Paulchen - our first string injury finally treated and new updates

Since a couple of days I was watching one of our feral balcony pijjies who was limping awfully due to a severe string injury. It became worse with every day. Several times I tried to catch Paulchen - that's his name - but everything failed. Today finally I was lucky - could lure him into the living room with food and could close the door behind him so he was trapped. Catching him inside was easy (have enough training in the meanwhile - )

He had several threads entangeled around his both feet whereas one foot was not in danger but 2 toes of his left foot were already swollen and I could see that the threads were cutting deep into his flesh. So it was really necessary to get rid of the stuff as quickly as possible.

Thank heaven I managed with the help of my partner who held the bird to carefully cut off all the stuff - it took quite a while but with some small nail scissors and some tweezers I finally managed to get all the stuff out. Only one toe looked quite awful, starting to change colour already and definitely with some pus in it. The second toe had also some pus around the cut but did not look that bad. Also the whole foot was very hot.

I soaked some cottonwool with arnica and put it around the foot for a while - hope that it helped with the pain a bit. Afterwards I soaked the toes with Bachflower Rescue drops which help the healing process quickly. I have done that when Pina and Peppi were attacked by that bad pigeon last year as babies.

After giving Paulchen some rest I gave him a big portion of baby cereal with applesauce via syringe and now he seems to be quite content: sitting comfortably in his little box.
Tomorrow I will check whether he can be released again. I am sure his mate is waiting desperately for him.

Here are some fotos after the treatment:

Lucky for Paulchen you spotted him, Petra.
Well done on the treatment.

It looks like he'll be just fine.
He may lose that one toe, but only time will tell on that.
Unless something unforeseen comes up, I'm sure he will be releaseable.

Please keep us posted.

Lucky that you caught him, Petra. Wouldn't be a bad idea to put him on an antibiotic.

This little bird is so lucky you caught and treated him Petra.

You have done a great job removing the string.

To be on the safe side, I would also recommend a course of antibotics.

Louise

No antibiotics - I released him this morning and he went immediately to his mate. How happy he was - I could see. He is still limping but not as bad as before.
A bit later when I was feeding Angelo on the balcony Paulchen even jumped on my other arm opposite Angelo and had his breakfast too. While he was sitting there I could see that the deep cut on the middle toe had already closed. :That\\\'s so f

I think that the emotional side plays a big role in healing with birds too - just the same with humans. So it would have been a negative impact if I had him longer inside I think. I will see how it goes in the next days...

Apprecite the update on Paulchen, Petra.
Best wishes to him/her.

Glad to hear that Paulchen has been reunited with his mate. I'm sure that will help in his healing process.

Just keep any eye on him and hopefully the limping will subside with no further swelling.

Louise

Jaye wrote:

I bet Paulchen is happy to be back in the feral world.

I like that. It sounds so mystical.

Fancyfeathers wrote:

Apprecite the update on Paulchen, Petra.
Best wishes to him/her.

Thank you Cindy!

Jackie\'s Mom wrote:

Glad to hear that Paulchen has been reunited with his mate. I'm sure that will help in his healing process.

Just keep any eye on him and hopefully the limping will subside with no further swelling.

Louise

I will Louise - I see him every day as his mate has laid eggs on the balcony which I am going to replace soon....

Jaye wrote:

I bet Paulchen is happy to be back in the feral world.

Love this too!!!

Paulchen is doing quite well - his middle toe looks nearly normal now - no swelling any more. The other toe is still swollen, there is still pus and he is still limping but when he walks fast - he does not limp at all. He was on my arm this morning again to have his breakfast with Angelo. So I can see very well whether something is going wrong. At the moment it looks quite good. Time will tell....

Thank you all for your concerns and sympathies. If I had not learned so much from you guys I would not have been able to help this bird.

I love it that Paulchen stays nearby and you are able to keep a close eye one him.

Please keep us posted as time permits.

Matilda wrote:

Jaye wrote:

I bet Paulchen is happy to be back in the feral world.

I like that. It sounds so mystical.

Lord of the Ringnecks....????

oof...I can see myself out, thank you......

Jaye wrote:

Matilda wrote:

Jaye wrote:

I bet Paulchen is happy to be back in the feral world.

I like that. It sounds so mystical.

Lord of the Ringnecks....????

oof...I can see myself out, thank you......

...

Thank you for the fun

Paulchen is still limping and his bad toe is still swollen but I could see this morning that the lower part near the claw is still red and not black - this makes me think that he is not going to lose it. It will probaly take some time until the pus is all gone. At least he is as cheaky as always and a big hothead ready to fight with all the other cocks on the balcony.

pigeonwriter wrote:

Thank you for the fun

Paulchen is still limping and his bad toe is still swollen but I could see this morning that the lower part near the claw is still red and not black - this makes me think that he is not going to lose it.

It will probaly take some time until the pus is all gone.
At least he is as cheaky as always and a big hothead ready to fight with all the other cocks on the balcony.

It sound like he's got circulation going on.

If there is some pus visible, I would suspect there is an infection to some degree.

- Paulchen's toe seems to be healing completely. The swelling is nearly gone, he is hardly limping any more - only when someone is looking - and there is only one little darker spot on the upside of his toe - the rest looks red as it should.

That's great to hear, Petra.
Thanks for the update.

Today I caught Paulchen again to check on his toe because he was still limping. The bad toe still looked infected so I soaked his foot with Arnica again and removed all the dirt/stuff from the wound, that was in the cut. I could not see whether there was still some thread in the cut but I rather believe not. It must have gone down to the bone so it probably takes time to heal up completely. More I cannot do.

It was funny how I caught him: he was feeding with Flecklehäs (a very colourful other cock) on my arm and of course started to fight with his competitor - so he did not realize that I was grabbing him - the rest was easy! :Yes:

Thanks for the update, Petra! I hope Paulchen continues to improve -- those deep cuts can take quite a long time to heal.
It's great that he keeps coming round and getting so close so it's possible for you to keep an eye on him!

I'm so glad that Paulchen stays close, Petra, so you can keep an eye on him.

Great 'catch' BTW.

Please do keep us posted on how things are coming along with his foot.

Paulchen's toe is still a bit discoloured but this time I think he has made it: he now can stand fully on his left foot and he's stopped entirely limping. I am so relieved!

WONDERFUL!

Great update. Thanks, Petra.

I'm very happy for Paulchen. Great job, Petra.

Charis, Cind, Teresa - I would not have known what to do if I had not learned so much from you guys!!!