Bad week for the birds...advice needed....

[KansasKid]

My pintails have been having problems with their feet. not bumblefoot but small cuts/cracks on the bottom of their feet that swell. (due to i assume rough ground and poor nutrition which i have corrected)

So yesterday i notice a slight limp on my mandarin drake. Today i catch him put some cut and heal on the heal/pad of his foot which wasn't to bad, and then cornered and caught the pintail with the worst foot/limp. When i caught him i also cornered my pinioned silver female (has an actual deformed foot (rightfoot)) and so decided to treat her as well because she also had problems with her other foot. When i went to catch her (note that i was kneeling after treating the other) i fell forward as she fluttered past me and somehow i managed to break her good leg.


poor thing, i broke the femur (if thats what you call it on a bird) in two. Don't know if there was splinters or not. We splinted her leg with two pieces of thick leather and vet wrap then put her in a pet taxi with lots of hay (food&water of course) She is setting with it sprawled out behind her.


Is there anything else i need/can do?

 

[destinduck]

Sorry to hear that.As long as she cant bend it while it sets it should be okay. I would'nt think poor nutrition would cause the feet to swell. I don't know what cut and heal is. I have always used neosporin for any cuts or open wounds. I will say that every now and again Ill have one go limping but they usually get back to normal within a week or two. I have had ducks come in with bumble foot and even though I cut it out and healed it up within a year or two have always lost the bird. But also know if left untreated they die in a couple months any way. I did just like you did only with popsicle sticks on a mandarin drake a while back and it worked but if I remember right it took close to 5 months before he was back totally the way he was.Any way it was a LONG time. Had I not had color bands on him I would never known what bird it happened to. Good luck and I hope she heals well.

 

[KansasKid]

Thanks,


I read in stories that it could be due to a combination of them being on "dry, hard, or abrasive surfaces. However, a frequently overlooked cause is a dietary deficiencey in biotin, pantothenic acid, riboflavin..."
Wallet has been thin here for a while so they have been just getting scratch so i figure it was a combination of all of the above...

They are on a layer crumble now. I'll keep the splint on and keep an eye on it for circulation problems. Depending on how much calcification has taken place i might after a while put my other pintail in with her. Keep each other company and easier to treat/watch both of them. I feel so bad for her because even know she gets around pretty good she has always hobbled around on the bad foot and now her good leg is broke...Grrr....

My parents are horse trainers and swear by cut-and-heal http://www.cut-heal.com/
I used all my topical antibiotic ointment on them when i had the state vet do NPIP testing on them (my young silver was a gusher and after clotting i put the ointment on to keep it from bleeding and any infection) so the only thing i have had on hand lately is the that. For a while i used it on my remaining female swan (i have tons of problems around here) that developed bumblefoot (my fault, should have introduced them to the pond earlier, hope the other two enjoy their new home in georgia)......

Backyard Chickens Forum...the best place to vent....lol

 

[Lophura]

I know you're a few hours south of here, but KC has two great vets that work with birds. Dr. Burge in Grandview & Dr. Hertzog in Lee's Summit.

Dan

 

[KansasKid]

Thank you for posting that. I knew there were some around but didn't know where. My vet and vet assistant have been very helpful with all of my bird problems. The vet assistant raises birds and is familiar with most, but not a true avian vet.

I would like to take her, and the other for some care but it would be a long walk (better get started, lol)
That little bit of ice/snow that we got last week put my vehicle out of commission if you catch my drift (no pun intended) [vent]I have been borrowing my fathers vehicle to drive to/from Mikes....(makes it hard to get there before dark....)[end vent]

 

[Doctor T]

Sorry to hear about your bird. But,...it got me wondering,...how do you catch your birds??

 

[chickenzoo]

Dang - its not letting me post a pic from my old album...... anyone know how i can?

"https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/4523636/album/6131651"

 

[KansasKid]

Sorry to hear about your bird. But,...it got me wondering,...how do you catch your birds??

I have a dip net that has 1/2 inch circular mesh. The reason i caught her like i did was because she fluttered past the net and she fluttered toward me, i dropped the net, and reached out for her.

Dang - its not letting me post a pic from my old album...... anyone know how i can?

<a href="https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/4523636/album/6131651"><img src="https://www.backyardchickens.com/image/id/5554245/width/400/flags/LL"></a>

The second picture is viewable. Funny, that black feeder is actually what i have in with her.

 

[destinduck]

Dang - its not letting me post a pic from my old album...... anyone know how i can?

"https://www.backyardchickens.com/gallery/image/view/id/4523636/album/6131651I

I looked up "how do I post pics from my uploads to the new forum" on search and Nifty gave the link on there.