Favorite EE had wing ripped off by predator. Recommendations to prevent infection?

[Swbertrand1]

one of the other threads I saw where there was still bone they realized it had to come off and they used bolt cutters to remove the bone from what it sounds like. and I agree its not likely for the skin to grow over the bone.

Bolt cutters????? I'm appalled that someone would do that to a live bird. Can you imagine the pain that it must have suffered going through having it's bone(s) cut shorter with bolt cutters?! Maybe it's just me, but that sounds more like animal abuse than anything else. There are times when the suffering of the animal must come to an end...

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Bolt cutters????? I'm appalled that someone would do that to a live bird. Can you imagine the pain that it must have suffered going through having it's bone(s) cut shorter with bolt cutters?! Maybe it's just me, but that sounds more like animal abuse than anything else. There are times when the suffering of the animal must come to an end...

Bones don't have the nerve endings and pain receptors as other tissues. A quick snip is nothing in comparison to having an entire wing ripped off. Animals don't have death wishes, and the hen is energetic and motivated to be among her flock. She isn't weak, lethargic, and isolating herself. She is showing a clear desire, and high probability, to survive.

If OP cannot stomach the procedure and cannot find a vet to perform it for her, than the situation may be different.

The skin won't grow back over that bone so the bone will have to be removed. I read another thread not long ago where exposed wing bone was clipped to just below the joint and within a week the joint had turned black and the remaining bit of bone just fell off and the bird healed up just fine. I cannot advise on how to do this but that bone can't stay. If you wait it out to see if it falls off on its own, the thread I read was flushing it twice a day with saline followed by cleaning with iodine and applying antibiotic ointment. Without the skin providing blood supply, that bone is likely already dead now so i don't believe she would feel it if you did amputate.

This was my primary concern as well. Personally, I'd see if a vet could clean everything up because the remaining muscle tissue would benefit from removal. If not, a quick bone snip would help and I believe what is left should still heal, but she'd be a lot more likely to live pain-free with a clean amputation.

 

[Swbertrand1]

Bones don't have nerve endings. A quick snip is nothing in comparison to having an entire wing ripped off. Animals don't have death wishes, and the hen is energetic and motivated to be among her flock. She isn't weak, lethargic, and isolating herself. She is showing a clear desire, and high probability, to survive.

One, I wasn't talking about the case at hand, but rather the notion that someone would use bolt cutters to shorten a bone so a bird might heal. That sounds more like Dr. Mengele's experiments than care no matter the bird's energy or "motivation".
Two, you state that bones do not have nerve endings. I can find NOTHING to that effect. Will you point me to your source for that statement?

 

[humblehillsfarm]

One, I wasn't talking about the case at hand, but rather the notion that someone would use bolt cutters to shorten a bone so a bird might heal. That sounds more like Dr. Mengele's experiments than care no matter the bird's energy or "motivation".
Two, you state that bones do not have nerve endings. I can find NOTHING to that effect. Will you point me to your source for that statement?

I'm sorry, you are correct, bones do have nerve endings and pain receptors, but have a different threshold of pain and stimulus than the nerve endings and pain receptors in skin and other muscle tissue. I skimmed through a bit of research since I am not a bone expert (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4844598/).

There have been several threads I have come across in BYC where birds have survived amputation and subsequent surgeries to improve the condition of the affected area.

I appreciate your opinion that you feel this is animal abuse. Personally I disagree with you entirely. There are also other methods of snipping off the remaining bone, but I can see how a bolt cutter would be an incredibly effective tool.

Ultimately it is up to OP to decide which path she would like to pursue, and again, choosing to heal over dispatching is not a form of animal abuse, in my opinion.

 

[Swbertrand1]

There have been several threads I have come across in BYC where birds have survived amputation and subsequent surgeries to improve the condition of the affected area.

I'm sure there are plenty of threads where birds have survived painful, experimental surgeries by their owners/caretakers, but does that make it the right thing to do no matter the method? "Surviving" is an interesting choice of words. I'm still appalled by the notion of bolt cutters. I'm sure I, too, would have the possibility of surviving having my arm cut off with bolt cutters if someone slathered enough antibiotics on it and fed me the same...

I'm sorry, you are correct, bones do have nerve endings and pain receptors, but have a different threshold of pain and stimulus than the nerve endings and pain receptors in skin and other muscle tissue. I skimmed through a bit of research since I am not a bone expert (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4844598/).

I'm not orthopedic expert either, but I know bone injuries are quite painful in human beings.

I appreciate your opinion that you feel this is animal abuse. Personally I disagree with you entirely. There are also other methods of snipping off the remaining bone, but I can see how a bolt cutter would be an incredibly effective tool.

Ultimately it is up to OP to decide which path she would like to pursue, and again, choosing to heal over dispatching is not a form of animal abuse, in my opinion.

I disagree that they would be "an incredibly effective tool" for such an operation, especially considering your statement that the bones are hollow. So, what does one do, crush the two walls of bone together to the point that they meet under the load of the jaws of the cutters, possibly splintering the adjacent sections of bone in the process?

I've never stated that healing over dispatch is a form of animal abuse, but cutting bones with bolt cutters surely borders on that to me for an animal that feels pain and cannot take pain killers. I'm still in disbelief that anyone would consider such a thing... :-(

 

[humblehillsfarm]

... considering your statement that the bones are hollow. So, what does one do, crush the two walls of bone together to the point that they meet under the load of the jaws of the cutters, possibly splintering the adjacent sections of bone in the process?

I never said bones are hollow.

Again, this is OPs choice, but it’s good you shared your opinion.

 

[Swbertrand1]

I never said bones are hollow.

Again, this is OPs choice, but it’s good you shared your opinion.

So you didn't, my apologies; I must have read that elsewhere.
However, that makes the bolt cutter method even more barbaric in my opinion, crushing the bone completely to remove it...
Have a nice day.

 

[ninja333pirate]

Bolt cutters????? I'm appalled that someone would do that to a live bird. Can you imagine the pain that it must have suffered going through having it's bone(s) cut shorter with bolt cutters?! Maybe it's just me, but that sounds more like animal abuse than anything else. There are times when the suffering of the animal must come to an end...

it might not have been bolt cutters that's what they said they might do at the beginning of of the post, but further on in the update they just said they had to cut the bone. either way, I cant imagine it would be easy to cut a large bone with just anything even bird bones are stronger then you would expect. How ever the person did it the rooster survived and didn't go into further shock.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

it might not have been bolt cutters that's what they said they might do at the beginning of of the post, but further on in the update they just said they had to cut the bone. either way, I cant imagine it would be easy to cut a large bone with just anything even bird bones are stronger then you would expect. How ever the person did it the rooster survived and didn't go into further shock.

Yes I’d explore the vet route long before researching options for bone snipping, although know the cost would be high.

 

[AngBantamLuv]

I know it's not exactly the same.. but close enough. I received a cockatiel years ago where this had happened.. the wing was hanging but clearly mostly detached. Ok i know it sounds horrible, but it was almost instict and i just moved so fast.. i twisted the remaining bone and it just snapped off.. i worked so faat.. and then just let the wound scab and heal (although what you have for meds sounds better). He lived for years after that and seemed very happy. Wrapping and keeping things moist can sometimes cause more bacteria to grow. I know it sounds ruthless, but dangling bone and muscle just can't be good. Cutting will still leave the joint too. It's so hard, i remember screaming while doing this, it was horrible, but it was crazy how swiftly i just saw it and thought i had to get it off. I sympathize with you and the chicken, this is tough!