Unknown disease on wing

[hlp14312]

I am not sure what this growth is in my chickens wing. There is also one on her neck. I have been using an antiseptic spray for about a week and a half with no luck. Any ideas what it could be?

 

[loveourbirds]

it looks like a possible animal attack that has became very infected. the animal could be anything from a cat or dog, to a coon or rat, or even another chicken. feel it, the hotter it feels the worse the problem is. watch for feather loss further up the wing.

look for a puncture wound, if you find one apply a warm damp cloth to soften the scab (15 minutes normally does wonders). open the wound and remove any puss that you see. sometimes it hardens in chickens, and will resemble the color of corn. apply neosporin but do not bandage. keep the chicken separate from the other chickens.

penicillin injections will help it heal and keep the infection from spreading. give 1/2 cc in the breast for large fowl, 1/4 cc for bantams for 3 days.

it would probably be best for you to have a vet look at this, if the chicken is important to you/your breeding flock. as it is hard to make an accurate diagnosis from pictures over a computer.

 

[loveourbirds]

this is an old PM about pain killers, that i thought i would share; just to help you along.

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loveourbirds
Nov 20, 2013 at 9:04 pm​

i am sorry to bother you, and not sure what information you can give legally.

A few of of have been discussing -caine pain killers and toxicity to chickens. none of us can find any good documents of research, and if you have time; we would like your input.

i may misspell one of these, but so far we have talked about lidocaine in wound washes/cleaners, benzocaine in blood stop powders, and procaine in penicillin. we are not sure what if any of the products are truly safe, and if there is safe and dangerous amounts of the pain killers.

i thank you for any time you can devote to us, as the whole group of us try to assist others with wound care.

-brian

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[name blocked]
Nov 21, 2013 at 7:59 am​

All medications have side effects. I know lidocaine, and assume bupivicaine etc is toxic to birds. I have read a little on meloxicam (a NSAID) for birds but haven't ever used it. I have used flunixine (banamine) and have luck with it but I mainly used it as a fever reducer. There really isn't much sensory innervation to bird skin, so the local anesthetics aren't that necessary in my opinion. I just sew them up it they need it.

Dr. James

 

[Eggcessive]

I am not sure what this growth is in my chickens wing. There is also one on her neck. I have been using an antiseptic spray for about a week and a half with no luck. Any ideas what it could be?

Welcome to BYC. I would investigate this a bit to find out if it is an injury as Loveourbirds thinks, or perhaps are tumors. Mareks disease in chickens cause cause different symptoms, one being tumor formation. Was she vaccinated for Mareks? Symptoms of Mareks differs in birds from blindness, paralysis and other neurological symptoms, skin disease, and tumors. If you determine they are abscesses and not tumors, the treatment Loveourbirds suggested is good.

 

[hlp14312]

Oh no, Eggcessive, I am afraid you may be right about the Mareks Disease. We have had to cull 4 of our chickens over the past 3 months. There symptoms were totally different, they couldn't walk. Is there a way thus one will get better or should we cull it as well? Thank you so much!

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry that you have been dealing with this. I would cull if the chicken is uncomfortable, in pain, or can't get around. Once they start getting tumors the quality of life goes down, but she might live a little longer. The wing looks painful thoughj. If you bring in new chicks make sure they get the Mareks vaccine at the hatchery, or that older chickens have been vaccinated since the disease is around your proberty, and it is impossible to get rid of unless you wait several years. Here are a couple of good articles on Mareks if you would like some reading:
http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf
http://partnersah.vet.cornell.edu/avian-atlas/search/disease/502

 

[pwand]

If you cull the bird, can you send it away for a nurcropsy?

I am going to throw this out there, any chance maybe a bad infestation of mites and its so infected.