Chicken with leg wound- Help please!

[Sammys_Happy_Hens]

Approximately 3 weeks ago my Golden Comet (aged 10 months) had swelling on her leg, which appeared to be an abscess and like it would burst open. I lanced the area to drain infection with 2 small incisions, found minimal drainage.

We isolated her in a large dog kennel, bandaged her leg, began bactrim once daily PO with dressing changes to her leg. Her leg continued swelling, however developed a scab after we sprayed with Blu-kote. We took her to a "poultry vet" locally, she was prescribed BAYTRIL once daily x 8 days. NO IMPROVEMENT, continued swelling with a hard scab continuing up her leg. Contacted the vet at the end of the course of PO antibiotics, and advised to continue bactrim PO. SLIGHT improvement in swelling with 2 days of this, then we come home to find her in the pen with several globs of blood where she has pecked at the site on her leg and opened it/or pecked at it after it opened. Comb and wattles are pale, she has labored respirations- shock/anemia resulting from trauma? We cleaned the leg with normal saline, applied a dry dressing and pushed fluids x 2 days to replace volume. Took the dressing off after 2 days, the smell is AWFUL from dried blood and maybe infection? Still do not see any purulent drainage- old scab still partially on. She has improved with eating, however her comb and wattle remain pale from it's former bright cherry red and she's clearly in pain when she walks. Please advise!

What are good wound cleaning solutions for chickens? I was cleansing with betadine and applying bactroban ointment to the open area. Is there something better? Maybe a Dakins Solution soak?

What is an appropriate dressing?

What are good medications for this? Could it have been something like gout all along?

 

[azygous]

Try chewable 81 grain aspirin to treat her pain. One whole tablet twice a day.

I doubt it's gout. She's pretty young for that and gout usually results in a very granular, bumpy appearance on the surface.

It may be a virulent strain of staph resistant to the antibiotic you're using. Ask your vet if they would let you try Cipro.

I would also begin Epsom salt and Betadine soaks in the hottest water your hand will stand without burning your skin, maybe 110F or so. Do the inside of the arm test so you know it's not hot enough to burn. Then soak her for fifteen minutes several times a day.

Chicken pus is solid like cheese curd, so draining pus doesn't work unless there's also edema.

I suggest rigging a chicken chair for her. It can make giving her the soaks easier and t will keep her off the leg for periods of time so it's not as painful. You can actually buy these "chairs", but they're easy to make. https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

 

[Eggcessive]

Ouch, that looks sore. Do you happen to have a picture of the original swollen leg, before the treatment and pecking injury? Epsom salts and warm water is pretty good for soaking a leg wound. Then an antibiotic ointment is fine used twice daily. You can stand her in the sink or in a plastic dishpan. It is hard to know what caused the original problem. Could she have broken the leg? There could have been a skin tumor or lesion, but hard to know for sure.