turken pullet needs surgery?

[Mom 2em All]

I posted in another thread a few days ago. My turken was chewed up by my Golden Retriever and my Pit Bull. My original post was in sympathy to another poster whose dogs had attacked her pullets.

"...today while I was at work, my turken flew out of the chicken yard and into the dogs' yard. My Golden and my Pit were out.
They didn't kill her-though they easily could have.
My daughter found her missing her tail feathers, with deep gashes similar to the ones you described, and two bruises on her neck.Her rump is hard for me to look at- I feel so sorry for her. It truly looks like raw hamburger with punctures. I cleaned it with a spray wound cleaner- but I wish i knew what to use for pain medicine.
She is in my daughters bedroom, roosting on the ladder to the bunk bed. She is making little peeper sounds- and I know she is confused on why she is not in the coop.
She was my alpha-bird, and she is my favorite. She can walk, and she was pecking on the floor and eating. She waited til she was on the ladder to poop...normal.
I have bio-dressing and I could use that, but I am scared to cover the raw hamburger- perhaps I should let it drain. It is dripping, bloody fluid.
I will keep her in, keep it clean- but I am unsure how to proceed medically. My vet who could help me is out of town until the 22nd."


Now, the wounds are no longer draining, there are scabbed areas and areas that look too dry, and areas that look to be healing. She however appears much better- moving easier, talking more, more active- actively eating/drinking/etc. I was discussing this with another vet at work yesterday. She told me that I could bring her in and we could put her under anesthesia and debride the wounds. My most obvious question to her was, "Can you use Isoflurane (anesthesia) with chickens?" Normally we would use a lidocaine splash on the areas to debride- however, we can't use the 'caines' on chickens. The vet was unaware of that.
So, I figured I would ask the chicken experts here- do any of you know if you can anesthetize a chicken safely?

That said- if one more person tells me to "cook her up and eat her", I may scream. I cannot believe the insensitivity of some people, or the way some people think they are being funny. I can only imagine the reaction I would get if I said the same thing to these people when they bring in their cat or dog with an injury.

 

[lilchick]

I had a turkey hen that went broody on me. She snuck off and started nesting. I tried in vain to find her.
One morning she showed up with alot of wounds on her back. Some down to the bone. I kept her in dog carrier in basement and doctored her up. She eventually healed up but had no feathers on scarred areas.
If you have a vet that is willing to help you that is great! Have never had experience with anesthesia..
Hopefully someone else can help you here. Good luck....

 

[peeboo]

bump, hope all ends well

 

[ivan3]

Our vet used Ketamine to `trance' our tumored tom. She also used injectable 1% Lidocaine (it is listed on bill).

I'll post a link to the surgery pics (weak stomachs need not apply): http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c331/IvanIvanovich/SCREAMER/

If you have the resources and the vet is willing to examine her, then by all means pack her off and, from your description of the wounds, she might well need an antibiotic. She will need to be kept in a clean area by herslf (keeping the dressings on will be a challenge, but denying her access to a scrape can be accomplished (even a desultory effort at dirt bath would be nothing but more `bugs' and debris in/on the wounds)

Our experience with the `caines' have been completely different than that of Speckled Hen and poor Hawkeye. Three years ago, when our toms were `adolescents' we used both an antiseptic with lidocaine, applied with sterile 2"x2's on the raw heads of the three jakes after they'd finish sparring: Bloody snoods/wattles raw heads and punctured caruncles (this was when they free ranged - boys and their hormones!). We then applied neosporin+ (caine). This had no untoward consequences. We switched to another potentially dangerous material (pine tar - old time disinfectant/anti-everything) and that did the trick (less sparring/healed up - well, only an occasional abrasion from then on).

We avoid the `caine' topicals, now. But continue to use pine tar as it is (used sparingly - cut with a little plain Neosporin and warmed up for easier/more precise application) effective on `undressable' wounds of limited size (chewed comb, etc.) to suppress flies, pecking and microbes (benefit to risk is acceptable to us).

Betadine and distilled water with a single drop of baby shampoo (improving wetting property of spray - feathers/down/etc.) to create at least the semblance of a semi-`sterile' field and to disinfect, to some degree, fresh wounds in prep for debridement. If you start observing drainage around scabbed areas or ANY unusual odor pack her off to the vet ASAP if you haven't already. Same true for decrease in appetite, increase in lethargy. SearchSite: Vitamins/electrolytes & since she is eating scramble her some eggs (protein) if you still have her on something like 29% gamebird starter nix the egg suggestion.

Sure wish you the best of luck,
(turks/turkens are pretty tough)

P.S. This is the link to the book: Avian Medicine: Principles and Applications (chapter 39 Anesthesiology). The entire book is available for download (good ref. to have): http://www.avianmedicine.net/ampa.html (if the vet you are considering taking her to doesn't have it maybe it would be helpful... - there is also a formulary included).

ADVISORY to other members reading this: Your Mileage Will Always VARY: Do your own research and compare your own outcomes!!! - and then post the info here!!!

ED: clarity