Rooster rescued from a coyote, using Manuka honey

[Sunshine Flock]

The Rub looks fantastic, right up my alley. Arnica and then some.

I'll track some down today or order it online if I can't find it locally.

Thank you!!!!!!!!!

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

The Rub looks fantastic, right up my alley. Arnica and then some.

I'll track some down today or order it online if I can't find it locally.

Thank you!!!!!!!!!

I try to use herbal medicine when ever possible. Here is my recipe for Herbal Antibiotic and Immune System Support.

1 (760 mg) Capsule, Echinacea
1 (400 mg) Capsule, Golden Seal
1 teaspoon Hempseed Protein Powder (or other protein powder)
2 teaspoons warm water
1 teaspoon Agave Nectar, * optional

Dosage for chicken:
weight 5 lbs. = 1.25 mL, twice daily
May be given three times daily, 7 days, for severe symptoms: lack of appetite, diarrhea & lethargy.
Use for no more than 10 days.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

Today was difficult.

I found Henry with his chest flattened on the towel, unable to lift himself upright. Every day since the coyote attack, I've stretched his legs and done gentle compressions to encourage blood circulation, but when I discovered some wounds on his underside, the notion of a sling and what I thought would be additional pressure on those wounds, just didn't sound like a good idea.

So I waited.

But the tradeoff is weakening muscles. I think that's why I found a flattened Henry this morning. When his hens came for a visit, he tried to right himself, which was encouraging to see, but also discouraging because only once was he able to sit up nice and proud for the benefit of his lady friends; the other times he remained flat unless I aided him with a rolled towel tucked under his chest.

More massage; some inverted naps while I reversed the blood flow in his legs and examined the undercarriage wounds and did some feather maintenance; mash, egg, pumpkin seeds, mustard greens and spinach, banana; arnica pellets; Bach Rescue Remedy; comfort hens and comfort cats; soft classical music; and honey treatments.

And water with some apple cider vinegar, but only a modest amount of ACV.

Then weird things happened.

When my husband shared some of Henry's cooked egg with the hens, a big piece got caught deep inside the head hen Rosemary's backend feathers. AKA the rambunctious hen. An hour or so later I found it just barely peeking out, just enough to look like a glistening yellow, maggot filled wound. She's a tough one to catch, the others are easy. I followed her to the compost heap, where I tripped and sliced the tip of my finger and knuckle open. It's hard typing words with the letter 's' because that's the finger that got hurt.

We pretty much went everywhere together, as I gently tried to coax her close for a backend inspection.

Once I caught Rosemary and solved the maggoty wound saga, other odd mishaps happened, all distractions from Henry, but each one involving paranoia that a T-rex was going to snatch one of my precious critter friends or worries that they're going to get horribly sick and all fall ill and die.

When the chores and romps settled down, I came into Henry's room to refresh his food and water, and that's when I saw Hen Pen Jem's immune booster recipe in a comment above. I've used echinacea and golden seal tinctures for over twenty years, but only this year did I start learning about hemp. It's a truly fantastic plant with tons of uses. The recipe gave me a good reason to indulge and today I finally gave it a try.

I swapped out the capsules for the tincture, which I diluted, and added some hemp powder, and made a mash with a piece of banana. This was my first go; if he didn't like that combination, I was going to add it to his water. But he loved it and ate quite a bit. I had some, too. It's delicious.

An hour later I came in to check on Henry and found an upright bird, sitting proud and hungrily eyeing the pumpkin seeds. I don't think I'm reading between the lines when I witness these changes in him. There seems to be a cause and effect to everything I do involving his care. The morning after I gave him his first arnica pellet, he was more relaxed and in less pain.

But the red sores on his lame leg, that's a cause and effect I wasn't carefully tracking. Unless those are breaks, and I don't think they are but who knows, Henry is developing sores from his immobility and his inability to move and adjust that leg.

So I'm now a chicken slinger.

