Yesterday afternoon, Justin decided to toss some cooked turkey meat out to the critters in our back yard-- the chickens and the dog both enjoy cooked meat. Great plan, right? Right. Except for one minor detail. The chickens are basically defenseless, and we have a very territorial dog (Uh-oh) out there. Who until yesterday had left the chickens alone. Well. He didn't leave them alone yesterday. He attempted to decapitate a chicken... and nearly succeeded. He left a small puncture wound on one side of her neck, and a huge gaping hole on the other side. He did some damage to the muscles in her neck. He is NOT in my good book today, and we are seeking him a new home. He just doesn't fit with our animals and while he has caused some territory/jealousy related issues with the other dog in the past, he has now crossed the line. He has to go.
Anyway, back to the chicken. We saw blood pouring down the side of her body, and I figured she was a goner, no way was I going to pay for a veterinarian visit for a bird I paid $3.50 for as a chick. Nor was I about to suture a bird. I mean, really? I DO NOT SUTURE!
But, a friend kindly insisted that I ought to at least try, and therefore find a needle and thread, boil them, clean the wound, and stitch her up. SO. While I prepared our dinner, I also prepared some saline water to rinse the wound, some baking soda paste to spread over when we were done stitching the wound, and boiled some bright blue thread and a very fine sewing needle. My hope being that if this bird by some miracle survives this ordeal, we may be able to see the blue threads to remove them in a couple of weeks.
We ate our dinner, and then cleaned off our brand new dining table. Hey, every table should be christened by some medical emergency with animals, right? This is just preparation for that farm/homestead we keep talking about. I'm sure. ANYWAY. We washed the table, we spread a towel over the table. We got sharp scissors, and we washed the wound with saline water. We sent Rebecca for a small lamp to create better lighting, as it was dark outdoors by the time I was ready to stitch this creature up. With all these things in place, we began working on the bird. But wait! She wouldn't stay still any time I stuck the needle into her skin! Well, do you blame her?? I don't! So we grabbed another towel and wrapped her wings and feet inside the other towel. And thus began 30 minutes of suturing. 8 stitches later, her neck was reassembled, though there is some muscle damage, and I had no dissolving sutures, so I'm not sure how well she will heal.
We woke this morning and I fully expected her to have keeled over, but she hasn't! I also fully expected to come home to a dead chicken after church, which we didn't. She is not particularly interested in eating, however, so we have been spoon feeding her yogurt and cooked egg yolks, hoping that even if we can't get large quantities into her, those highly nutritious foods might bring her around. Justin even sat and syringe fed her. Her wound looks excellent, no major swelling, and no seeping, so so far so good! We will need to find some aspirin and give her some in her water, I think, and it appears her equilibrium is off, as it is very entertaining to watch her attempt to walk. However, barring infection and assuming she starts to eat and drink willingly, she should be fine.
And so, now I know... I DO suture...
...But you couldn't pay me enough to do it again!
