Infected Elbow?

[julskinka]

We have a 16-week pullet that presented with a droopy, bunched up wing today. Upon inspection, the underside of the wing, at the elbow, has swelling and scabbing. It's not hot to the touch, there's no seepage, but the entire area around the elbow feels hard and firm, and the chicken won't move it. There are no other signs of injury. I think the injury was present yesterday, but not nearly as obvious (I only spotted a slightly droopy wing in a picture retroactively). She's spending more time sitting on her haunches, but is still eating and drinking and hanging out with all the other chickens.

I don't think we're able to buy antibiotics in our state. What should we do to help this pullet? Of the 15 babies we hatched, we only ended up with 4 hens, so we'd really like to keep her!

 

[julskinka]

Anyone? Would it help if I posted a picture? My daughter is really worried.

 

[crazychickenlady5]

I'm not an expert, but I may be able to help you some. A picture would be helpful if you could post one?

 

[julskinka]

Thank you!

The problem area on the underside of the shoulder/elbow (I’m holding her on her back).

You can see the wing shoulder on the left is bulging and dropped.

 

[MissChick@dee]

It’s hard to see looks like a older wound. I see scabbing and on the edge it looks infected. Are you willing to treat it yourself?

 

[MissChick@dee]

If you could pluck the feathers around the area of the wound you’ll have a better idea (and photo’s) if you deside to do this which is stressful to the bird get ready if you’re going hands on get some simple wound treatment supplies at the ready before you start. Do you have someone to assist you? Is a vet a option?

 

[julskinka]

Thanks - I am willing to treat it myself, but I won’t have a second pair of hands until later this evening.

Assuming it is an infected wound, would I do anything beyond apply antibiotic cream?

 

[MissChick@dee]

I don’t know your comfort level in this. You’ll need something to flush the wound I use betadine most drug stores carry it. If you can’t pluck feathers you’ll want to trim them away as best you can. If it’s a wound from catching her wing on something it should heal once you get the infection out. You’ll want to clean all debris and see if you can get the wound to drain(after gently squeezing to get the puss out. I’m going to refer you to look up wound care on this site. They explain it much better than I can. Sorry I was just out the door. You can do this!! Good luck.

 

[julskinka]

So I gave her some aspirin, soaked the wing in warm water with Epsom salts, then trimmed/pulled feathers off the scab and around the border of the wound, and then irritated with hydrogen peroxide.

It’s ... bad. I don’t even know how it got this bad, because she’s been so normal seeming until today.

The whole forearm (where the radius and ulna are, between the elbow and wrist) is massively swollen, and the flesh around elbow joint itself is almost rock hard. It does articulate (bend) though.

The wound itself is quite large, and totally scabbed over. I made a tiny knick in one spot to see if I could express any puss, but nothing came out. So I slathered some antibiotic on it and put her back to bed.

I just want to get a second opinion about whether this seems treatable, before I euthanise her. I don’t want to torture her unnecessarily by trying to help her, but I also don’t want to put her down if she could still live a happy life.

What do you guys think??

 

[micstrachan]

My gut says to soften it with neosporin for a few days before euthanizing. I think she can recover, but may require a systemic antibiotic.
@casportpony or @rebrascora, what do you recommend for a tissue/injury infection?