What's wrong with my rooster's foot?!

[Peregrine]

I wish we could take him to a vet, but my DH is in college, and right now we can't even pay our bills.

We did the surgery on Monday and checked the area on Tuesday. There was obviously still a lot of infection, so we squeezed some more out (

) and wrapped it back up. We skipped a day and then checked it again this morning. Still a lot of infection, but there seems to be less and less each day. We're afraid of digging too deep with the scalpel and cutting a tendon. My husband is great, doing all the dirty work while I hold our roo's wings down and talk to him gently. (He'll actually close his eyes partly and start to sleep!)

One change I noticed as I was right up next to his head: On Monday (and for months prior) the edges of his comb were a purplish color. I remarked that it looked like a burnt piece of bacon. On Tuesday only the tips were purple. And today the whole comb is a bright, healthy red! Does the comb color indicate sickness in a bird?

Also, we were thinking about giving him an internal antibiotic, but can't afford the vet visit. Is there a good over-the-counter one we can get at Walmart or online?

 

[Peregrine]

Well, after a week, the foot looks a little better, but still no where near healed. We've given up fighting the infection, but we're not giving up on the rooster. After the scabs heal over we're going to return him to the rest of the flock until we can get the money to bring him to a vet. That may not be until next spring, but if he's lasted this long, there's a good chance he can hold out a while longer.

The tip of his comb has turned purple again. It amazed me how fast it happened. Here's a picture of my beautiful rooster a few months ago. If you enlarge the picture you can see that the tip of his comb looks black.

 

[janinepeters]

Poor little thing. Must be quite painful for him.

 

[seminolewind]

If he looks sick, the purple edges are not good. But if he looks fine, the purple edges is what roosters get when they're REAL happy.

I would soak in Epsom salt twice a day. Or if you're impatient like me, wrap gauze around his foot. Wrap tape around that. When he roosts for the night, pour the mix over the bandage till the gauze is sopping wet. Now he can soak himself overnight.