-filled coop. So if you need to bandage, use a 4×4 non-stick pad and wrap with Vetwrap.

Aftercare

Re-assess the wound the following day. It will have some redness and swelling as it’s healing. As long as it’s not excessive, it’s okay.  Expect some drainage. Just make sure there’s no odor or pus, which is a sign of infection.

If you need to clean the second day, I like to use Vetricyn and not Peroxide to clean. The bubbling of Peroxide helps to remove any dirt and debris in the wound, but it also damages the tissue. So, since the wound has started healing, I don’t want to deteriorate any healthy skin. Here’s a great link explaining the process: https://www.livescience.com/33061-why-does-hydrogen-peroxide-fizz-on-cuts.html

If you don’t have Vetricyn, you can use saline.

Now, if you had to bandage, hopefully, you can leave it off the second day. However, it’s important to keep the wound clean while healing until a scab forms. The scab’s main job is to keep germs out of the wound while it heals. Add a bandage if necessary.

After the third day, unless it’s a deep wound, you shouldn’t have to clean it (unless it needs it). Your chicken should be able to take care of it now but keep an eye on it for the next few days.

I don’t like to quarantine the bird longer than 2 days unless absolutely necessary. After 2 days, the pecking order can be disrupted, causing more problems.

Good Nutrition for Wound Care

Make sure your chicken is eating and drinking. This is easier to monitor if your bird is quarantined. Nutrients are needed to aid in the healing process. I’ll put NutriDrench in the water to give them a boost.

They may not eat the first day but make sure they’re drinking. The following day if they aren’t eating, I’ll add water to the feed to soften it. My girls act like this is a special treat. Some people will mix a tablespoon of plain yogurt in the feed.

For a protein boost, I’ll give them a scrambled egg. Protein is essential in healing muscle and tissue and the girls will always eat an egg! If not, then I know something is really wrong. 

Your local farm store can be a great resource. The staff at ours is very knowledgeable, and they have a lot of medicines including some antibiotics in stock. However, due to recent law changes, they aren’t able to keep as many as they use to. Ours also has a list of vets that treats birds.

The wound should look better every day

Check the wound each day. I like to take pictures to make sure it’s getting better. I just don’t trust my memory.

Trudy was grabbed last year by a hawk. She had several puncture wounds and was missing a lot of feathers. I was also worried about internal injuries.

We quarantined her in the bathroom. The next morning she was acting like herself, squawking and telling me all about it. That was quite a relief.

I think it’s important to know that the chicken’s vital organs are on the left side of their body. If the injury occurred on that side, there could be internal injuries that you can’t see.

With any injury or illness, you may still lose the bird after doing all the right things. Just know you did everything in your power.

When we first got the chickens, my husband refused to take them to the vet. However, now he loves them so much I don’t think it would be hard to convince him if I was unsure of the treatment plan.