Infected Elbow?

[julskinka]

Pesto having a little aspirin water and some pets after her treatment last night. Notice the leg jutting out while she sits.

 

[julskinka]

Pesto hanging out with her friends under the chicken bush. No one is bothering her (in fact, they seem to be taking turns keeping her company/keeping watch over her), so I don’t have the heart to isolate her.

I can’t catch them all to check them until bedtime, but I went and observed them a bit and I don’t see any irregularities in behavior/posture/mobility.

 

[julskinka]

One thing that jumped out at me - Etienne is one of two 16-week FBCM cockerels. His comb has never come in big and red:

For comparison, here’s his hatch-mate, Dejéuner:

I’d been assuming this was just individual variation. But maybe it’s not? Is this an acceptable comb for this breed and age? I’ll look him over closely for mites or lice and lumps/lesions tonight.

 

[MissChick@dee]

I’m just so impressed, truly.
Sounds like Pesto is in very good hands. Sorry to hear that it might be a tumor. I cannot think of one single thing that I would of or could of done differently. No small wonder that your daughter wants to be a vet.
Well done julskinka well done....

 

[julskinka]

I’m just so impressed, truly.
Sounds like Pesto is in very good hands. Sorry to hear that it might be a tumor. I cannot think of one single thing that I would of or could of done differently. No small wonder that your daughter wants to be a vet.
Well done julskinka well done....

Thanks, but I don’t feel like I’ve actually done much of anything for her. I’m going to try to aspirate some of the mass tonight with a needle and syringe to see if it’s pus or not. I am hoping someone can pipe in though and identify the lesion from the photos! Like, does that *look* like chicken pus?

She’s still happily out there today tho, so that’s good. I do think trimming the wing helped her balance a little.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Well...I would disagree. You took action intelligent action.
You’re trying when a lot of people would not. You keep her pain/comfort level as a priority. It triggered you to take notice of flockmates. You inspire people with Pesto’s Journey. Your care and concern teaches your children. I have a vested interest in what happens because as you know I have to do my own “Doctoring”. So...you’ve done A LOT!
I’ll be watching and rooting for you both.

 

[julskinka]

Well...I would disagree. You took action intelligent action.
You’re trying when a lot of people would not. You keep her pain/comfort level as a priority. It triggered you to take notice of flockmates. You inspire people with Pesto’s Journey. Your care and concern teaches your children. I have a vested interest in what happens because as you know I have to do my own “Doctoring”. So...you’ve done A LOT!
I’ll be watching and rooting for you both.

Thank you. This makes me feel a little better. I hope we can help her out.

 

[chickendreams24]

I agree you're doing great.

Personally it looks like pus to me and that's how I treated it when my rooster had several similar seeming lesions tumors whatever they were.

I agree see if you can draw anything out but remember chicken puss is very often solid and nothing may come out. Nothing came out of my rooster's masses when we tried it.

Deep breaths if this is Marek's don't panic. Remember Marek's is literally on every continent except Antarctica. When our flock got the diagnosis I was devestated and I thought we would have to kill every bird. I'm sure there are those that would tell me I'm an irresponsible owner for not but there are no chickens within miles of us and we lost only a few birds although those we did lose went down hill very quickly. The vaccine does not keep chickens from getting Marek's it only keeps them from getting the tumors and the paralysis associated with it. Some people think the vaccines are more dangerous because they can still get it and then shed the virus longer giving it a chance to mutate and become stronger.

Personally I see both sides. For now we are breeding for resistance. The flock is healthy and happy. Any birds that show even a hint of symptoms we isolate and look for other causes if the bird continues to see off we usually cull them. I've never had a bird survive our strain of Marek's but that's not to say some don't.

Now as for your cockeral that has the smaller comb it could be that he is just developing slower or because he is the submissive cockeral. Submissive cockeral tend to mature slower.

I would look him over just to be sure and keep a very close eye on not only him but your entire flock.

Also don't feel guilty chickens are amazing at hiding illness and injuries. A lot can be hidden under those feathers. You are doing the best you can for your flock and that's what's important.

 

[chickendreams24]

@casportpony if you haven't already viewed this thread please take a look. I would love for you to weigh in.

 

[Tesumph]

For what it’s worth, I also think the wing lesion is just a festered wound. Bird pus is very cheese-like in consistency, I don’t expect you’ll be able to aspirate anything out of there. I think it could go either way; obviously it’s an old wound but it could be worse, although without antibiotics I’m not sure how this will go.
The lameness isn’t necessarily Marek’s but the leg paralysis is a warning sign.. perhaps she already had a very mild strain and this wound caused a flair up? I’m reaching here but just throwing out ideas, I don’t have experience with mild strains of Marek’s like some others do.