Injured rooster…

[AlicesEggstaurant]

This rooster was given to me to try and rehab. He got his leg cut in a fence about two weeks ago now. He was isolated from the rest of the flock at his previous home, and given a few Epsom salt soaks. I got him this last week, and he is nonweightbearing on the injured leg. I picked up some vetricyn and have soaked it in Epsom salts one time so far. He is still isolated from the rest of the flock, And seems to be eating and drinking OK. But I noticed yesterday that the injured foot is almost black, Swollen for sure. the two wounds seem to be healing OK. They don’t look great, but there’s no pus.

He’s such a well mannered rooster that I really do you want to try to get him better. Here are a couple so so photos of the injured and healthy feet. I was thinking about calling the vet to try to get antibiotics... There’s another tear on top of the foot too.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You mention 2 wounds. Is there a way to get clearer photos? Hard to do I know!
What does the front of the legs and feet look like? Any SLM?

The leg was cut in fencing, but was it also strangled/caught or wrapped for a while - circulation cut off to the foot? Just trying to think why it might be turning dark.

 

[AlicesEggstaurant]

You mention 2 wounds. Is there a way to get clearer photos? Hard to do I know!
What does the front of the legs and feet look like? Any SLM?

The leg was cut in fencing, but was it also strangled/caught or wrapped for a while - circulation cut off to the foot? Just trying to think why it might be turning dark.

I think the front of the legs just look swollen compared to the other foot. I'm worried about circulation being cut off to the foot from swelling. That happens in people (I'm a critical care paramedic so I equate most medical stuff to people !) I just looked up SLM, and the other foot scales look healthy to me so I don't think so. It may be had to see the top foot injury in the photos, but it looks like it was a pretty obvious tear .

Here are more photos. I don't think it was caught in the fence, but I will ask.

Thanks for responding! Also I cleaned the poo off his foot and out of his crate after I took photos

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Poor guy! He's got a chunk missing between his toes.
I wonder if he was fence fighting.

Which direction to go...

I'm thinking he may have sprained it badly. The cuts are more concerning to me, but stabilizing with a wrap may be helpful. Wrapping a foot that has cuts like that, it's important to unwrap and tend the foot daily.

For my roosters that end up with foot injuries. I swab with Chlorhexidine. Let that dry, then apply a very thin layer of triple antibiotic ointment just to the wounds. You don't want the rest of the foot to be wet when wrapping. Nonstick gauze pad cut into tiny pieces can be placed over the wounds, they do help keep the vet wrap from sliding.
Unless you see more, my main focus would be on the chunk missing, the foot pad between (red circle) and the wound on the back of the foot. Those I would put ointment and gauze. For me, I've found that sometimes letting foot wounds "dry" sometimes helps - every situation is a bit different, if the skin cracks, then apply ointment.
I cut vet wrap into approx. 1" wide strips around 8" long, get those ready. It's hard to explain how to wrap a foot, there's lots of videos out there, but I've found that after you wrap for a couple of days you find a technique of your own, you may need to adjust the width/length of your strips, but I've found that wrapping one toe then across the foot and up the leg works best. You repeat. Yes, the foot pad will be cushioned a bit more and the leg up to and past the spur will have been stabilized. For wrapping, sometimes the spurs can be your friend, keeps wrap from slipping down. All not too tight. Lay in a supply of wrap, I have issues with UNwrapping, so I just cut it off, tend the foot, the rewrap. With your background and experience, it won't take you long

Swelling may go down eventually, it is quite puffy looking. Soaking every other day or so may be helpful. I would consider an oral antibiotic like Amoxicillin as well even though the wounds don't seem infected, it may help with inflammation. If you have vet care, ask your vet, otherwise most of us use Fish Mox (Amoxicllin). Dose is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 7-10 days.

Give the wrapping a try, if the foot gets worse, etc. etc. then stop wrapping. If you find it's healing well and he's more comfortable, then go to changing the wrap every other day.

 

[AlicesEggstaurant]

Poor guy! He's got a chunk missing between his toes.
I wonder if he was fence fighting.

