In this second part of the article, having calmed down our pigeon and 're-booted' him with our home-made electrolyte in Part One, I will share what I did next and why. Here I'm using Essential Oils in a home-made anti-microbial and painkilling wound wash but that isn't the limit of their properties as we will discuss below. I'll also comment on the use of organic products in injury and health care.
Above you can see what I was dealing with and here I have already started the treatment because as you can understand this was a real as-it-happened event so Andy was filming as I was dealing with it. Usually I do not have time to photograph these situations but as I have had so many comments on my other pigeon wound video, including one that bizarrely accused me of lying about the nature of the wound, I decided this time it was apposite to show the whole thing in all its gory detail. So, having checked over my bird, I'd already ascertained that although the wound looked ghastly the pigeon was responding well and looked alert and was able to receive treatment. Even so I knew that the wound being open and raw must be giving pain, so my first idea was to pat on some of my home-made organic wound wash.
Why Organic?
One of my first ideas when starting with poultry in 2000 was that my birds should be treated in the same way as we were when it came to food and health and that as we are 100% organic there was no reason why they shouldn't be. To this end I equipped our First Aid Kit with organically certified products including bandages made from old organic Tee-shirts! Global cotton farming uses 25% of the World's pesticides, that is without consideration of the chemicals used in creating the fabric itself. As the skin is the largest organ in the body and is porous it is actually just as important to consider what you put on the body as it is to be aware of what you are putting into it. This is ever more crucial when you consider open wounds!
Home-made Organic Wound Wash & Immune System Support
This home-made wound treatment has a dual role, in that it is an antiseptic and anaesthetic wash. It's a treatment I
use for all wounds, cuts and abrasions on ourselves and our birds. I found it in the excellent book that was recommended to me by my sister, who taught the subject in colleges, Valerie Ann Worwood's: Complete Book of Aromatherapy. If you are new to the use of essential oils, then it is well worth investing in a copy.
This wash comprises a warm bowl of
water containing the following essential oils:
5 drops of True
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
2 drops of Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia).
Lavender Essential Oil
- a powerful skin healer
and regenerator,
- a painkiller,
- relieves anxiety
- an antiseptic.
Tea Tree Essential Oil
- a very strong broad spectrum antibacterial
- a great support for the immune system
- an
anaesthetic.
I buy my oils from a local organic shop, which sources from aromatherapy laboratories in France, where we live. I would always look for organically certified oils and it is sometimes more economical to buy them in sets as the one below which contains both of the above as well as other oils I use on my birds and ourselves and which you will find discussed within my written articles.
As these are oils they naturally float on the top of water but I use an organic cotton bud to break up the drops and spread them across the surface.
The cotton buds also work well for washing damaged combs and ear lobes on sparring cockerels/roosters but in this case I needed to dab the wash on so used a ball of cotton wool.
Now our wound is cleaned and our bird has received support for his immune system and to control any pain. I am now going to move on in Part Three of this article to the clay treatment I used to seal and heal the wound, I will also include the post-treatment photos with a time-scale. I believe this of great importance as it helps to know what to look for and when. It also means that if you already have a wounded bird, it will give you an idea of what the wound should look like at key points and for reassurance that there is no infection. Even if the latter is the case, I do have another article, linked at the end of this one on how to deal with a very badly infected wound.
Thanks for dropping by and do feel free to share experiences or ask for further information in the comment section. If you have enjoyed this piece and found it
useful think about sharing it with your family and friends, on social media and also maybe about joining this blog
and/or subscribing to my Youtube channel or even supporting us on
Patreon or
It all helps to keep me going!
