Infected wound - Your advice requested

[MadDanEccles]

Hi all.

Apologies if I'm giving too much detail, but bear with me. I'm not sure how much of the history is strictly relevant.

I've recently taken on four wyandotte bantams - one gold laced, one partridge, one colombian and one with "indeterminate heritage". They belonged to a friend who is progressively moving over to marans and indian game. I'm a total beginner and it was just a case of "take your pick" from the existing flock and I chose the ones I liked. To the best of my knowledge, they are all between 12 and 18 months of age.

I've now had them in my garden for nearly two weeks. To me, they all look and act healthy, although I have not yet had a single egg from them. I assume that this may be because they are either broody or are still settling into new surroundings without the presence of a cockerel. As far as I can tell, they are all drinking and eating regularly. The food and water levels certainly seem to be dropping. In the last few days, following a week of heavy showers, they have also cleared a dust bath at one end of the run.

Now to the point in question...

What is causing me distinct concern, as of a couple of hours ago, is the health of the colombian. Having seen a gap in her plumage, I picked her up and held her upside down. The feathers around her vent are matted together with some exceptionally hard faeces. I snapped off what little I could, as gently as possible, but it was clear that even this initial fix around the periphery was causing her discomfort. All of the other birds seem fine, so this appears to be an isolated issue. All their plumage looks perfectly healthy. This may have been building up since before I took ownership of the birds or it could have happened over the last few days.

There is still quite a bit left to remove and the skin area around the vent looks either bald, raw or infected with a yellow/green tinge

. Not nice! Despite all this, she doesn't seem to be in any other discomfort, although she did sit down on the ground under the coop after my "investigation". My assumption is that I will either have to cut through the main offending feathers not far up from the skin or remove them outright by plucking them (it doesn't look like it would take much effort, due to her condition) before applying some kind of antiseptic salve to the infected areas. I assume that there might also be the option of sitting her in warm water until it dissolves, but I can't imagine her staying still in water for that long. She's not a duck

. I could get a picture, but that would have to be tomorrow now (gone 9pm here) and I didn't want to put anyone off their food without warning.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what the best route is? Would a picture help? Is there a "human" antiseptic that I can get tomorrow (bearing in mind I'm in the UK and it's the start of a 3 day weekend - No vets).

Thanks in advance.

 

[mypicklebird]

Hold her firmly in a warm bath. Soap is fine. Wear gloves. You can use a large bucket, outdoor sink, or plastic bin--- 5 min in a warm bath will loosen up the material enough you can pull it out. She will struggle for a moment, then will likely settle- and let you do this. You need to get the gunk off then look and see why it got stuck there. Diarrhea, prolapse, conformation, lice, wound, ect.
You can cut away feathers or pull them out, but get the gunk off first so you can see what you are doing. If you try to pull out the clump or cut out the clump all at once, you risk tearing or cutting her skin...

 

[thebritt]

Quote:
This is exactly what I would do, with the addition of one thing - I would apply "Preparation H" to the cleaned area of skin around the vent. It's very soothing and has great healing properties (I think the main ingredient is cod liver oil - but I could be wrong). We used this on pets with road rash after being hit by cars (when I worked as a vet's assistant) and it really seems to take away pain and inflamation - just like the label says! You could probably Google "Preparation H" and find out the ingredients and come up with something comparable if a local store doesn't carry it - but I think it's pretty standard stuff at any grocery store or pharmacy. I think everything will be just fine!

 

[Judy]

Yes, soak it off. I'd use petroleum jelly or an antibiotic ointment after, but I don't think it matters much, the petroleum jelly base will be soothing in any case.

The problem will be that it will probably recur. She could be draining soft shell egg contents or have coccidiosis or an overload of worms or something. Or simply have had an egg break inside her.

You might talk to your friend about whether he had them on a worming regime and whether he is having trouble with cocci. He sounds like an experienced chicken keeper; perhaps he can be of help.

 

[Lollipop]

All very good advice. I`m gonna have to agree with thebritt on the Preparation H. Great stuff for inflamations, burns, etc. After her vent is clean for a day or so, you should be able to explore the cause .........Pop

 

[MadDanEccles]

Yeah, I'll be on the phone to him in the morning, but as I understand it they've been fine to date.

I can understand the whole pile ointment thing, as I guess it'll dry up/shrink the sore area, but would it have an antiseptic effect though? (or is it just a plan to embarass me in the chemist?). Perhaps some spray-on iodine might help.

My dad's over here tomorrow, so between us I guess we can sort something out with regard the washing process. I'll try to arrange a before/after photo, as it may help the diagnosis.

 

[MadDanEccles]

Quote:
On a related note, I've literally just bought myself some VermX

 

[speckledhen]

If I find an infected wound and I think that neosporin won't cut it, I give 3 days of penicillin injections, but usually, if you clean the wound and coat with antibiotic ointment, it heals up okay. Just do not use anything with "caine" like benzocaine, which can be fatal to chickens.

 

[jsimplytx125]

Hi all,
Sorry for the hijack. That's what its called right? I am totally forever grateful for all the sage advice we get here. I know it's saved hundreds of birdy lives!

That said:

This subject interests me since I have some 3 month old RiRs and an old Bantam roo who came to us with badly scarred legs from mites and whose legs are suddenly being pecked until covered with blood. They were raised with him but now will Not leave him alone.
The coup is huge, 8 x 10x 12 high, lots of natural light with clear panels, run is 20x12.
I gave him a "seven" dust bath a month ago, treated all (18 3mo RIRs) of the birds with ivomec and clean and dressed his legs with Betadine, then sprayed with Wound-Kote. I've been keeping him in a brooder in the coup and tried to re-introduce him to rest yesteday. OMG they completely surrounded him attacking his legs.

My questions are:
1- What feed to switch to (they are on scratch w crumbles mixed now)
2- How long to keep him separate?
3- suggestions for diminishing pecking behavior.
Thank you for any help


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[MadDanEccles]

Hi all.

Well, I treated the poor gal yesterday afternoon, as it was a nice warm day with a light breeze which I hoped would help her dry out.

The treatment I used was effectively to :-

* Break off the largest lump of concretion on her breast, as it had effectively pulled out all bar one of the underlying feather barbs from the skin.

* Wash her underside in a plastic bowl containing a warm water solution with added dettol.

* Remove the existing scabs/decay/fecal matter from both the skin and plumage, as it was hard to tell if any of it was sound and aiding recovery.

* Apply preparation H to the wound to seal it from immediate infection.

* Spray the area with dry iodine.

She seemed as happy as one could ever expect, given the treatment, and didn't freak out during the clean-up process, although she was a tad "down" afterwards and found it difficult to flap her way up into the coop.

Here are some pics which may help anyone else in a similar situation.

First... The "before" picture...

I then cleaned her up as best I could. The picture below was taken when she was nearly finished, with just the few remaining white/yellow bits to remove. At the very end, there was a little blood, but it was minimal and looked more like what you'd expect from a graze.

Here she is around half an hour after finishing, not quite as perky as before...

And lastly, a rear view showing that she was still exposed and damp...

While she stayed in the sun afterwards, she insisted in facing into it, instead of facing away where her behind would have dried out more quickly.

The only outstanding question I have right now regards mites. I noticed some microscopic black creepy crawlies around the wound when I started. They didn't look as big as fleas and I guess they're some kind of mite. I have a tub of diatomaceous earth, which I've sprinkled into the bedding and nesting boxes so far. However, I have never applied it directly to a bird. What's the best way to do this without distressing them excessively?