Which direction to go...

I'm thinking he may have sprained it badly. The cuts are more concerning to me, but stabilizing with a wrap may be helpful. Wrapping a foot that has cuts like that, it's important to unwrap and tend the foot daily.

For my roosters that end up with foot injuries. I swab with Chlorhexidine. Let that dry, then apply a very thin layer of triple antibiotic ointment just to the wounds. You don't want the rest of the foot to be wet when wrapping. Nonstick gauze pad cut into tiny pieces can be placed over the wounds, they do help keep the vet wrap from sliding.
Unless you see more, my main focus would be on the chunk missing, the foot pad between (red circle) and the wound on the back of the foot. Those I would put ointment and gauze. For me, I've found that sometimes letting foot wounds "dry" sometimes helps - every situation is a bit different, if the skin cracks, then apply ointment.
I cut vet wrap into approx. 1" wide strips around 8" long, get those ready. It's hard to explain how to wrap a foot, there's lots of videos out there, but I've found that after you wrap for a couple of days you find a technique of your own, you may need to adjust the width/length of your strips, but I've found that wrapping one toe then across the foot and up the leg works best. You repeat. Yes, the foot pad will be cushioned a bit more and the leg up to and past the spur will have been stabilized. For wrapping, sometimes the spurs can be your friend, keeps wrap from slipping down. All not too tight. Lay in a supply of wrap, I have issues with UNwrapping, so I just cut it off, tend the foot, the rewrap. With your background and experience, it won't take you long

Swelling may go down eventually, it is quite puffy looking. Soaking every other day or so may be helpful. I would consider an oral antibiotic like Amoxicillin as well even though the wounds don't seem infected, it may help with inflammation. If you have vet care, ask your vet, otherwise most of us use Fish Mox (Amoxicllin). Dose is 57mg per pound of weight given orally twice a day for 7-10 days.

Give the wrapping a try, if the foot gets worse, etc. etc. then stop wrapping. If you find it's healing well and he's more comfortable, then go to changing the wrap every other day.

View attachment 2977542

Thanks for the advice! Started wrapping it with some triple antibiotic.
I think two of his toes look...kinda mummified. They are black and hard and not very movable at all. Is this something that might need to be amputated? ( I know it's best practice do that with people who have mummified fingers/toes...) His other foot is pink and healthy looking still.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I wouldn't remove any toes at this time. Usually if toes are dead they will eventually auto amputate. If he were mine, I would give it some time to see if the meds and wrappings make any difference.

 

[AlicesEggstaurant]

I wouldn't remove any toes at this time. Usually if toes are dead they will eventually auto amputate. If he were mine, I would give it some time to see if the meds and wrappings make any difference.

Sounds good. Thanks for the advice ! Is there anywhere to get antibiotics without a prescription? The vet wants 100 bucks just to see him.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Try these places, you can choose 250 or 500mg most of the time. He's a big boy, so 500mg would be what I would get.
Weigh him though so you know what his dose needs to be twice a day.
If you find that you need to split up the powder that's in the capsules let me know, I'll help you make your own "pills" by mixing the powder with coconut oil
https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=B2C8A496-D9C6-46F4-8907-08C66CB0FEAC
https://fishmoxfishflex.com/collect...valent-aqua-amoxicillin-plus-500-mg-100-count

 

[AlicesEggstaurant]

Well I never posted back on here, and I"m sorry for not updating! Life got busy, but Moose is doing just fine now. He got antibiotics (thanks @Wyorp Rock) and I cleaned those nasty wounds a lot. But after all that the foot did indeed auto-amputate, and he is getting around just fine and still fertilizing all the eggs!

I just added 5 adopted ducks to the flock today, along with a mama hen with two baby chicks, who he was not excited about having around. Mama and babies are separated for a while, and the ducks and chickens all seem to be getting on fine now So stoked Moose made it through! He really is the sweetest boy.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for the update on Moose!
I'm glad to hear that he's recovering nicely and getting on so well.