HELP!!! What is this??

[daisyag13]

Day 18 update:

The spots on her comb have definitely gotten larger and now look like blisters. Possibly fluid filled? Not sure if this is still fowl pox or not. I don't remember them looking like this before. @coach723
See here:

And her right earlobe is swollen and has a few yellow crusty spots on it. I thought I had seen some yellow spots on it over a week ago but thought it might be some food or something, but it's definitely something else. Her left earlobe is normal- see pics to compare. (sorry the swollen one is blurry, she was SO done with me at this point )

Her breast blister looks almost healed!! I removed a few small yellow scabs that were left, and it caused a little bleeding so I went ahead and rewrapped it. I think the next time I'll be able to leave it unwrapped. The hardness that was there previously when I squeezed her skin is gone, so I think all the infection is gone. There's no swelling and the skin looks a great nice soft pink color. I forgot to get a pic though. Argh.

So on her foot, I worked at removing the pus off the bottom of her foot pad as Coach suggested. There was actually a section that was trying to separate and come off near where I was able to remove the soft layer of pus the other day. I think the soaking was finally able to get down under the pus layer and help it separate from her good skin. This layer was fairly easy to remove and all underneath was very raw good skin. It was just peeling away on it's own, and all I had to do was cut it off. Very minimal bleeding. YEA!! I was able to remove about 1/4 to 1/3 of the layer from her foot pad. So I basically have her whole heel cleaned off of pus now.
I was SO EXCITED! Finally some great progress again. See here:

There was a spot on her toe that looked swollen and turning greenish. I pierced it with the razor blade and some liquid pus came out. I squeezed it all out and sprayed with the chlorohexadine solution so it wouldn't turn into something nastier. Oh, and her nails were getting long and starting to curl, so I trimmed them with my dog nail clippers. Hopefully we're close on our way to complete pus removal and just waiting for it to heal up. I will see if she is up to handling more removal tonight, or I may try the top of her foot instead. We'll see how it looks.

 

[Bawkbok]

Happy to see things are slowly improving.

As to her comb, if it is dry pox it will clear up on it's own in a few weeks. Wet pox requires attention. Coach or someone else more experienced than me will need to direct action in that regard.

Wishing her the best - she is strong and resilient. Better days are ahead.

 

[daisyag13]

Last night I decided to go ahead and work on her foot again. The parts where I had gotten it down to raw skin the other day are already covered again with another thin layer of pus scab. I'm hoping this is the sugardine drawing out the infection from inside her foot (still massive) instead of it just creating more pus. I'm thinking this is the case bc this is what her breast blister did about 3-4 times and now it looks healed. So I worked some on the bottom of her foot, but it was really hard. It's not a flat layer and is starting to get into hills of good skin with deep pockets of pus between. So it's a lot harder to get at with the blade when it's a hard scab and trying to cut it out. Any little knick of good skin bleeds like a stuffed pig! ARGH! I worked mainly on the top of her foot instead and got about 1/3 of it cleared off before I got to a super thin layer that started to bleed a lot. Medicine, sprayed, and wrapped and called it a night.
This pic shows how the pus layer is pulling away from the good skin. I'm holding up the pus layer with the blade, and then I just cut that layer off instead of pulling it off with tweezers to minimize the bleeding.

I did manage to cut out most of a very deep valley of pus between two peaks of good skin. This pic shows the depth of where the pus was. Kinda looks like pac man.

Day 19:
This morning I worked on the bottom of her foot again. It was still very hard to get it off because of the deep pockets of pus between super thin layers that would bleed easily. So I tried my thin slicing method until I was able to get a section cleared away where I could slide the other tool (previously pictured with the round and triangle ends) under the pus layer and use it to separate it from the good skin. This was very effective and I was able to use it to dig out some really deep pockets. Some of them were up to 1/4" thick again. I think I got close to mostly clearing out the top half of her foot pad before I felt like she couldn't handle anymore.

