Not sure what to do. Can you help?

[smartlittleroo]

Yesterday I discovered that one of my Blue Andalusian roos had been attacked by the other roos. It must have happened sometime the evening previous or early yesterday morning as he was fine the day before yesterday. I found him sitting by himself on the roost with his head down below roost level. His head and neck were covered with dried blood.

I caught him and brought him inside and put him under a lamp to warm him up. He has been sleeping almost continually since then, occasionally waking, standing up, and looking around. He sipped a little water last night, but I haven't been able to get him to drink anything so far today. He hasn't eaten anything, but he did poop. My son said he was standing and flapping very early this morning. He only stands for a few minutes, then he lays back down and goes to sleep, like it's just too much effort for him.

The weird thing about this is that he is wheezing when he breathes, it's kind of a wheezy rattling noise, like a little kid with a cold will make. I don't know if he has dried blood up in his nose or if it's something else. I did hear him cough once, I've never heard a chicken cough before.

I gave him a dose of penicillin about half an hour ago, then put him back under the lamp.

A couple of questions: should I try to wash the dried blood off him? I did try to get it off his face yesterday but he still has a lot on his head and neck feathers and he stinks. Would it be too hard on him right now to try and get the rest of it off? Should I just let him be? I'm afraid of chilling him on top of the injuries.

How long does it take before you should start seeing improvement after giving penicillin?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks everyone.

 

[Beekissed]

I would try to clean those wounds and locate exact puncture and/or lacerations. Sounds like his trachea could have been punctured if he is wheezing. I wouldn't actually bathe the bird but I would wrap him in a towel and bathe the wounds with warm soapy water first to get off the blood and to make it easy to visualize the wounds.

Then I'd swab the wounds with an iodine solution and top it with a light application of antibiotic ointment. The heat lamp will warm him up after this. If he has puncture wounds, do not try to apply any dressings...best if left open to drain. If his trachea or esophagus has been punctured, you can try applying a thicker layer of antibiotic ointment at these places to keep bacteria out of these areas until the wall of these tubes can heal.

I've had birds with punctured trachea heal up just fine but the wounds need cleansed and dressed with an ointment to keep bacteria levels down.

You might try giving him apple cider vinegar in his water to help with shock and also soften his foods...maybe wet his feed and mix it with a little cottage cheese. His throat may be punctured or be too sore to swallow his regular ration.

If he doesn't snap out of his lethargy within a few days, you might consider giving him the hand of mercy.

 

[smartlittleroo]

Thanks for your advice. Unfortunately he died this morning. He went to sleep after I gave him the penicillin. He woke up and changed positions a couple of times, but before noon he suddenly gave a few flaps of his wings and then he was gone. Poor boy. I was really hoping he'd pull through.

 

[hangartnerchix]

Sorry for your loss

 

[Beekissed]

Oh, crumbs...