feathershaft infection/ NEW Question NEED HELP THANKS PG 3

[dlhunicorn]

Stop using the vicks vapo rub immediately. (a 1% ivermection solution applied topically on the area is much more effective) ... the problem now as I understand it is the infection. Please do not lance unless you are SURE there is an abscess...inflamation does not necessarily always mean an abscess and cutting the skin only provides another opening for infection to set in.
You need to remove all traces of the vaseline and that means wahing the leg in a sudsy solution ( can you possibly get some hibiclens from your drugstore to do this> it would be the best as it is chlorhexidine and that is recommended for this type of instance). After you have removed all traces of that yucky vicks then soak the foot in epsom salts perhaps for five minutes then rinse. Personally, I would dip or "paint" on the entire leg (incl feathers) in an iodine (betadine) solution. Separate to a clean dry environment away from the coop and clean up any poos as soon as you can.
My instinct is to respond in the negative as to pulling the feathers.
Please write Peter Brown an email and entitle it EMERGENCY >dlhunicorn sent me
include a copy of this post and please include a pic of the infected shafts and your telephone number... I believe Peter can help you best with advice on meds and can send them overnite...
send to this email:
[email protected]
Hopefully he will check into his email and respond soon...I believe he can advise you better than I can on the systemic antibiotic you will need to treat this.

 

[tiki244]

Thank You. Yes I will do. I DO have some chlorhexidine in my medicine cabinet that I used for a tooth surgery. So I can use that. Chlorhexidine Gluconate .12% Oral Rinse And I will contact Peter Brown Thanks for the information.

 

[tiki244]

Well I cleaned Freddy's feet with dish soap and then rinsed. Then I soaked in the chlorhexidine solution for about 15 minutes. (I forgot to buy epsom salts yesterday when I was out) Then his feet dried and I put antibiotic ointment on them and bandaged the one in gauze. The foot looks a lot better (less red and puffy) than it did. I got some PenG from Farm and Fleet and gave him a shot of 1/4 cc. About the first two hours after I finished the 'treatment', Freddy stood right by the front door with his face towards the outside (I suppose he was sick of this inside stuff. ha) ****Oh yeah, and I didnt pluck his foot feathers either.

After all of that he was tired and so was I. He fell asleep, but I didnt. Well he is still here today so.- So far so good. He is making himself at home in the house. Mainly he just sits on the back of a chair that has a cover on it and suns himself. (Luckily his poop is dry and easily cleaned up and he isnt moving much)

 

[shareneh]

I feel for you, I have a chicken with feathers on his feet and he is always crabby. I checked his feet last night and they seem ok. I don't know what I will do with my crabby roo if he gets an infection on his feet. Keep up the good work.

 

[tiki244]

Today Freddy's fever seems higher than it was yesterday. (I go by his comb) He got his second penicillin dose today, but I had to give it orally because the needle broke off when i was taking the meds out of the bottle. It was too small anyway, tomorrow I will have to go get him a new sharpy (the right size) and some epsom salts. I left his bandage off after cleaning his foot and leg. It looks a bit better but is still at least three times as big as normal. He is sleeping a lot and I made him a hard fried egg in butter. He layed in my lap for about 1/2 hour today while I watched TV. The dog was jealous.

My fridge broke and the PenG needs to be refridgerated, so I have to keep a lot of ice in the chest for the PenG, till I get a new fridge next week.


Thanks for the advice dlhunicorn and the words of encouragement shareneh

 

[PaintedMeadows]

Is there any reason that regular salt can't be used to soak the feet? That is what I use when I soak infected scratches on myself and the kids. Works well. Just a thought, then he wouldn't have to wait until tomorrow for a nice relieving soak. Might help alot. Just a thought, poor boy.

 

[tiki244]

Oh thanks Painted Meadows, good idea, yes I can do that this morning. Yeah its almost 11 am already! I will soak his feet in a few.

 

[tiki244]

Today Freddy sat in the bath tub for 1/2 hour in salt water and then another 15 minutes in chlorhexidine rinse. His toe is a little less swollen today. And I gave him oral penicillin 1/4 cc (he weighs around 2 pounds). His fever has gone down and he is acting a little more percky today.

Oh, I had some canned salmon today and gave him a little piece of that too.

 

[PoultryPedia]

My Brahmas' leg feathers are very red at the bases, too, and always have been so I'm thinking that's pretty normal??
But then again, their legs are a bit scaley looking, so maybe they have got something wrong with their legs. However, they are very healthy. Dunno :|
Is there any chance the swelling on the one toe could be being caused by a cracked or broken bone rather than just infection?
BTW--In my experience, Neosporin is great for helping clear up infection like that. Just BE SURE to not bandage too tightly & to change the bandage every 1-2 days (If you don't, you could end up with a chicken losing a toe, like I did).

 

[tiki244]

Thats what I thought> They were always a bit red and the scales were up a bit and I thought it was because of all the feathers on the legs. Well, now I am thinking otherwise. He was healthy too. But within the last month they seemed more red and within a few days his toe became infected. And very very large. Also, someone had pointed out to me they thought he had scaly mites, not just raised scales because of the feathers. Putting Vicks vapo rub on the scales only seemed to irritate the legs more.

So, anyway now I am treating him. He is still favoring his one foot a lot. I have only been treating him with the new 'treatment' for 2 1/2 days now. So it will be a while before he is completely recovered. At least he isn't all over the house now, because he is not walking very much. I suppose once he gets better he will be running all over and I will have to confine him. Now I just put him in a laundry basket at night and he stays in it. During the day he roams very little. Probably only a few feet in any direction, and only on tile, which is easy to clean up.