Here's a different angle to show the depth of the pockets where the pus was. There are still some remnants left in some of the pockets, but it was bleeding a lot whenever I would try to work them out. I'll get to them next time.

Looking way better where her foot pad is mostly exposed good skin now, and it feels like we're actually making good progress now.

 

[daisyag13]

Happy to see things are slowly improving.

As to her comb, if it is dry pox it will clear up on it's own in a few weeks. Wet pox requires attention. Coach or someone else more experienced than me will need to direct action in that regard.

Wishing her the best - she is strong and resilient. Better days are ahead.

So far, I don't see any pus or sores in her mouth, so thankful for that! The mouth pus I had to deal with last time was horrible. So hoping it's just the dry form, but wanted to make sure it wasn't actually something else instead. A few more sores have popped up on her comb.

 

[daisyag13]

Day 21 update (yesterday):
I got a LOT of the pus scab off. I was working on her foot for a long time, but she seemed to be doing well with it and I was on a roll. I removed all the pus from her foot pad except for a few pockets that were hard and kept bleeding. Imagine a nice marbled piece of meat and trying to remove all the fat and gristle. It was time consuing and pain stakingly tedious. Mid removal, I took a break to eat and let her soak while I did. That worked really well at loosening up more of the scab so I could remove it easier. I felt really good about how much I was able to remove and had mostly exposed good skin all along her toes, foot pad, and even a little on the top of her foot. Got her all cleaned up, treated, medicated, and bandaged. She hasn't really been walking much, so I know it's sore. I plan to give her several days of rest. So no soaking at all for today to let it heal up, and then we'll resume with soaking tomorrow and all weekend-have another soccer tournament anyways, so short on time for chicken nursing. I'll see how she is on Monday, and if I need to remove more pus scab (which I'm sure I will).
Here's where I was working on a deep pocket on the right middle of her foot pad:

Here's after I finished removing most the pus off the bottom of her foot:

Side view to show size, also the 2 hills I dug out between the other day are now smooth. It's amazing how quickly it heals.

Top of her foot:

Last night, noticed that the blisters on her comb are starting to look bloody? Not sure if she hit them on something or not. Should I put something on them or leave them be? I've read that toothpaste will dry up fowl pox scabs, and seen where others recommend betadine solution.

She did struggle with swallowing when I tried to torpedo feed her yesterday though, which is concerning. The last couple of days, I've had to check the last torpedo I give her to make sure it's actually being completely swallowed. It's been getting stuck near her trachea opening and I have to massage it down with my fingers on the outside of her neck. But yesterday, she had the very first torpedo get stuck where I had to clear it. I thought maybe it was a little to wet so I made it drier. Then I fed her a few more which I thought we were back to normal, but then there were several stuck and I struggled to get them all cleared. So I quit with the torpedo method and went to tubing. Hate to be going backwards in the feeding department, but it is what it is. Even though she didn't eat at all until late last night when I tubed her, her crop was half full. I thought maybe she drank a lot, but her crop was full again this morning. Now it wasn't first thing this morning, so it's possible that she drank a lot before I checked on her. Her crop did feel a little squishy, so I'm wondering if it's doughy crop. Her breath doesn't really smell, so I don't think it's sour. I plan to tube her tonight, then remove all her food and water and see if it's empty in the morning. If it's not, then I'll start the dough crop treatment and see if that helps. She's still pooping good, so hoping she's getting enough to eat even though I was only able to give her half her food both times.

I'm still giving her the cephalexin twice daily, and concerned about that as it's day 22 now. Wondering if I should give her a break from that for a few days since it's been so long, and then start up again later. I know she still has pus her foot and probably still needs the meds. Her foot is significantly smaller than when we started, but it's still at least twice what it's supposed to be. Hopefully I'll have it all removed within a couple weeks?

@coach723 Should I keep giving her the antibiotics or take a break? If break, how long?

On a positive note, her breast blister looks completely healed. YEA!! So no more bandage needed. Here's a pic finally!