You have to understand that I really don't know if my dear boy is going to survive, and sometimes I question whether prolonging his life is only prolonging his suffering. But I've done a load of reading in the forums in the months leading up to welcoming chickens into our lives earlier this year, and I'm seeing tons of examples of people who didn't give up and either nurtured their feathered friends to a nice recovery, or loved on them with great care and gentleness and comfort through to their dear friend's last breath.

It's all so beautiful and sweet, but today I was experiencing feelings of guilt and concern. His wattle paled, and his comb was blue around the edges. This was an unexpected change considering the vibrant color and warm temperature of the previous days. I don't think combs and wattles change color for the heck of it; I think it always means something. It's like a mood ring or happiness gauge, or a barometer or health indicator.

So that and his chest to the ground from weak limbs had me worried.

The immune booster was much needed and really seemed to bolster his energy. The healing with echinacea and golden seal is gradual and internal, not something you'd noticeably observe but something you're likely to feel in terms of its healing properties over the course of a couple of days. But birds may be more responsive to herbal supports, and the hemp protein may have especially done him good, with immediate, measurable results.

I think I'm kind of geeking out here. I'd best bring this one to a close.

But I do want to quickly mention the sling. It's made from a vintage cotton sheet and has a pretty spring motif, but there's nothing pretty about it as a chicken sling. It's rudimentary, roughly cut, and he looks rather ridiculous sitting in it. He didn't wiggle or complain one bit, though, and his legs dangled down to the floor, and the good one actually took some weight, thank goodness. The lame leg did absolutely nothing. It's very loose in the elbow joint, no resistance whatsoever, and the hip is loose, too. And again no reaction of pain from Henry, not an eye blink or a single head turn.

And I think I mentioned earlier that his lame leg is very warm. I'm wondering why and will explore that tomorrow.

So, Henry hung in his sling without a bother or a shred of embarrassment, and his undercarriage wounds, which turned out to be more like surface abrasions and are now nicely healing, weren't bothered by it either. And since he held perfectly still during the leg insertion process and didn't wiggle one bit, his topside wounds didn't move at all.

The sling is a wonderful success, and as dumb and goofy as it looks, it makes me feel like I'm doing something necessary and meaningful for Henry's healing.

That said, I'm still worried for his survival from the horrific coyote attack, and I really can't believe I neglected to address immune strengthening for him from day one, something I've always done with my cats and dogs. For someone who tends to always be prepared, I felt very unprepared for this.

Archiving this process helps me feel a bit calmer and more centered, so thanks for tolerating these numerous updates.

G'night.

 

[Sunshine Flock]

I have no clue if anyone reads this. I may have to start a new thread for some feedback.

I woke up to a very alert and vibrant Henry, sitting upright and with more energy than yesterday. The concern is his lame leg.

There aren't any vets in town who will see a chicken. I did find one a few towns over, but we're strapped financially, and I was able to speak to her and asked several questions. The heat in his leg doesn't mean an infection; it could mean inflammation. The sores do sound like "bed sores" from inactivity, but she would have to examine him to confirm this.

The concern is the complete lack of movement in that leg and absolutely no indication of pain or discomfort from Henry. Nerves could have been broken, tendons damaged, it's hard saying exactly what's causing this. But she says the prognosis isn't good.

She feels it's life threatening for him. He's highly unlikely to experience any recovery in that leg, and this makes him significantly prone to infection and death.

I told her putting him down at this point, when he's making such a remarkable recovery otherwise, and is so incredibly alert and engaged and eating robustly and drinking water, would be incredibly difficult for me. It almost doesn't make sense. It'd be like robbing him at a chance of at least partial recovery and a comfortable life, even if I have to come up with a way to support that side of his body so he'll have mobility with his other leg.

What are your thoughts on this? I'm truly stumped. I have no intention of putting him down without seeing signs of decline that would likely worsen and result in suffering. At this point he's stable, and darn it, those wounds are healing wonderfully thanks to the Manuka honey, like remarkably well.

