Chicken with infected lump

[BrickCoop15]

I have an over 8 year old hen with a lump between her tail and vent area. The lump has an open sore in it and it continually fills with pus. This has been going on since July. I have treated her with over the counter products and taken her to a veterinarian where she was given an antibiotic and medicine to flush the opening daily and nothing has worked. I have to clean out thick cheese like pus every few days. Has anyone else experienced something similar? Any treatment suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[SmiYa0126]

Hi! I'm so sorry about your hen, can you post pictures?

How is she eating and drinking?

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

I have an over 8 year old hen with a lump between her tail and vent area. The lump has an open sore in it and it continually fills with pus. This has been going on since July. I have treated her with over the counter products and taken her to a veterinarian where she was given an antibiotic and medicine to flush the opening daily and nothing has worked. I have to clean out thick cheese like pus every few days. Has anyone else experienced something similar? Any treatment suggestions would be appreciated.

Sorry your hen is having that issue. I think you should cal your vet and ask for a different antibiotic.

 

[BrickCoop15]

Here is a picture of the infected lump. It will not heal regardless of treatments.

 

[SmiYa0126]

@MysteryChicken @azygous any advice?

How is she eating and drinking? Are you cleaning the wound twice daily with betadeine, allowing it to dry and then putting plain antibiotic ointment on it?

 

[BrickCoop15]

She is eating and drinking fine. I just started flushing it with chlorhexidine and applying the plain antibiotic ointment after. Prior to this, it was being flushed with a tetracycline solution I got from a veterinarian.

 

[azygous]

I hope you are being very careful to wash your hands thoroughly after treating this wound as staph is extremely contagious. Antibiotic resistant staph infections are common. When trying to treat such a wound, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, clindamycin, minocycline, linezolid, or doxycycline are used. Some of these you may be able to find at online animal pharmacies without prescription. Or ask your vet for vancomycin.

 

[BrickCoop15]

I hope you are being very careful to wash your hands thoroughly after treating this wound as staph is extremely contagious. Antibiotic resistant staph infections are common. When trying to treat such a wound, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, clindamycin, minocycline, linezolid, or doxycycline are used. Some of these you may be able to find at online animal pharmacies without prescription. Or ask your vet for vancomycin.

Thank you for the warning. I have been washing my hands, but I will be extra cautious now.

I will contact the vet on Monday. I couldn't get into an avian vet so I have a regular vet helping me out. The vet prescribed Clavamox for her and it did not help at all.

Thanks for your help!

 

[azygous]

One thing I've found to be helpful when treating any stubborn skin infection is to utilize a hot compress before applying the topical antibiotic ointment. It's necessary to get the water as hot as possible just this side of burning the skin. Since chicken skin is very delicate, use a thermometer and don't let the water get above 105F since skin begins to burn at 108F.

Hot compresses heat the staph bacteria, killing it, as well as opening the pores of the skin so the topical ointment can get deeper into the skin layers. I wet a small rag and hold it to the skin, repeatedly re-warming the rag, for a total of five minutes. I would do it twice a day for at least three days and see if it reduces the size of the lump. If it improves and you're up for it, continue for a few more days.

Continue to remove the pus. Pus contains a tremendous amount of the staph bacteria. Removing it gives the tissue a better chance to overcome the infection.

 

[BrickCoop15]

One thing I've found to be helpful when treating any stubborn skin infection is to utilize a hot compress before applying the topical antibiotic ointment. It's necessary to get the water as hot as possible just this side of burning the skin. Since chicken skin is very delicate, use a thermometer and don't let the water get above 105F since skin begins to burn at 108F.

Hot compresses heat the staph bacteria, killing it, as well as opening the pores of the skin so the topical ointment can get deeper into the skin layers. I wet a small rag and hold it to the skin, repeatedly re-warming the rag, for a total of five minutes. I would do it twice a day for at least three days and see if it reduces the size of the lump. If it improves and you're up for it, continue for a few more days.

Continue to remove the pus. Pus contains a tremendous amount of the staph bacteria. Removing it gives the tissue a better chance to overcome the infection.

I will definitely try that. Thanks again!