Graphic Pics- Wing Amputation Advise?

[Raptorchick]

It's been exactly 3 months since Mr. Raptor was injured, and he's doing awesome )
He took his pouch off on his own about two weeks ago, and he seemed more comfortable, so I've left it alone. Occasionally I'll bluekote the stump if it looks like somebody pecked it, but now his feathers are really coming in so it's mostly hidden.
He does walk with a slight limp, and I've thoroughly checked him out, I think he's just a little imbalanced. He can run and hop easily, and he has a following of young hens that sleep in the lower nesting boxes alongside him (because he can't roost). I put in steps to the roosting bar so he could join the others, and I put in a lower-level branch he can easily hop onto, but he prefers to sit in a box lol.
He still has scabs healing where the stump pokes out a bit, blukote helps but he really hates it lol. Theres a "thumb" (maybe cartilage?) that has been growing on the end of the stump for a month now, at first I thought maybe it was an ingrown feather, but it's not red, warm, 0 signs of infection, I'm not sure if cartilage or bone can regrow to some extent? It's hard and unmovable. I'm keeping a close eye on it, see below

 

[Kiki]

Good job momma @Raptorchick !

I hope she continues to improve for you!

 

[Unexpected chicken lover]

@Raptorchick i am so thouroughly amazed at your skills and calmness with dealing with a situation this extreme. I give u a round of applause and many well wishes for you, and of course her, to heal up properly. I know i would have been in WAY over my head if one of my feather babies suffered such an injury. Cudos to you

 

[emmyn74]

I don't want to sound like an awful person...but if it was me I would probably just cull this one...u could possibly try to cut it at the joint to make a clean amputation...and not have that small piece sticking out. Then just keep it separate and hope for the best....and try to keep it as clean as possible bc risk of infection on that is going to be the most difficult part. Get some powder with lots of vitamins to add to the water just to give it an extra boost too.

 

[Raptorchick]

Tesumph, I'm not sure how I missed your post earlier, but wow thank you! I will definitely see about getting sugar wrap. Heading into day 6, I feel like I've kept ahead of any infection, but I'm so curious (and worried?) about how this sort of thing will heal. To answer your question about when I said "tied to the joint"... I had an unused sewing kit on hand, so I cleaned the wound site/joint thoroughly with Band Aide Hurtfree antiseptic wash, then first wrapped the vein tightly to joint to stop the bleeding (I didn't actually knot it, because I was worried I wouldn't be able to remove it/find it later, so I did a slipknot and left the ends long). After that I wrapped the hanging muscles back onto the joint, and did another slipknot but not as tight, just to hold them to the bone. I then covered the whole thing with bacitracin and put a long rectangular piece of sterile gauze (it looked like a tube) around the end, holding the tissues around the joint. I also took a cotton swab and smothered it with bacitracin, and placed in inside the gauze tube to seal out anything from getting in. 24ish hours later I removed the string, and everything held, but continued wrapping with the gauze and thoroughly cleaning.
I honestly have 0 experience with these sort of wounds... Raptors survival is purely coming from his/her gusto for life. Today I let her check out my room while I cleaned her box... she found my mirror first (a true lady , and then walked over to my cat, peeping at her. My cat Lilly laid down and rolled onto her back, paws up, next to her, just wanted to play. I can't even. I'm still taking any and all advise given, I really need it, and thanks to everyone for helping I've got all my fingers and toes crossed!

 

[Tesumph]

Are you in the medical field?

The animal medical field, haha. I’ve worked in two vet clinics and under a lot more vets (ranging from ranch call-outs to mobile vaccine clinics). In about a year I’ll have my bachelors in biomedical science and then I’ll be applying to vet school.

 

[Raptorchick]

I'm not taking off the bandages till tomorrow, but just wanted to post an update, shes pooping normal and continues to eat/drink/peep every 30minutesish. The very slow bleeding looks like it stopped. I crushed

an 80mg chewable aspirin and then sprinkled half of that in her water, so about 10mg in 20oz of water. The pictures are her updated home, and the vitamin enriched/medicated starter feed, electrolytes, and the natural eating/drinking stimulant I'm using...

 

[Raptorchick]

I can't tell from the last picture, did you remove the arm completely from the shoulder joint? I am not a surgeon, but when amputating, ttypically cut but leave a flap of skin where the skin can be sewn back around the remaining stump. Any exposed bone will likely incur a bone infection which are nearly impossible to get rid of (many amputees/joint replacement patients go back for repeated washouts if not total replacement). Somehow, you need a flap of skin you can stitch closed I think to seal everything in after a very thorough sterile washout. I am very impressed with what you have done so far though. How did you remove the bone again?

Wow I didn't know that... But yes, I used a pair of dog-nail trimmers (sterilized) for the round shape, and cut right at the elbow joint. There was a little bit of an edge left so I dulled it with a tiny dog nail-shaver I found at walmart. She had muscle tissue loose at the joint, and a vein, which I tied around the joint and 2 days later (the bleeding had stopped, the tissues stayed in place) removed the string. The site where I cut the bone is still open, thank you so much for sharing that, tomorrow I'll see what I can do to cover it...

 

[Tesumph]

Tesumph, I'm not sure how I missed your post earlier, but wow thank you! I will definitely see about getting sugar wrap. Heading into day 6, I feel like I've kept ahead of any infection, but I'm so curious (and worried?) about how this sort of thing will heal. To answer your question about when I said "tied to the joint"... I had an unused sewing kit on hand, so I cleaned the wound site/joint thoroughly with Band Aide Hurtfree antiseptic wash, then first wrapped the vein tightly to joint to stop the bleeding (I didn't actually knot it, because I was worried I wouldn't be able to remove it/find it later, so I did a slipknot and left the ends long). After that I wrapped the hanging muscles back onto the joint, and did another slipknot but not as tight, just to hold them to the bone. I then covered the whole thing with bacitracin and put a long rectangular piece of sterile gauze (it looked like a tube) around the end, holding the tissues around the joint. I also took a cotton swab and smothered it with bacitracin, and placed in inside the gauze tube to seal out anything from getting in. 24ish hours later I removed the string, and everything held, but continued wrapping with the gauze and thoroughly cleaning.
I honestly have 0 experience with these sort of wounds... Raptors survival is purely coming from his/her gusto for life. Today I let her check out my room while I cleaned her box... she found my mirror first (a true lady , and then walked over to my cat, peeping at her. My cat Lilly laid down and rolled onto her back, paws up, next to her, just wanted to play. I can't even. I'm still taking any and all advise given, I really need it, and thanks to everyone for helping I've got all my fingers and toes crossed!

Huh. What an interesting wound! Yes, typically for an amputation you remove to the joint and fold the skin around so it’s sealed. If you had actually sealed it in this case you would have a massive infection, but closing up some skin isn’t a bad idea. Can you post new photos of how it’s looking? I’m curious to see how exposed that bone is still.
Obviously you can’t redo it, and you did a great job for what you had (seriously), but for future reference I would completely remove any incomplete bones to the next joint, and use non-waxed dental floss instead of string. Or just buy a suture kit to keep around.
I’m honestly not sure if feathers work the same way hair follicles do, but I’m assuming so. If the follicle is damaged the hair won’t come back, but you might not know until she molts next, I’m not sure. I’ve worked in vet clinics but I’m not a vet (yet! ) and unfortunately never been under an avian vet, so my advice is limited haha. Thanks @casportpony for tagging me, I’m horrible at finding threads like this.

 

[Raptorchick]

For funzies, justa short peek of her figuring out how to single-wing it. Nothing special, my voice is annoying but shes adorable lol.