Urgent: post-amputation care, advice needed/I thought I would spend my Saturday doing this...

[darlingdarla]

I got home from an extended vacation about an hour and a half ago to find one of my birds hobbling over on one foot. Long story short, I bandaged her foot too tight and her toes turned black and hard, they were ice cold when I touched them and probably would have snapped off if i probed them much. I asked my pet sitter to check on the bandage but clearly something was miscommunicated, this bird was like this for a week at least (suffice to say I'll be finding another sitter, my old one moved away and I've been struggling to find someone who knows chickens well enough ever since, this is my first time out of town in two years.
I do feel like this is my fault, I should have double checked the bandage and made sure my sitter knew what was wrong with the hen, but I can't turn back time.
I settled on amputation, I believe it is this hens only chance.

I asked a friend with a strong stomach to help, and he snipped off her leg above her ankle with a pair of wire cutters (oddly enough, I was the one with cold feet and almost asked him to just euthanize, but he got the job done).

She is now in a small dog crate on my screened in porch. Her nub is bandaged with Neosporin, I am going out now to get plain old triple antibiotic ointment (without pain relief). I have been giving her bread soaked in Nutridrench and Roosterbooster water. She hasn't drank anything yet, but as far as I can tell she has been fairly mobile on her one leg so I think she was drinking while I was gone. I've been soaking hamburger buns in the electrolyte water and she has eaten almost three of them, she's losing interest now, but she has to be full. She doesn't lay eggs anymore (long story) so I'm wondering if putting her on chick feed would be beneficial?

I know a lot of people will disagree with my decision to amputate, and that's fine, but here is my reasoning: one, she is already mobile on her one healthy foot. Two, she is alert, and both ran to me when I got home and ran away when I went to catch her. Three, she wants to live. I had to put down a bird a few weeks ago for a similar issue, for lack of better words she had given up, she was ready. This tough old lady isn't.

So here are my questions, I feel like I have everything mostly handled, but here we go.
Preventative antibiotics or no? And what kind, dosage, and how to administer? Brand names please, I am going to the feed store today to find something but I can order something online.
How long might this take to heal? When can she go back with the flock and should I choose a buddy for her to spend her recovery with?
And I feel like this is most important, what do I do if she continues to have no interest in water? What supplies would I need to force feed her?
Some quick answers would be appreciated, I'm heading to the feed store as soon as this is posted.
Also if anyone else has had this situation, I'd love to hear what you did and how you managed it.
Thank you everyone...

 

[Parront]

I have had some horrible chicken injuries heal with Neosporin alone. I once amputated a leg from a desert tortise with the same problem. He had a wire wrapped around the leg which cut off the blood flow. He lived with only topical Neosporin. I had an Orpington the flock decided to pick on, no tail, she lived with only topical Neosporin cream.
Interest in water is good with a nipple waterer -- a tube like for a hamster. The shiny drip invites pecking!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Her nub is bandaged with Neosporin, I am going out now to get plain old triple antibiotic ointment (without pain relief).

I've been soaking hamburger buns in the electrolyte water and she has eaten almost three of them

The neosporin you have has pain relief or?
Neosporin is triple antibiotic ointment - just sayin'.

Photos?

The foot may have autoamputated if left alone, but since you did amputate, then yes...an antibiotic would be a good idea.
Ideally Cephalexine would be a good choice, but likely you need to ask your vet or order it online.

Fish Antibiotics (Fish Mox/Amoxicillin) can sometimes be found at TSC. All you can do is try.

Most antibiotics need to be ordered.

Keep her eating her normal feed and drinking. Hopefully she will heal quickly.

 

[darlingdarla]

I have had some horrible chicken injuries heal with Neosporin alone. I once amputated a leg from a desert tortise with the same problem. He had a wire wrapped around the leg which cut off the blood flow. He lived with only topical Neosporin. I had an Orpington the flock decided to pick on, no tail, she lived with only topical Neosporin cream.
Interest in water is good with a nipple waterer -- a tube like for a hamster. The shiny drip invites pecking!

I know they're tough little creatures, I feel pretty confident for this girl if I can just get it right.

The neosporin you have has pain relief or?
Neosporin is triple antibiotic ointment - just sayin'.

Photos?

The foot may have autoamputated if left alone, but since you did amputate, then yes...an antibiotic would be a good idea.
Ideally Cephalexine would be a good choice, but likely you need to ask your vet or order it online.

Fish Antibiotics (Fish Mox/Amoxicillin) can sometimes be found at TSC. All you can do is try.

