Severely injured chick

[schellie69]

Great story hope the chick makes a speedy recovery

 

[Where The Wild Things Are]

Okay, I REALLY need some help. This morning I noticed my little patient was having a very hard time keeping her balance and walking (heck, first thing in the morning I have a hard time keeping my balance and walking) so I did not think much of it. She has shown visable signs that her wounds are healing. She is eating, drinking, pooping and generally acting normal. When I got home from work, I noticed that she is having a much harder time just standing. my BF thinks her legs look "pale". Her little toes curl upward as she trys to keep her balance. She does not act like any thing is wrong, but I just have a VERY bad feeling. I have been treating her wounds externally with antiseptic spray and triple antibiotic ointment. I do have Duramycin-10 (tetracycline hydrochloride soluble powder) antibiotics, but as I understand it...they are not for her type of wounds. Does she have an internal bactieral infection? She shows no signs of an external infection. She still eats, drinks, chirps like she always has. It will be 2 weeks on Tuesday since I got her. She has been so very strong and shown such a will to live...I just can't bear to lose her now.

Please help.

 

[TeamChaos]

Do you think she's having a hard time balancing because she has no wings to balance with? I'm not trying to sound like an idiot, it's just the first thing that came to mind when I read about the amputations...
I admire your courage and your willingness to help and wish you all the best!

 

[Kassaundra]

My best guess would be internal infection. It is suprising that two weeks in before showing any s/sx of it, but she needs antibiotics, not sure of the kind.

You mentioned a "pale leg" does it look different then the other one, or different then it has been looking? Was it injured externally? Has the color in her comb/face/wattles changed, or if she has a larger comb has it become more limp?

 

[Where The Wild Things Are]

Quote:
Thank you for you quick reply.

Her legs both look the same, and neither sustained any external injury. She has not developed her comb or wattles yet, but her coloring all looks normal. My BF just thought her legs were pasty or pale looking. I'm not sure I notice a diffrence to be honest. Should I be removing her scabs as they form? She has already peeled one off (that had to sting) but I keep treating them. I put a bandage on her until her medicine drys (around 20 minutes...she hates it), then I take it off so her wounds can "breathe". I will call my vet tomorrow and see if he will let me come in and get antiboitcs. Since I got my first chickens, he cringes when he sees me. Why are vets so unwilling to treat chickens? Is it because they are bigger and prettier than parrots?

 

[Where The Wild Things Are]

Quote:

you don't sound like an idiot at all! Infact she does have a much harder time keeping her balance, because she does not have her wings. And when she has her bandage on, it makes it even worse. However, today she has been worse than normal. Thus far she has been able to adapt pretty well. She's not graceful by any stretch of the imagination, but she has been funcitional (walking, and even running and jumping a little). And I hever never noticed her toes curling up when trying to balance. It's to the point now, that she just lays down...rather than fight to stand.

 

[Kassaundra]

Quote:

you don't sound like an idiot at all! Infact she does have a much harder time keeping her balance, because she does not have her wings. And when she has her bandage on, it makes it even worse. However, today she has been worse than normal. Thus far she has been able to adapt pretty well. She's not graceful by any stretch of the imagination, but she has been funcitional (walking, and even running and jumping a little). And I hever never noticed her toes curling up when trying to balance. It's to the point now, that she just lays down...rather than fight to stand.

Her balance should be getting better w/ time not worse. I really think she has internal infection, make sure she is drinking well as dehydration is a big problem w/ internal infection/sepsis. The blood pressure drops b/c of physiological changes in the circulatory system (in mammals anyway) which could be part of her balance/standing problem, decreased blood pressure would make her feel dizzy and light headed, could even lead to "passing out" until in a lying position. Sepsis can kill quickly so do follow through w/ the antibiotics.

 

[Where The Wild Things Are]

Okay, so I called the Vet (they are seriously useless). The receptionist advised me that they won't prescribe or administer drugs without seeing the patient. And naturally only one Avian Vet will even look at her (since she's a chicken) and he's only in on Thursday's. So I'm not sure if/how/when I will get antibiotics. The more I watch her, the less it seems like a balance issue. It seems what she is doing is trying to flap her left half wing. It's encrusted in a big scab, and I'm not sure if it hurts/itches/burns. But she moves it with quite a bit of force and that's causing her balance issues. At least that's what it looks like to me. Should I peel her scabs off, or leave them alone? Does anyone have a suggestion on where to find antibiotics other than a Vet? I'll swing by my feed store in a couple hours and see if they can suggest something. But I'm curious about opinions on what to do with her scabs.

 

[Caliphe]

From what I've read here, you should peel her scabs each time they form and reapply your antibiotic ointment. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable chimes in.

 

[TeamChaos]

I've had really good luck with vetricyn- it keeps the scab moist and clean without compromising healing. It IS expensive, but I've found so many uses for it. The only time I remove scabs is when I see that they are peeling up and might get debris under them, other than that I figure a body knows what it's doing.
This might be goofy, but my babies love to stretch their wings and legs together- they stretch a leg out behind them and counter balance with the wing, when you're handling her could you provide a little counter balance and see if she wants to stretch?
I have a hen on antibiotics right now, I ended up buying tylan200 and getting her dose from this forum. It burns and is intense, if I didn't feel like my hen's situation was critical I wouldn't have used it. The vet I talked to recommended I switch her to penicillin next week, your feedstore may have antibiotics in the refrigerated case.