I just posted yesterday about a Leghorn (named Pearl) who got attacked by a raccoon the night before last. I thought she was our only injury, but she's not. When I went outside today to give the leghorn (separated in her own cage now) some antibiotics, I saw fresh blood all over the place. My favorite (and oldest) chicken, a barred rock named Nelly had blood all over her foot. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, so I picked her up and inspected higher in her feathers. She's got an abcess.
I ran out and got a hypodermic needle, some Nolvasan and Blue Kote. Ran back and wrapped her in a sheet. I cleaned the site with Nolvasan. At that point the bleeding stopped. I poked it with the needle and it bled slightly and it hurt her when I poked her. You can see the fresh blood site in one of the photos. I rubbed it down with Nolvasan as it was bleeding and it aggitated what looks to be one of those puncture wounds and that bled much more. The entire site is hot and the abcess is hard as a rock. I stuck her again in a different spot and got more blood out, but the abcess isn't changing size. I rubbed it down more with the Nolvasan and once it wasn't bleeding any more, I covered it in Blue Kote.
Should I lance this thing later on?
I have the entire flock on Duramycin-10 (tetracycline antibiotic) in their water. Nelly with the abcess is in a hospital cage in the house. To make sure she started out with a kick of the antibiotic, I put some of it on some scrambled eggs and fed it to her right away.
Now the other chicken outside in a separate cage is Pearl. Her leg looks to be skinned in places on both sides. I've washed her leg and put Neosporin on it, but I'm going to get her in a little while and wash it with the Nolvasan and then spray some blue kote. To kick start her antibiotics, I wet a little scratch in my hand and put the Duramycin powder on it because she didn't want to eat the scrambled eggs. She's having a hard time standing for longer than 30 seconds.
So my main questions at the moment - Do I try to bleed out Nelly's abcess again later? I didn't want to continue poking her because she had already lost so much blood.
ANY advice at all would be appreciated. I am going to inspect all of the chickens very carefully once my boyfriend gets home from work. I don't think I can catch them all by myself, as they free range in the back yard. It's also incredibly muddy here and has been raining off and on.
I ran out and got a hypodermic needle, some Nolvasan and Blue Kote. Ran back and wrapped her in a sheet. I cleaned the site with Nolvasan. At that point the bleeding stopped. I poked it with the needle and it bled slightly and it hurt her when I poked her. You can see the fresh blood site in one of the photos. I rubbed it down with Nolvasan as it was bleeding and it aggitated what looks to be one of those puncture wounds and that bled much more. The entire site is hot and the abcess is hard as a rock. I stuck her again in a different spot and got more blood out, but the abcess isn't changing size. I rubbed it down more with the Nolvasan and once it wasn't bleeding any more, I covered it in Blue Kote.
Should I lance this thing later on?
I have the entire flock on Duramycin-10 (tetracycline antibiotic) in their water. Nelly with the abcess is in a hospital cage in the house. To make sure she started out with a kick of the antibiotic, I put some of it on some scrambled eggs and fed it to her right away.
Now the other chicken outside in a separate cage is Pearl. Her leg looks to be skinned in places on both sides. I've washed her leg and put Neosporin on it, but I'm going to get her in a little while and wash it with the Nolvasan and then spray some blue kote. To kick start her antibiotics, I wet a little scratch in my hand and put the Duramycin powder on it because she didn't want to eat the scrambled eggs. She's having a hard time standing for longer than 30 seconds.
So my main questions at the moment - Do I try to bleed out Nelly's abcess again later? I didn't want to continue poking her because she had already lost so much blood.
ANY advice at all would be appreciated. I am going to inspect all of the chickens very carefully once my boyfriend gets home from work. I don't think I can catch them all by myself, as they free range in the back yard. It's also incredibly muddy here and has been raining off and on.