Until next time, all the very best from Normandie! Sues
RELATED ARTICLES
Initial Treatment Badly Injured Pigeon with pierced crop
I've got to be one of the World's worse nurses. However, I needed to assess the situation and
merit my pigeon's obvious confidence..read more
Badly Injured Pigeon with pierced crop 3 - Therapeutic Clay
How
to use clay to seal and heal a wound with dated pictures showing the
healing process, what to expect and how to check for infection ..read more
Using therapeutic clay on a deep infected pigeon wound
Montmorillonite or (French Green) clay is one of the most amazing
natural minerals and around the World there are similar
therapeutic-grade clays for you to use, wherever you may live...read more
I've got to be one of the World's worse nurses, I can faint at the sight of my own blood. If like me though, you've been faced with a predator attacked and badly injured bird you'll be familiar with that look of entreaty, confidence and trust, which makes you have to believe you're Florence Nightingale. Birds, in my experience, are quick to respond to human emotions so even if you feel overwhelmed and upset, set your face to calm and confident and above all believe in yourself.
That look, which pigeons in particular do so well, is enough to make me pull myself together, take a deep breath and get out the cotton wool and clay.
Apropos of an Injured Bird You May Have Found
Although it might seem strange, in my experience when a bird is injured and believes that you can help it, it makes no difference to its behaviour whether or not
it is wild, tame or a bird of your own. In my experience a bird knows when you can help it, whether by your body language, the way you handle and talk to it, thus it suppresses its normal 'fight or flight' response and settles down to be 'cured'. Conversely you will know when it is completely well again and that it's time to return it to 'the wild' because it will probably turn feral and start to peck you!
One of our methods with a
wild bird, is to bring in a bird of our own to be a companion and support for our credentials, usually of a similar
species - if we have one. In the case of the run-over Moorhen that was brought to us, we were right out
of them, so we found a YouTube video of moorhens eating - they sounded
happy and it worked because the injured Moorhen began to eat.
First Things First - Assess and address the bird holistically
It is crucial when starting to treat a bird that it should feel safe,
particularly if it has been attacked. Physical healing, which
essentially comes from within, should be
supported by a congenial environment. Therefore, from the outset, I had been keeping my
pigeon warm, in subdued lighting and had been talking to him constantly,
telling him what I was doing. Although I will be dealing in more detail with the essential oils I use in the next article, at this point you could also add one drop of essential oils of True Lavender (lavandula angustiafolia) onto the bedding or paper surrounding your bird. This will act as a 'de-stressor' for you as well!
Often when a bird is injured the initial reaction and response is to attend to the wound(s) i.e. the bird's external and physical problems but unless the bird is bleeding profusely and in danger of significant blood loss then my contention is that I need to deal with the pigeon's stress levels first. As is witnessed in my heading tabs, stress is an important issue for me. This is because in my experience, stress is one of the major health issues I have come across in my years of keeping organic poultry and also with the rescue of birds.
Symptoms of Stress & Solutions to Manage Them
A typical stress response in a bird is for it to have weakness or loss of motor function in its 'limbs', the legs may even be stretched out flat behind it and the wings or one wing held low or dragging on the ground. This is why often many birds, pigeons included are presumed to have broken legs or wings, when in fact this is a manifestation of chronic stress. That is not to say that this is so in all cases but it is something to consider when making your initial diagnosis. Other symptoms may be rapid breathing, jerky movements and even nervous eating or drinking. Note our Moorhen, above left, exhibiting the classic drooping wing and leaning for support against the cardboard box. Even even though I knew a car had hit it, I was hopeful this was just a stress response, which in fact it was. Stress flushes electrolyte from the system and to this end I would always be likely to give an injured bird an electrolyte to 'reboot' its system before attending to the physical injuries. Stress is a killer and a quick one, you need to get electrolyte into the bird within 24 hours of the injury to be assured of a complete recovery. The good thing is that an electrolyte can be made from items you no doubt already have in your kitchen cupboard.
Easy Home-made Electrolyte Solutions
The simplest of all remedies and much akin to the old treatment for shock
you'd find in 1930's detective novels is the ubiquitous warm sugary drink. Just take a fraction of a teaspoon of raw organic cane sugar, a really tiny pinch of salt and dissolve it in an egg cup of warm water. This electrolyte solution re-balances the bird's system and thus get the bird's body back up and functioning as quickly as possible. As suggested by the name, an
electrolyte carries the electrical impulses which the body uses to 'communicate' within itself, in essence to tell itself what to do. Thus a sudden shock, stress caused by injury, can cause electrolytes to be rapidly depleted. This imbalance effects the functioning of the muscles, heart and nervous system, which explains the nature of the symptoms I have observed in birds under stress.