I need to draw heat out of that lame leg. I'm treating it topically with the golden seal compresses from the tincture I mentioned yesterday. I'm alternating that with honey while he's in the sling so I can keep it clean and free of feathers. No open wounds, just sores and deep heat.

I'm ploughing onward and upward with Henry, but for all his serious wounds I'm frustrated that this leg could be his end.

 

[sbhkma]

Have you tried wrapping the leg in a cold washcloth for about 15 minutes at a time? Is there no foot response at all? No attempt to curl his toes around your hand and no movement at all? If I recall he did have movement at one time? If it were me, I'd see how he does in the sling for a couple of days before making and decisions as to how to proceed. If his leg is indeed paralyzed, that can be very problematic as it will be harder for him to move around than if he had just one leg. He also wouldn't be able to feel and injury to it. Again if it were me and there was no leg response at all within the next few days I would have him pts since his quality of life would be so diminished. I am a very firm believer in quality of life > quantity of life.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

First, thank you for keeping us updated. We are reading and learning from Henry's horrible incident with the coyote.

I always tell people how great herbal medicine can be. The only issue is that herbs have a cumulative value. Meaning you are against the clock. A strong immune system and will to survive are crucial. Henry has proven he has both. At this point an injectable broad spectrum antibiotic, like Baytril, would help. But, if you cannot do this and have chosen the herbal route, that too can work.

His leg issue needs to be addressed, I have had much success with Comfrey poultice.
I have used Comfrey for smashed fingers, deep bruises, twisted ankles etc. While I have not applied a poultice to an animal, I would definitely do so if they needed it. Comfrey was widely used in rural communities to heal broken bones when doctors were not available. That's why it is also referred to as Knit Bone. Poultices need to be changed every 12 hours. Improvement should be noticed the first day, with a decrease in pain. As long as there are no open wounds or sign of external infection where the poultice is to be placed, it can be done.

You are doing things in a timely manner, not even doctors will perform certain procedures till a patient is stable.

Anyways, there you go...something else to think about.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

If you want to establish whether Henry has feeling in that leg, it's time to test it.
You can pinch or prick with a tooth pick, the foot pad, to see if he flinches. If no response, then you can decide what to do.

 

[Shay1]

I have been watching this thread for a while and if you feel that way then maybe you should turn Henry's sling into a chicken wheelchair. I have never made on but if I did I would make it where he can put his good foot on the ground and I would put wheels on his sling. That way he can get some exercise while allowing his bad leg to heal and when it heals he can use the chicken wheelchair to regain strength in that leg. I am no expert in keeping chickens(I have only had them a little over a year) but I am planning to go to collage to become a veterinarian an specialize in chickens so in the future I hope to shed better insight on cases like these. I hope Henry recovers enough to rejoin the flock.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

FYI -
When using tinctures for animals and birds, remember not to use alcohol base tinctures for oral remedies. Alcohol is toxic to these critters.

 

[Birdinhand]

I am definitely following this! thanks you for the updates. I am personally amazed that you have been able to keep him alive with a sucking chest wound. if that wound is healing up and you do not see signs of gas gangrene anywhere, I would pat yourself on the back for getting this far, it's kind of miraculous! I really like Say1's suggestions of a wheel chair, when the time is right. I don't think you are in a huge hurry, the wounds are priority number one, IMHO. once he has truly turned the corner on wound healing, then trying to get him to use the leg if possible would probably be good, as long as it's not broken. if it's broken, making some kind of splint would be good and giving it time. if there were punctures around his spine, then it's possible he is paralyzed in that limb. Acupuncture can be very helpful at this stage, if you can find someone to do it on him. it's possible that the feeling and function will return in his leg but it's also possibly unlikely. I wouldn't worry about his suffering right now, it sounds like he has exuberance and a will to live and you have invested a lot of love and time in this... I'd keep it up for a while longer. keep up the good work and keep letting us know how it's going. I for one would really like to see some photos of the wounds, it would help me understand the direction things are going.