problem with injection site Please help!!

[wireman24]

Hello
we have a hen that had a really bad case of bumble foot.
We treated the foot like has been suggested in other threads and forums and that went very well.

The problem now is we injected her with pen g penicillin and now the injection site has a large bulbous lump.
We injected it into the muscle like was instructed and only around a 1/4 cc
Iam not sure what happened we were going to give her the second dose today, but now we are holding off to see if this lump will go away.
Does anybody know why this would have happened?
We made sure everything was very sterile, there were no signs of blood so it did not go into a vein or artery.
I am at a loss at this point.

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you pull back on the syringe to check to see if you were in a vein? Did you inject into the breast muscle? What size needle did you use (gauge and length?) I might just read up on doing the bumblefoot surgery. It is not hard to do, and it is over quickly.

 

[wireman24]

I already did the bumble foot surgery that went good.

We did pull back on the syringe and there was no blood.

We stuck the needle into the breast with a 18 gauge needle.

We only stuck the needle in about a 1/4 of an inch no more then that.

 

[PoultryPedia]

Thanks for sharing. Reading your experience has made me aware of need for more specifics on the instructions on Penicillin injections on my Poultry Podiatry page, in case someone uses them when giving Penicillin. I've added these details, which I hope will can helpful in your hen's case:

• Inject approx. 1/4 inch in a bantam, and about 3/8 to 1/2 inches deep in a full-size chicken.
• [After injection] Withdraw needle, place your finger on the injection site, and gently massage area to help distribute the medicine. Lumps fairly commonly occur after Penicillin injections, and massaging can help reduce their formation.

The lump should subside over the next few days.

A lump at the injection site I don't believe is a usual sign of a Penicillin allergy, so I wouldn't worry about that. I think an allergy is usually manifested by a rash, hives, or swelling in other areas.

 

[wireman24]

You say that a lump is common after an injection, how big of a lump are we talking about because this seems rather large.
It's about two inches wide and about a half inch tall and it's squishy.
I hope it just goes away I would hate to think I will need to drain it.

 

[wireman24]

Bump

 

[SunnySkies]

They happen (even to us vets, lol). Leave it alone. Sometimes they can become an access, but far more often, it is a localized reaction that just needs time to go away.

 

[wireman24]

Do you think we should continue with the antibiotics or just leave well enough alone at this point.
I have her foot wrapped and after the bumble foot surgery we flushed it good with iodine and packed it with neosporine.

 

[casportpony]

Do you think we should continue with the antibiotics or just leave well enough alone at this point.
I have her foot wrapped and after the bumble foot surgery we flushed it good with iodine and packed it with neosporine.

Finish the course of antibiotics, but alternate injection sites. In horses we do left neck, right neck, left hind leg, right hind leg and I think you can also give IM injections to chickens in their leg, but check on that first.

-Kathy

 

[wireman24]

I think your right I will continue with the antibiotics.
I just checked on her and the swelling is completely gone now.
It's strange how fast it went away.

Thanks everybody for all the help.