WARNING
You can only use this method however, if the bird is breathing normally. If your bird is gasping for breath, trying to get it to drink can be highly dangerous, as it can choke or 'drown' by breathing water into its lungs. Depending on the species of bird, my solution for this is to get a small piece of bread or fruit such as orange or banana and dip it lightly in the sugar and salt mix. The food is then introduced just into the point of the beak with the bird's head in its normal position. The electrolyte is thus absorbed even if the bird is not able to swallow.
Another
great kitchen cupboard electrolyte is organic unpasteurised apple cider
vinegar, which also contains enzymes beneficial in giving the bird's
system the 'kick start' needed post shock. You will only need a few
drops added to an egg cup of warm water.
I
have found, although I can not explain why, that stroking the back of a
bird's head whilst lightly dipping its beak into the liquid will get it
to drink. Again this works not only with tame but rescued birds too.
Once the initial stress treatment had been given to my pigeon I was now ready to attend to the wound. From the above photograph, you can see that on drinking the pigeon was losing water from the crop and you can also see evidence of grain too, so I knew I was dealing with a nasty wound. Do not despair however as you will find from the next articles everything turned out fine. I'll take you through the process step by step - it's a little gory but I believe by the many comments I get on my YouTube channel, it's a common problem many good people are brave enough to tackle - so by sharing it I hope I can be of help should you ever have to face it.
Thanks for dropping by and do feel free to share experiences or ask for further information in the comment section. If you have enjoyed this piece and found it
useful think about sharing it with your family and friends, on social media and also maybe about joining this blog
and/or subscribing to my Youtube channel or even supporting us on
Patreon or
It all helps to keep me going!
Until next time, all the very best from Normandie! Sue
Badly Injured Pigeon with pierced crop 2 - Essential Oils
How
to use EOs as an antimicrobial, pain-killer and immune system support
on a nasty wound and why I use organic cotton products..read more
Badly Injured Pigeon with pierced crop 3 - Therapeutic Clay
How
to use clay to seal and heal a wound with dated pictures showing the
healing process, what to expect and how to check for infection ..read more
Using therapeutic clay on a deep infected pigeon wound
Montmorillonite or (French Green) clay is one of the most amazing
natural minerals and around the World there are similar
therapeutic-grade clays for you to use, wherever you may live...read more
Every year we look after our neighbours' animals and birds when they go on holiday. As most of these are not used to being handled, there is no real strong bond of trust and particularly between us and them, who only have real contact with them for three weeks in the year. Therefore when an incident occurs it can be quite a challenge to remedy, albeit basic first aid or emergency medical care. Even the administering of an electrolyte for shock can be quite an ordeal. Fortunately, however, a domesticated bird's keen intelligence and ability to assess a situation makes it appreciate that you have its best interests at heart. Similarly, a wild bird will let you treat it and even hand feed it when in pain, injured, or even in recovery and ironically a good indication that it is completely healed is when it pecks you! One of the main approaches I have is to talk the bird through the treatment in a calm and friendly manner, hoping that this will reinforce an understanding of my good intentions. Similarly with these two hens..
This is a horrible wound. Some years ago I made a film and wrote a post on the horrific predator attack on a fantail pigeon of mine and on whom I used the same treatment. At the time, I was too busy dealing with it to take photographs or film the wound and
actually I don't think taking them would have served any purpose other
than to make the viewer feel very uneasy even queasy. In the following case however, the blood had dried, infection was minimal but the full scope of the wound is plain to see. I'm also hoping that seeing the extent of this injury, as above and how it had actually torn into the leg, will further illustrate that even in the worse possible cases, if a bird is conscious, breathing steadily and in the above case amazingly, taking food, all is not lost. Thus I'm hoping it will give heart to those of you facing a beloved bird in a similar state. In many years of experiencing pigeon and wild bird wounds, I can attest that a bird has an amazing ability to self-heal given a little help and furthermore they also have a powerful thirst for life, which after all, is much preferable to the other option.
