13 Week EE Injured (17 wks now) ~Vet Update Not Good~ *Graphic Pics *

[threehorses]

Quote:
The idea of baby t-shirts is a good one! But perhaps bandade is cheaper? What do you call it.. Gauze? That stretchy stuff that comes in a roll... I don't know how far down on her shoulder it is, but some kind of binding around her.. If it's far up you could give her a gauze collar and attach it to her wing or around her (opposite) leg or something?

If you can get it to stay, yes - gauze would be cheaper. I'm just brainstorming in case it won't stay.

My favorite stuff is vetwrap. It's self adhesive, so no tape (to pull feathers out), etc. You can tape some stuff to it - maybe papertowels folded into a square - to it. I'd use duct tape to tape the paper towels to it. Even gauze can get pricey. I think you could leave the vet wrap so you wouldn't have to replace it.

I have to share this now - when my geese were injured, I had to wrap some wounds (lightly) to keep flies away because they were really really bad wounds and a lot of them. I joked for a week afterwards at my duct-taped geese! I used mostly gauze pads and vetwrap because of its breathability. But to get the ends of the vetwrap to stay, I used pieces of duct tape. So I had all these very very rigged up looking duct taped geese limping around my stall.

heck at that point I didn't care. I was just stunned they were alive! But it was quite the sight!

 

[Lolliegee]

This isn't my normal long-winded update. I'll do that tonight. But, before I do her cleaning later, I've been looking at all the ideas for putting something for her wipe her eye on. The problem is that the spot she is wiping is literally partly on her wing and partly on her back. So leaving her wing out of wrap wouldn't really keep that clean either. Any more ideas? If you all want, I could try and take a picture later of where she's wiping. Maybe that would help with the suggestions. She's also started doing it on the other side, although not nearly as much, since that eye isn't weeping nearly as bad.

Also, I had an idea of boosting her protein by adding protein powder or something like it to her food. I'm thinking that might help her gain some weight back. Is there any reason I shouldn't do something like that?

I love you guys! You're all so helpful!

 

[Tuppemor]

Quote:
Actually, I would just go for eggs.

 

[threehorses]

Definitely eggs

 

[nickori]

Some extra protein will help with the healing process, but too much can damage the kidneys. I agree with the hard boiled egg idea.

Nicki

 

[sarahsark]

That poor, poor little chicken.

She is so lucky to have such a wonderful chicken mommy! You're so dedicated to her, I got tears in my eyes as I scrolled through the thread and looked at those pictures.

Here's hoping your little one gets better soon.

 

[Lolliegee]

Well, she's doing a little better tonight. She managed to stay on her roost for most of the day. That's encouraging. She still nearly fell off a few times, but managed to regain her balance. Here's a pic of her on her roost. You can see how she's kinda puffed out to keep her balance.

When I was cleaning her tonight, I felt like I used half the box of q-tips. It just seemed like goo just kept coming and coming. Every time I'd think I could move on to feeding her, I'd notice her eye weeping more, or her nose having more coming out. Ewwww. Man, this is so gross. I hope never to have to do this kind of thing again!!

One thing I noticed, which confirms that the injury is indeed connected to her sinuses and eyes...when I was flushing the wound (the one that I'm keeping open), her eye and nose both had fluid come out. It was some of the saline, but also some of the goo. I suppose this is a good thing, means I'm getting somewhere.

I went ahead and took a pic of where she's wiping her eye. I hope it's good enough for you all to tell what she's doing. I'm still not sure how I could cover it because of the way she's doing it on her wing too.

I didn't end up adding anything extra to her food, other than the normal yogurt and honey. Since it's really a mash, I wasn't sure how I could add a boiled yolk to it. I suppose, now that I think about it, I could just mash it up and add the liquid just like I do for the rest of the food. Duh.

If I get a chance, I'll do that tomorrow.

I guess that's all for tonight. It seems to be getting later and later when I manage to post these. I'm gonna go to bed!

ETA: Just realized the date on my camera is wrong. These were taken tonight, not yesterday.

 

[NancyBrew]

Lolligee,

YOu without a doubt are chicken momma of the year, goodness the care and love you have shown this chicken is extraordinary.

She is lucky she has you and seems to be as brave at fighting this horrible infection as you are taking on the often gruesome care of her.

Everyone that has helped you are angels too.. but we can only sit and read and offer our love and encouragement to you...

Here is mine {{{{{{HUGE HUG}}}}}

Two suugestions:
One thing I do agree with being a medical type person is you must keep irrigating that channel, and I would reccomend Betadine, which is what we use in hospitals. One tool you might try in a tooth irrigator. It is a 5 cc syringe with a long curved plastic tip that is used to irrigat e flaps for extracted wisdom teeth. The end is roughly the size of a 23 gauge needle.... so you can shot it into the track.

The second is boric acid solution which is a weak antispetic yet soothing solution used for eye wash. We used to use it when our baby ducks and geese got crusty eyes. It works very well and may not sting her eye as badly.

I will continue to pray for you... and your sweet brave chickie!

Nancy

 

[CountryPantry]

Hello
I just had my vet friend read your entire post..hehe...like he didin't have anything better to do. He said you have done very remarkable in handling this hen...he applauded you!!

Here are his reccommendations:

1) Antibiotic shot for no less than 10 days up to 14 days. You are fighting a strong infection from a opppossom.

2) Saline wash the eyes at least twice a day using a mild solition like they make for contact users. Just irragate the eye with the flow from the bottle, gently. Dress them with Terremycin ointment after cleaning.

3) Use the starter/grower mash mixed with honey like you are doing. The protien level should be high enough, but the yougurt is a good idea to mix in to keep her from getting a sour crop. Becareful that it doesn't go into her lungs with the syringe.

4) Keep cleaning the wounds like you are doing, use neosporin on all sores to keep the skin lubricated.

5) Bath her as needed to keep her clean...he says this is very important as chickens can re-infect themselves by rubbing the infection on themselves and then preening. It sends the infection to new areas to grow. (something I didn't know)

He was very opptomistic that she should have a good recover, but it will take time. The vitamin (PolyViSol no iron) can be given by putting a drop in her mouth and letting her swollow it, don't mix it with water as it will lose its potency.

He said keep up the good work and he is proud to know that there are still people out there that love their animals enough to go the extra mile. According to him, he thought I was the only strange one that had farm animals as pets. I worked with 4-H for over 23 years and he was the vet for the University of Florida Extention Services during that time, we have a great working relationship, even though both of us are retired now.

Hope this helps you, you were doing most of this already. We are praying for the hen to do a full recovery.

Debbie

 

[Lorimary]

I get tired just THINKING about all the things that you are doing for this chick each day. I can't help but think that this chick is a fighter, or she would have given up a long time ago. I'm wondering if you just called your vet for advice if they might give you advice that you could institute in her care. I do know that after an anti-biotic has been used for a time, that it can become ineffective on the specific infection. I'm wondering if changing it might finish off the infection?
From the pictures, the feathers look healthy and that must be something positive. And, she's young, which probably gives her some advantage.
Still hoping for success, and admiring your perseverence!