Badly cut toe on 2 mo. old hen

[chickensitter]

New to this forum, chickensitting for neighbors who are out of the country until mid-July. Situation: Approx. 2 month old chick has cut her foot pretty badly. Looks very dirty and infected. She's eating and drinking, but doing so while laying down. Not wanting to walk around much, but when she does, she hops on the good foot. Probably cut it yesterday afternoon or evening since she seemed fine and very actively running and scratching then. Have rinsed and cleaned foot to best of my ability. Do I bandage? Separate her from others to keep foot clean? Anti-biotics? Please advise.

 

[dlhunicorn]

a basic "flush" (with a bit of "power" to it to remove any bits of dirt etc. ) is a basic sterile saline solution (boil a bit of salt in water for five minutes and cool) .... also, this type of injury invites staph infection... you need to flush the foot daily with preferably a chlorhexidine flush (drugstore) or if you dont have that then a dilute novalsan flush or failing that an iodine (betadine) "tea" ... you can also apply some neosporin triple antibiotic cream... you are right to be wary of putting this bird back out in the yard due to infection danger... any possibility of separating it to a cage or such thus making it easier to keep on "clean" litter until healed??? ...in response to your saying she cut it "bad" here is my collected articles on wounds with some specifc excerpts incl.:
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=emergencies&action=display&num=1159169461

The following links are to two articles on AVIAN WOUND MANAGEMENT...great stuff in here to help with many common (and uncommon) emergencies involving WOUNDS of all types.

A two part article (please consult both) on treating avian wounds
http://www.worldwidewounds.com/2003/november/Cousquer/Avian-Wound-Management-Part-2.html
Beak injuries
Head injuries
Barbed wire injuries
Keel wounds
Caught-by-cat flesh wounds
Dog bite wounds
Carpal injuries
Power cable injuries
Foot injuries and bumblefoot
http://www.worldwidewounds.com/2003/august/Cousquer/Avian-Wound-Assessment.html
excerpt summary on TREATMENT measures:
First aid
Traumatised birds often have multiple injuries and may be further compromised by dehydration, malnutrition and other problems, especially if there has been a delay (hours or days) between injury and presentation [1]. Fluid and nutritional therapy and treatment for shock are critical in the early management of all traumatised birds. Overzealous wound and fracture treatment before stabilisation of the bird may prove fatal [1]. Some first aid of the wound, however, will inevitably be required.

Wound first aid will usually be performed at the time of the initial or subsequent clinical examination. It need not be high tech but should fulfil a number of basic objectives:

Cleaning - The wound should be cleaned quickly to remove as much contamination as possible. A more thorough cleaning should await veterinary examination of the wound. This is usually performed under general anaesthetic to help minimise stress . Sterile isotonic saline (0.9%) or a solution of 0.05% chlorhexidine may be used. Care should be taken not to wet the bird excessively as this is likely to increase the risks of hypothermia.

Haemostasis - veterinary attention should be requested if there is excessive bleeding. Bleeding from most small wounds will stop following the application of a wound dressing.

Protection from dehydration - the use of a hydrogel (e.g. Intrasite) will help protect a wound. This can be covered by a vapour permeable film dressing (e.g. Opsite) to provide further protection.

Immobilisation - certain wounds may benefit from immobilisation or splinting. A figure of eight dressing can be used to immobilise the lower wing, for example, or the limb can be strapped to the body.

Analgesia and antibiotics - broad spectrum antibiotics can be provided in the first instance: clavulanic acid potentiated amoxycillin (150mg/kg orally or subcutaneously) will provide cover against most aerobes and anaerobes. Analgesia can be provided with NSAIDs (e.g. carprofen (Rimadyl)) 5mg/kg subcutaneously or intravenously. Local anaesthetics should not be used in birds due to the suggested sensitivity of birds to drugs of the procaine group "."

 

[chickensitter]

Thanks for your reply...been soaking twice daily in salt water, now warm betadine water. Don't see a lot of improvement yet, but not getting worse. Appreciate your time.