Injured Band Racing Homer :(

[naturegirl]

Got a call last night to come get a found Band Racing homer. So my husband and I went to get this bird. Beautiful Bird. 3 Rings on it, 1 green one, 1 yellow one and 1 Red one. Contacted 2 people who are trying to get in touch with the owner. In the mean time this bird looks like it has been chewed on by a hawk. The Keel area has no feathers and last night was dark red, Limping on it's Left leg and a small open cut in the keel area where it looks like it was tore open a little bit. I put some neosporin plus pain releif on it last night so it could at least chill out and get a good night sleep checked on it this morning and looks a little better but I am concerned that it could get infected or something because it is down to raw meat, is there anything else I could do for it until the owner comes to get it? This guy has a ways to come as he is about 2 1/2 hours from me, and he hasn't called back yet.

Cindy

[Reti]

Hope the owner wants this poor bird back and will care for it.
When you speak to him make sure of what his intentions are before handing the bird over.
Do you have any Clavamox?

Reti

[naturegirl]

No I don't but I do have some I think broad spectrum antibiotic called SMZ-TMP Liquid. I mentioned to this man I talked to earlier, that in Australia if someone finds a Racing Homer that has lost it's way they sometimes kill the bird, and this guy said they do that they do it here too in the States sometimes. He said this guy might offer the bird to me but I don't have room for it. If he offers it to me then I will take it and find it a home, but i will question him on what he plans on doing with it, if it isn't good then I will tell him I can't see him destroying it and ask him if i can have it till i find it another family.

Cindy

[Reti]

I guess any antibiotic is better than none.
If the owner doesn't want him back or will destroy him, I am sure someone from this group will take him in.
Thank you for rescuing this little darling.

Reti

[naturegirl]

No Problem. Thank You for responding so quickly. It is a fat healthy looking bird but just his luck wasn't on his side this time. I will see what I can do and what the owner says as the guy obviously isn't too concerned about it or he would have called back by now, I can't sit here all day and wait for him to call I have some running to do and the bird currently is in good hands It is safe under my pull out awning and in shade with food and water so I will check back in a few and see how he is.

Cindy

[naturegirl]

Well the guy who owns this bird had someone from his club near myself come get the bird and he said the bird looked as though it may have a wire burn, I pointed out the dimple in the chest area and he said that this bird would probably be used to breed from this point forward as he was a 6 month old homer and was off track by about 250 miles. At least this bird will be taken care of. I am very happy about that. Just thought I would repost the ending of this story.

Cindy

[Pidgey]

Well, I just completely missed this one the first round. I probably would have told you that a keel injury can often be a nasty nuisance. It's a real easy place to end up with a case of Chronic Ulcerative Dermatitis (CUD). That just means that it can maintain a condition where the skin looks something more like a poison ivy rash than typical bird skin. In the worst cases, it can actually cause chronic infection and degeneration of the actual keel bone which may require partial removal and debriding to stop the degenerative course. This is all because it's not the easiest place to heal seeing as how it's out there on an edge.

Pidgey

[Trees Gray]

Originally Posted by naturegirl

Well the guy who owns this bird had someone from his club near myself come get the bird and he said the bird looked as though it may have a wire burn, I pointed out the dimple in the chest area and he said that this bird would probably be used to breed from this point forward as he was a 6 month old homer and was off track by about 250 miles. At least this bird will be taken care of. I am very happy about that. Just thought I would repost the ending of this story.

Cindy

Cindy,

Thank you for the update, I'm glad the bird will be okay.

[naturegirl]

Me too and thank you everyone for all your help.

Cindy