Same Hen After The Clay Treatment
..and this is what it looks like now, eight weeks on and with a little of the clay still in place. This hen has been named La Miraculeuse by my neighbours.
I also made a film of this topic, where you can see 'La Miraculeuse' in action.
Assessing the Situation - What to look for, what to do and in what order
Everything starts with observation. I make a point of looking at the whole bird not just the injury or condition. In all cases, unless there is an immediate risk e.g., bleeding to death, I would firstly treat the emotional side, as this is crucial for the outcome. Both these birds were under extreme stress.
Signs of stress
Sadly the hen below didn't make it even though, of the two, she was not as badly injured. I hope in the following paragraphs to explain why.
Observe the hen I treated first (above), who in fact had the lesser wound, her whole posture and physical appearance is one of a body in shock; sunken eyes, loss of colour to the comb, hunched body, tail held low. If you compare her to her more physically damaged sister (below and top of the page), whose leg was so badly injured she could not walk, you will note that although her body is similarly in stress, her eyes and colour are much nearer to the norm.
Making and Administering an Electrolyte
My prime consideration therefore was to administer an electrolyte. For this I have two basic 'kitchen cupboard' options; a little organic sugar in water or a little organic apple cider vinegar in water, both these have the same effect in creating a solution capable of carrying electrical charges thus restoring normal functioning of the cells. Electrolytes are depleted by shock/stress, which as it progresses begins to call ever more on the reserves of the former. With domestic birds, as with wild birds, in my experience, shock alone can be fatal and within 24 hours. It is therefore more likely they will die of the results of chronic stress rather than the injury. I have to admit that the second bird was the easiest to treat, she took the electrolyte very easily, whereas the first bird drank very little, even though I used the little trick, which I discovered by accident, of stroking the back of the head with the beak just touching the surface of the liquid.
Please Note: To avoid any chance of choking if the bird is showing signs of being unresponsive, use a small piece of fruit such as an orange or melon, rolled in a little sugar and place it just inside the tip of the beak. The sugar will then be absorbed through the mouth and/or tongue. You may then remove the fruit if the bird is showing no signs of being able to swallow it. On no account would I try to give liquid to a semi-conscious bird, there is always a risk of it getting into the lungs.
Initial Conclusions
My assessment concerning these two hens was that the one with the lesser injury was in fact in a much worse physiological state. I was not sure if she had sustained the wound earlier in the day or whether as an individual she was more sensitive to trauma than the other hen. Unhappily my assessment was borne out by the events of the next morning, as she did not survive the night. Although this same hen was very calm when I treated her, I did feel that even administering the electrolyte was overburdening an already compromised nervous system. I was, as always, saddened by this event, I felt that the hen had put her trust in me and although I had done my best, I had failed. Again this reinforces my belief that forging a bond of trust with your poultry is so necessary, it is not just an idea of 'taming' the bird but one of showing mutual understanding, so that in the event of a crisis, the bird will respond to treatment or even handling without any detrimental affects to its system.
Wound Treatment - Home-made Wash
The first thing I did after the electrolyte had been given, was to wash down the wound. This was a particularly difficult job as the skin had quite literally been peeled from the body, flayed in fact. With the more greatly wounded of the hens, it looked as if she had taken off the leg of a pair of trousers, right down to her 'knee'. The skin had therefore formed into a pocket so it was very difficult to sluice out the wound without touching it, something I didn't really want to do as it looked so raw.
The solution I always use is a home-made one comprising a quantity of warmed mineral water (approx 150ml or ¼ of a pint) to which I added the following essential oils: -
5 drops of True
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
2 drops of Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia).
These oils are used in this case for their following properties although they both have additional virtues for use in other conditions:
Lavender Essential Oil
- a powerful skin healer
and regenerator,
- a painkiller,
- relieves anxiety
- an antiseptic.
Tea Tree Essential Oil
- a very strong broad spectrum antibacterial
- a great support for the immune system
- an
anaesthetic.
