Need advice for injured turkey

[Eggscalibur]

I have a 10 m/o Narragansett/Bronze cross hen that has injured her leg. It appears as if she lacerated it in several places about two weeks ago, although it was not immediately apparent. When she began limping a week ago I examined her and discovered the partially healed cuts. There now seems to be some very mild swelling, but the wounds appear clean, with no puss or oozing, and the bones and musculature feel intact. The leg clearly bothers her, and she has increasingly avoided weight bearing on that side (although she will in a pinch). Her energy level is declining and she has not been out with the rest of the flock as she normally would. I generally take a hands-off approach with my flock, but I do not want to lose this hen and feel that intervention is warranted, as I suspect an infection. What antiobiotic or other treatment would you recommend? I have seen Tylan and Baytril recommended for chickens, but I have no experience with either. Thanks.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Just saw your post. How is your turkey?

 

[Eggscalibur]

Thanks for asking. I ended up hauling her into a vet (the only one I could find that would consider laying eyes on a turkey). She shared my suspicion of an infection, but couldn't pinpoint anything. She also couldn't rule out a microfracture from whatever caused the initial injury. She prescribed Amoxicillin, which we gave for 5 days. No improvement. We continued to watch and wait, for lack of a better idea, and a few weeks later an abcess finally appeared on the leg. We drained the abcess, flushed it with water, treated with a topical antibacterial, and covered it with gauze. We repeated that treatment a few days later, and she has since made a full recovery. I subsequently read that bloodflow to turkey's legs is very poor, which may explain why the oral antibiotic had no effect. It wasn't until the infection came to the surface that we were able to treat it. Our girl is now laying eggs and moving on with life as if nothing happened.