Breast blisters and cut up wing tips

[Eddie12109]

Hi all,

I have an almost 9 year old hen named Eddie. She has arthritis, to the best of my knowledge, and has trouble walking around. I am with her for most of the day but that doesn't stop the tips of her wings from being scuffed up. Because she has such a hard time walking, she flaps her wings constantly, and they rub against the sand or wire of her cage constantly. This has caused her feathers to come off in that area, she is finishing up her molt and the feathers won't grow back in. I have been putting neosporin and other wound healers on her tips but it hasn't helped one bit. I even wrapped her wings in some wrap that is the sticky kind... I believe it is called vet wrap. That came off easily and I am at a loss. They aren't getting better and they still get bloody from the constant flapping. She comes inside into her 'wheelchair' a lot but it doesn't help her wings even though she isn't flapping. Any ideas to cover them or heal them?

Then, she also has a bad breast blister. She is arthritic and when she isn't moving around, she is laying down. This has resulted in a thick, yellow-scabbed breast blister. I have been putting neosporin on it every night before bed and yesterday I squeezed it and I believe some pus came out. I can't be sure since it was such a small amount but I do think it was pus. It has been there for a month+ now

Any experience or ideas?
@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock @azygous

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It's sounds like you are doing all you can for your old Gals.
Age finally catches up to us all.

 

[Eddie12109]

Can I use something like saline solution to rinse it out or is it best to use hibiclens?

And I am going to take pictures soon, here is my wrapping off her wings while she is in her wheelchair... in my opinion she looks like buzz lightyear, they lasted for a little, I took her on a walk and then after she flapped them right off.

 

[Eddie12109]

I can take a photo of the cage tomorrow. It has been cold here the past days so I have just put a medium sized washcloth under her and she seems very cozy. She doesn't stumble as much.
When she moves, she usually goes head first, and finds balance with her head on the ground before she moves her feet. Well this morning, she put her head first but then all of her body weight went with her and she ended up flipping over, putting pressure on her neck and standing up, basically a chicken summersault. Is it possible she could kill herself by doing that? Because I am not happy with that at all.

Eddie is a little chunky, turns out someone in my family has been giving her lettuce or spinach in the morning. I doubt that has to do with her weight but I have told them to spread it out more, not giving her treats like that everyday. She only eats her feed, I don't give her anything else besides yogurt mixed with her turmeric. What are ways I can decrease her weight? I feed New Country and H&H, forgot which type I feed though.

Her arthritis is getting a little worse, when I do her leg stretches her range of motion is getting smaller. I decided it was time to find a vet, I do believe the natural pain relief and anti-inflammatory, stretches and everything else is the best thing for her but I want to see if acupuncture or prescription pain relief can also help. She also seems to have old lady eyes, one eye is a little cloudy but she is able to see birds high up in the sky very well and when I shine a flashlight, her eyes dilate. When I put my finger barely 1 cm away from her eye she doesn't flinch but probably because she is a goober like that. I am interested to see what a bird vet will think. I have called two places already but they do not do acupuncture so I will have to keep calling around.

Her wing tips are not better or worse, so it is a little tricky to describe, a picture will probably be necessary, but the part of the outer wing, where she has been cutting up her wings, there is a small skin jut out that is normal, Dev has it too so I am not concerned with that but she is also cutting those up, I have been cleaning and using neosporin twice a day too, it has been awhile since she has opened a scab and made it bleed though.

I have been advised to use B50 complex to see if I can uncurl her toes with it. She gets it every third day, half a pill. It is a smaller dose than advised but she has been getting it for over a month now, I use to give it everyday too and no improvement.

I know she is so happy with life throughout this though, she just recently went on a stroller walk throughout an actual park, meaning they went on a car ride to the park and everything with it, she even took a nap halfway through!

