Abcess....HELP!!

[ruth]

Quote:
The brain will be under the skull. You can safely make an incision and not hit any vital organs/veins. I would make a small one right on top of the scab.

 

[cocosandy]

Oh, I didnt mean you could cut the brain...I meant that the infection is close to the brain so I would take it out....

 

[ruth]

Hi Nancy - I sent a PM in reply to your "How to" but am posting here as well so others will have the information:

"I would make a small incision right over the current opening - maybe about a half inch long. Then you should be able to use tweezers or manicure scissors or even a dental pic (those are my operating instruments) and dig out the gunk. I'm betting it's full of hardened abcess which will look like cooked, rubbery egg yolk. When all is removed there will just be loose skin, with an incision, and you will see the flesh/blood of the "meat" over the skull so clean it out till you see that. It is amazing how loose their skin really is. You'll be able to move it all around and see everything underneath. Then add some Neosporin and stitch closed - a regular needle and thread will work and it shouldn't take more than a stitch or two.

I've sewn up hens who were ripped up so bad from too many roos that they looked like Frankenstein when I finished and they all healed just fine with no antibiotics. You don't have to take the stitches out later - they will just dissolve or fall apart over time. "

 

[NancyinAlaska]

I did as Ruth suggested. this morning I got it right, the stuff that came out of there was amazing and hopefully that's the end of the problem!!

 

[ruth]

Quote:
Hi Nancy - that's great. What did you do differently from when you last wrote me and said there was only blood in the pocket? I'm guessing you hadn't cut all the way through the skin and now I'm guessing you found that glob of gunk I was describing? If so, you realize now that abcessed chicken pus will never drain out on its own.

Good job. She should heal just fine.

 

[tdgill]

awesome

 

[Country4ever]

May I jump in here and ask a question?

A couple years ago I had a hen who got a sore on her bottom (under and to the side of her vent). It appeared to get infected. I gave her antibiotics. The outside healed, but the area became a bit swollen and hard. I was thinking it was just fibrous tissue from the previous infection. She never really recovered from it. She improved somewhat, but was never totally healthy again, and died when I tried to reintroduce her to the flock. They attacked her and I immediately took her away from them, but she died shortly afterwards. I didn't realize how compromised she really was.
Anyhow........after reading several posts about how abscesses get hard, it makes me think that this hen had an abscess and I didn't realize it. Is it possible that it festered for weeks, and even though she appeared to be recuperating, it just eventually overwhelmed her?
Do they ever wall themselves off and keep the chicken from getting sick systemically?
I'm really glad I learned how their abscesses behave. I might have been able to save her, had I known this then.
Thanks for enlightening me!

 

[ruth]

Quote:
It could have been an abcess but it could have also been ascitis (fluid buildup) or internal laying or any number of things. I'm sorry you lost her.