Rooster comb swollen and infected- advice please 🙏🏻

[tjmb1414]

Good morning, our 2 roosters, who always get along, unfortunately got into a fight. The one rooster is fine. But but we been treating other rooster, Russel and he is inside. The incident occurred on Thursday. We have been treating the comb two times per day with chlorhexidine wash, triple antibiotic ointment ( without the pain reliever) and baby aspirin for pain. We were going to treat with an injectable penicillin, however Tractor supply no longer carries penicillin. I cannot find penicillin anywhere without veterinarian prescription. Concerned about the swelling and lack of progress with healing. Any advice is much appreciated. We really love our roosters.
Thank you,
Tracey

 

[janiedoe]

I believe I would stop the using the chlorhexidine at this point. I believe it will kill off the good bacteria, as well as the bad. That will prevent healing.

Clean with warm water and apply the antibiotic cream. If the comb is very warm to touch, you might need to have a vet visit, in order to get antibiotics. You may be able to find an avian veterinarian in your area, who will treat him. Some veterinarians don't know much about chickens, but if you do your research ahead of time, and explain what you need and why, they will often work with you.

I hope your rooster recovers soon. Introducing him back into the flock with another cockerel/rooster may be next to impossible, especially with spring coming up. If they are under a year old, they may be coming into their hormones. It may not be possible to keep them together. Do you have enough room to keep them seperate?
Good luck to you and your rooster.

 

[Eggcessive]

What state are you in? Most feed stores have carried procaine penicillin G in the refrigerated medicines in th past. Amoxicillin or Aqua Mox is available online for fish. If the temperatures are above freezing where he is, I would probably just switch to a wound spray such as Microcyn AH, from Petsmart which is mild and no touching is required:
https://www.petsmart.com/dog/health...ebqwz_IWhy-mo5MUHbR2VjMnbErU0d0hoCHdcQAvD_BwE

 

[tjmb1414]

I believe I would stop the using the chlorhexidine at this point. I believe it will kill off the good bacteria, as well as the bad. That will prevent healing.

Clean with warm water and apply the antibiotic cream. If the comb is very warm to touch, you might need to have a vet visit, in order to get antibiotics. You may be able to find an avian veterinarian in your area, who will treat him. Some veterinarians don't know much about chickens, but if you do your research ahead of time, and explain what you need and why, they will often work with you.

I hope your rooster recovers soon. Introducing him back into the flock with another cockerel/rooster may be next to impossible, especially with spring coming up. If they are under a year old, they may be coming into their hormones. It may not be possible to keep them together. Do you have enough room to keep them seperate?
Good luck to you and your rooster.

Thank you for your reply and I agree about the chlorhexidine that makes total sense. Fortunately, we do have another coop.

 

[tjmb1414]

What state are you in? Most feed stores have carried procaine penicillin G in the refrigerated medicines in th past. Amoxicillin or Aqua Mox is available online for fish. If the temperatures are above freezing where he is, I would probably just switch to a wound spray such as Microcyn AH, from Petsmart which is mild and no touching is required:
https://www.petsmart.com/dog/health...ebqwz_IWhy-mo5MUHbR2VjMnbErU0d0hoCHdcQAvD_BwE

Good morning, we are in upstate New York, and I have called every feed store in tractor supply and they don’t have penicillin. Valley vet and other online places require a prescription for penicillin now. Good idea about the amoxicillin for fish. I will look into that. Thanks so much and have a good day!

 

[Eggcessive]

Good to know about the penicillin, since I have not checked locally for it. Some states such as California have banned most antibiotics from feed stores. Amoxicillin is probably better than PCN anyway with less bacterial resistance. However, most comb wounds won’t require an antibiotic. If you use the Aqua Mox, the usual dosage is 250 mg given orally twice a day. For a large rooster, you might aim for 50 mg per pound every 12 hours.