Her breast blister hasn't changed... at all and neither has Dev, @Wyorp Rock , I mentioned this in my ascites draining thread I believe. Dev has two breast blisters, one scab came off a week ago and actually seems to be healing and just last night the other scab came off, it revealed a yellow flimsier scab, I don't know if it will heal or regrow.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

@azygous has a couple of older hen and has experience with mobility units and chickens, I believe. Maybe she has some ideas. You've already received some wonderful input from some of my favorite folks here. You're doing such a wonderful job taking care of her. She's a lucky girl!

I have a question about her breast blister. Did you get more pus out of it? I've got a little bantam frizzle that I discovered has a breast blister. The scab lifts up all around but doesn't want to release from the center. I worry that getting it off will open up the wound or tear the skin (it's really stuck). This bird is also just finished molting but the scab has been there for probably 1.5 to 2 months. I didn't even realize that it needed further care If it wasn't so flipping cold, I'd probably soak the bird to loosen the scab but it will take a lot to dry a frizzle (I suspect) and I worry about them having adequate insulation anyway. I will start my own post if needed but just wanted to ask you since you just experienced this. Thank you

 

[Eddie12109]

Well not some chickens but for Eddie, today is a happy day! Her therapy chair finally came in
And @Wyorp Rock , I am having trouble with finding a bath mat that seems to fit. If you have one in mind could you link it?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Well not some chickens but for Eddie, today is a happy day! Her therapy chair finally came in
And @Wyorp Rock , I am having trouble with finding a bath mat that seems to fit. If you have one in mind could you link it?

Could you get a regular ol' rubber bath mat and cut it to fit? And shelf liner, as Wyorp suggested, might be good, too. The spongey stuff?

Good idea @Aunt Angus !
@Eddie12109 do you have a photo of the cage you need to put the mat in? You may need to find one that you can just cut to size as suggested.

I'm glad her chair came in, I hope she's more comfortable now

 

[Eddie12109]

I have a question about her breast blister. Did you get more pus out of it? I've got a little bantam frizzle that I discovered has a breast blister. The scab lifts up all around but doesn't want to release from the center. I worry that getting it off will open up the wound or tear the skin (it's really stuck). This bird is also just finished molting but the scab has been there for probably 1.5 to 2 months. I didn't even realize that it needed further care If it wasn't so flipping cold, I'd probably soak the bird to loosen the scab but it will take a lot to dry a frizzle (I suspect) and I worry about them having adequate insulation anyway. I will start my own post if needed but just wanted to ask you since you just experienced this. Thank you

I have not gotten more pus out of it. Eddie's breast blister has been there for awhile without moving so last night I used my thumb and gently scraped at her breast blister, seeing if anything would come off. I got some edges to start going but that's it. I will most likely continue to do that.
Dev has had two breast blisters and I have gotten the scabs off both. The smaller one I was able to get off easily and it looks like it is healing now. The bigger one was much harder, I had to pull on the scab a little every night, my doing this revealed a yellow flimsy scab. I cleaned it and put neosporin on it, I have been doing that for a little over a week. I don't think the bigger one will heal, I think it will scab over again but something interesting is when her scab was barely hanging on, I pulled it and it did come off, but it revealed this gooey string that came out but then stuck back to her and disappeared the following day. I think the skin underneath the scab was attached and came out..? I do not know but this happened with Eddie's as well. I think this happens when one part is not 100% ready to come off.
I don't think there is a need to rush the breast blister from coming off but I think nudging it by pulling or scraping a little can help.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I'm not sure I'd give antibiotics because it really doesn't look infected. You might wait to see what more folks more knowledgable than I am recommend.

 

[speckledhen]

Don't give antibiotics. Just slather on some antibiotic ointment-ones that contain pramoxine pain killer or no pain killer are fine-and leave it alone. I've had hens with keel scabs in the past. Don't pull them off. They can dry alone and just flake off themselves. One of the best things to have is Vetericyn wound spray that is safe for birds-it comes in several forms. It is not antibiotic, but it helps healing tremendously. Spray on the wound two or three times each day.