Organic Cotton Wool
As over 25% of the World's pesticides are used in the production of cotton, I always make a point of buying and using organic cotton products including cotton wool and cotton buds. I source these at thrift shops and when they have them stock up on as many packets as possible
Essential oils naturally float on the top of water but I always use an
organic cotton bud to break up the drops and spread them across the
surface. I dabbed the wound gently with the cotton wool generously dipped in this wash so it would in no way abrade the skin.
The cockerel(s) who had been on these hens backs had obviously very dirty feet as the wounds were full of debris, including chicken manure, so I really made sure I got them as clean as possible but again with the consideration that everything I was doing was adding to their burden of stress.
Therapeutic Clay - Its properties and how to use it on wounds
Therapeutic clay is one of the most amazing natural minerals, its primary use is as a detox for the body. It can remove bacteria from wounds and heavy metals and even radiation from the body, with both internal and external application. I have also used it to great effect on sprains and a friend has used it to successfully set her dog's broken leg! Here I'm using Montmorillonite aka French Green Clay but you should check out the clays in your local area, as there are a whole raft of therapeutic ones.
Always choose a good quality, sun-dried, powdered clay from a reputable source, it is not expensive and if stored correctly will keep well. Normally a clay compress is only left on until dry. However, as in the case of my pigeon, with the scale of the wound I needed to pack it and cover it completely to seal it from any further infection. In fact yesterday when I went to photograph the hen, a piece of clay actually dropped off as we picked her up! The skin underneath was clean and healed
On the left is an amazing photo of Macaws, showing how they have learned to use the properties of clay, as a way of getting nutrition from potentially toxic foods. The clay envelopes the alkaloids present in the seeds of many of the fruits they consume, toxins which are particularly concentrated in the dry season and passes them out of the body in the parrots' droppings!
Clay is always mixed by putting the powder into the recipient first and then adding water, this is the easiest way to gauge exactly how much water to use. Due to the clays ability to remove toxins, only stable substances such as glass or porcelain should be used to mix the clay, above all do not use plastic. You should also use good quality water too, in our case this means mineral water as our tap water is loaded with nitrates! Do not use silverware i.e. metal spoons, as this will have an ionic reaction on the clay that is in direct contact with it. Certainly this is a tiny amount but even so it is better to use a wooden, glass or ceramic spoon. I save lolly sticks for the very purpose of using them with clay. We were very lucky the other day to be at a friend's house, when we were all offered organic ices, I went around collecting up the sticks! You should also give your bird a good drink, in this case I have already given this hen the electrolyte solution, clay obviously by its nature, dehydrates the system.
You can see what I meant by a 'pocket' of skin from the photograph below.
After treatment both hens were placed in a straw filled mini coop/hen house, far away from the 'meat' birds my neighbours raise each year just to cockerel level. Normally these are too heavy to fly over the fences and get at the hens but this year they had managed somehow and with a vengeance. Just a word here about the former, they are what here is called an 'industrial' breed, bought at market to grow on, I have no idea in what conditions they are hatched and bred but I can guess. Needless to say they show very aggressive behaviours that to my mind are part of their 'nurture'. As young cockerels they also do not possess spurs, this damage was done with their claws.
The day after the event our neighbours were home and reported the surviving hen was limping badly but seemed fine in herself. Yesterday eight weeks on from the treatment, we actually got around to photographing her, apart from a rather ungainly stance, she seems fine and is walking and running when we tried to film her - very well!
Hope you have found this useful and helpful. Sorry about the graphic photos but this time, I thought they would help, in particular as it shows the amazing healing abilities of birds.
Thanks for dropping by and do feel free to share experiences or ask for further information in the comment section. If you have enjoyed this piece and found it useful think about sharing it with your family and friends, on social media and also maybe about joining this blog and/or subscribing to my Youtube, Odysee or BitChute Channel or even supporting us on Patreon or
It all helps to keep me going!
Until next time, all the very best from sunny Normandie!
Sue
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Montmorillonite
or (French Green) clay is one of the most amazing natural minerals and
around the World there are similar therapeutic-grade clays for you to
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Treating wounds, cuts and abrasions - first aid for organic poultry
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Here's
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Using therapeutic clay on a deep infected pigeon wound
