a straggler that wound up at my door.

[melishkia]

Hi ya'll,

I follow a chicken forum in my area and saw a pretty blue orpington/cochin (not sure) on the page with an injury. The previous owner is not sure how it happened, she just cannot take care of her due to the holiday season coming up. This little girl is only 6 months old, not laying yet.

So here is the pictures that she sent me of the wing, she had gone outside and noticed she was unable to hold her wing properly and lifted up her wing to find this (last night). Chickie is eat/drink fine, not lethargic, and happily clucking away.





Since I didn't raise this chickie myself, the feelings are not fully invested so if I cannot save her, I (hopefully) will not cry about it but I sure would like to try.

I'm planning on epsom salt soaks (twice daily) and adding garlic and apple cider vinegar to her water for added vitamin C, she will be eating fermented foods once I can get enough for her.

Is there anything else that anyone can think of besides going to the vet? I'd like to hold off if possible, I do have access to a vet of course if it comes to that but I'm really interested in trying to let her work this out herself and with natural treatments.

 

[melishkia]

this is her by the way, this was the picture of her I saw on Facebook. I have yet to take a picture of her since its too dark now.

 

[AllynTal]

You say, "of course" like everyone has a vet that will see chickens. Most won't. Consider yourself lucky if you 1) have a vet that will see chickens, and 2) if your vet is actually an avian vet.

It looks painful, poor baby. Is it soft? I'm wondering if it is an abscess or a blood bag. If you stick it, does it leak pus or blood?

 

[melishkia]

I said "of course" as a way to make sure I didn't get any furrowed-brows from anyone because of the fact that I wanted to treat this myself, then again I guess thats just how it is with chickens for everyone... not sure why I assumed. And the vets I have at work are actually dog/cat but the owner of the hospital has cattle and chickens so I was going to check with him if anyone. Honestly though, I just want to try to do it myself.

I was giving her the night to relax since yesterday was kind of stressful, she didn't get to my house until late in the evening. I'll take a peak at it today and get back with you!

 

[melishkia]

So finally looked at it this morning, looks horrible. Way worse than the pics, she's also lethargic and not eating. Called the vet I work for and got some antibiotics. I'll be surprised if she makes it.

 

[AllynTal]

What antibiotic did the vet prescribe? Poor baby. It looked bad enough in the pictures. If you can get some NutriDrench in her, it might help her perk up a bit until the antibiotics can take care of whatever it is.

Don't worry about getting furrowed brows here. Most folks here, it seems, don't have access to a vet that will see chickens so it is usual that folks are trying to deal with things themselves. I'm glad your vet will work with you even though he's a dog/cat vet. I had my dog in for a visit and asked my vet if anyone around here would see chickens. He didn't know of anyone, but he said he has books, so if push comes to shove..... I'm guessing a vet with a chicken book is better than nothing.

 

[melishkia]

Thanks for the support @AllynTal !

I talked to him over the phone, he said to try Albon (because of the way chickens process micro organisms? he told me the details but it kinda went over my head), I did a doubled dose the first time and now a smaller dose for the next 5 days. He didn't have his book in front of him so he didn't check on any penicillin but had recommended applying a triple antibiotic ointment to the outside and giving her an oatmeal slurry with a tiny bit of honey to perk her up. She is holding out and ill keep treating her until either she passes or improves. I looked at it this morning and its just festering away, I did an epsom salt soak, slathered it with triple antibiotic ointment, and gave her a dose of albon. I'm not force feeding her because she is really hard to syringe the medicine to, it seems to stress her out more and she starts open mouth breathing. It smells horrible, I almost think I should just put her out of her misery because it looks awful and I can tell she is in pain. I guess I'll give her the day and see what tomorrow brings.

 

[AllynTal]

Thanks for the support @AllynTal !

I talked to him over the phone, he said to try Albon (because of the way chickens process micro organisms? he told me the details but it kinda went over my head), I did a doubled dose the first time and now a smaller dose for the next 5 days. He didn't have his book in front of him so he didn't check on any penicillin but had recommended applying a triple antibiotic ointment to the outside and giving her an oatmeal slurry with a tiny bit of honey to perk her up. She is holding out and ill keep treating her until either she passes or improves. I looked at it this morning and its just festering away, I did an epsom salt soak, slathered it with triple antibiotic ointment, and gave her a dose of albon. I'm not force feeding her because she is really hard to syringe the medicine to, it seems to stress her out more and she starts open mouth breathing. It smells horrible, I almost think I should just put her out of her misery because it looks awful and I can tell she is in pain. I guess I'll give her the day and see what tomorrow brings.

I'm concerned that her not eating is making her too weak to fight the infection. That's why I suggested dosing her with NutriDrench. It'll give her an infusion of nutrients to help her body fight the invasion.

You probably already know this, but I'll say it for the benefit of others that might be reading this thread trying to help their own feathered friends. When you open the chicken's mouth, the big hole you see behind the tongue is the trachea (windpipe). Don't shoot anything in there. Insert the syringe into the mouth alongside the tongue and kinda shoot it into the cheek. That way the bird can swallow it without it going down the airway.

 

[melishkia]

Do you have any tricks to getting them to open their mouth? That's what Im struggling with. She refuses/fights, even hiding her head under her wing. That's when she starts open mouth breathing which is the only way I can get her to take the Albon. I hate to stress her out even more but I would syringe feed her if I could. The wing now has an opening, surrounded by necrotic tissue and a brownish/yellow discharge... I'll be calling my vet again today and give him the update to see what he says.

 

[AllynTal]

Do you have any tricks to getting them to open their mouth? That's what Im struggling with. She refuses/fights, even hiding her head under her wing. That's when she starts open mouth breathing which is the only way I can get her to take the Albon. I hate to stress her out even more but I would syringe feed her if I could. The wing now has an opening, surrounded by necrotic tissue and a brownish/yellow discharge... I'll be calling my vet again today and give him the update to see what he says.

Poor baby. That sounds nasty.

I have no tricks. If my husband is available to hold the bird, that makes it easier. He holds her body and cups his hand behind her head and I pry her mouth open, gently but firmly. If I have to do it by myself, I wrap her in a towel and hold her between my legs while I pry her mouth open. I have to be firm. She's not going to break, but I don't want to hurt her.....just firm enough to be in charge of the situation.

I'm crossing my fingers that the vet has hope.