Most antibiotics need to be ordered.

Keep her eating her normal feed and drinking. Hopefully she will heal quickly.

I'm out of Neosporin. I can't get Cephalexin without a prescription and there are no vets who will take my birds around here.
Fish Mox is on backorder everywhere I look.
Would some kind of penicillin be okay? Like this- I can order it.

 

[Parront]

I know they're tough little creatures, I feel pretty confident for this girl if I can just get it right.

I'm out of Neosporin. I can't get Cephalexin without a prescription and there are no vets who will take my birds around here.
Fish Mox is on backorder everywhere I look.
Would some kind of penicillin be okay? Like this- I can order it.
View attachment 2822509

I would just go to your local Walmart store and get more Neosporin! Best wishes for your hen!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I know they're tough little creatures, I feel pretty confident for this girl if I can just get it right.

I'm out of Neosporin. I can't get Cephalexin without a prescription and there are no vets who will take my birds around here.
Fish Mox is on backorder everywhere I look.
Would some kind of penicillin be okay? Like this- I can order it.
View attachment 2822509

Online antibiotics https://fishmoxfishflex.com/

You can use Penicillin if that's all you can find.

 

[darlingdarla]

I let her rest overnight, as far as I can tell she hasn't drank any water yet, but she did eat a lot of soggy bread yesterday and could be drinking when I'm not looking. she is still alert and ate her normal feed readily this morning, I also prepared her some sloppy feed, but she's more interested in the dry. When do I get concerned about her hydration?

One thing, I am worried about a fly strike. I noticed a fly in my pourch this morning, I left the windows open yesterday to keep it from getting too hot. She's a mess, when I found her yesterday she's pretty much been sitting in her own poop. I'm chaning her pads every day now and I cleaned her up as best I could but her feathers under her cloaca are still soiled. I don't think soaking her would be a good idea, because of her open wound, so I'm just trying to keep her as clean as possible and checking on her often.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

she is already mobile on her one healthy foot.

She's a mess, when I found her yesterday she's pretty much been sitting in her own poop. I'm chaning her pads every day now and I cleaned her up as best I could but her feathers under her cloaca are still soiled. I don't think soaking her would be a good idea, because of her open wound

So she's not too mobile.

You can try placing her in a sling for short periods of time to get her upright and help her stay cleaner.

I too would be concerned about soiling and flies.
If she needs a deeper clean to get the poop off, wrap some plastic wrap around the bandaged leg to help it stay dry while you clean her up.

How does the wound look? Are you changing the dressing at least once a day and checking it over?

Hydration is extremely important.
You may need to tube fluids into her for a few days instead of relying on her eating soggy bread which is probably not enough fluids.
Here's how to tube fluids https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/crop-feeding.75454/

 

[darlingdarla]

So she's not too mobile.

You can try placing her in a sling for short periods of time to get her upright and help her stay cleaner.

I too would be concerned about soiling and flies.
If she needs a deeper clean to get the poop off, wrap some plastic wrap around the bandaged leg to help it stay dry while you clean her up.

How does the wound look? Are you changing the dressing at least once a day and checking it over?

Hydration is extremely important.
You may need to tube fluids into her for a few days instead of relying on her eating soggy bread which is probably not enough fluids.
Here's how to tube fluids https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/crop-feeding.75454/

She's mobile when she's not in the crate, now that the foot is gone she is walking better and in less pain but there's not a lot of space and I don't have anywhere for her to go except outside and I don't want to risk infecting her leg (my landlord made it clear, no chickens in the house). I took her out and wiped her off pretty well with wet wipes and some extra water, I will probably try the plastic wrap later today or tomorrow as well.

I just changed the bandage, sorry I didn't get pictures. I put her back in her crate and she kicked the bandage off, I thought it was more secure than that but I guess I was wrong. I grabbed her and changed it, dabbled the skin around the wound with alcohol and applied more Neosporin. I wrapped her a little better this time, the wrap goes up the leg, I'm still checking on her every hour to make sure it stays in place.
I think the wound looks okay, no redness or swelling on the leg. There is some dried blood right on the wound, I put the ointment over it for now because I didn't want her bleeding again.

And she is drinking now. She wouldn't take it from cups or the nipple waterer I tried, but I decided to take one of the waterers I use in the coop and give it to her. It's a little too big for the crate so I will probably be moving her to my dogs big crate later today, but she drank from that no hesitation when I set it in front of her. It's in with her now and she is also drinking from the original coop cup I had with her. Both have rooster booster in them.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Oh good! She's drinking!