Green skin, possible green muscle disease?

[EthanJM]

So for 10 days we have had a turkey in a sling who suffered a compound fracture, we have yet to take the splint off and see if the bone has successfully started fusing. However, her good leg has areas of amber and green on it, as well as some near her keel. Our biggest concern now is not the break in her left leg, but the discoloration in her right. I am worried it could be internal muscle necrosis, something similar to this here. http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/poultry/myopathies/exertional_myopathy_in_poultry.html

Now, the break occurred 12 days ago, she was hopping on her right leg when found and flapping wildly, we sutured the hole where her tibia was poking out and splinted the leg, two days later lying uncomfortably on her side (she did not shift much, the most moving she got was when we changed her paper) she started kicking the splint off, there was no way her bone could fuse if she behaved this way, so we created a sling and put her in it. At first I administered tylan 50 shots, I attempted to inject just under the skin and avoid the muscle, though it is not impossible the muscle was injected slightly. For eight days she has been on penicillin. We also had a fan heater pointed in her direction to keep her elevated feet warm, we checked to make sure she was not overheating, though I still don't want to rule out possibilities of overheating.

So I'm thinking the discoloration could be many things.
It could be torn muscles from her hopping wildly on that leg when the break occurred.
The tylan 50 may have caused muscle damage.
The skin was overheated and damaged (not sure what color a turkey's skin turn if this were the case).
Or, what has really got me worried, it may be muscle death from her lying on that side for two days after overexertion, similar to what I read from the link above.

Now, worst case scenario and it is muscle death, does anyone know what will happen? I know that muscle tissue would not regrow, but would it have to turn to gangrene? Can the dead muscle tissue be dissolved by the body?

In this picture you can see the green discoloration. The yellow encrusted stuff you see is just dried iodine.

 

[Eggcessive]

The green coloration is most likely bruising because it is very common to see that in chicken skin. Also if using betadine on the skin under a bandage, some people have reported that they have seen green skin. I hope your chicken heals well. That was a bad injury for you to tackle. It sounds like you have done a food job.

 

[EthanJM]

The green coloration is most likely bruising because it is very common to see that in chicken skin. Also if using betadine on the skin under a bandage, some people have reported that they have seen green skin. I hope your chicken heals well. That was a bad injury for you to tackle. It sounds like you have done a food job.

Thanks for the response. I did not know iodine could cause discoloration in the skin, I will look into this. I hope it is either that or bruising and not a form of necrosis. It has got me worried because last year we had a female turkey get necrosis in the leg, but she had lesions that cropped up first, then green discoloration came afterwards, eventually gangrene set in and she could not be saved. Pretty sure she had a staff infection, and even wide spectrum third generation antibiotics could not stop it. This looks familiar, though not identical. I have heard tylan 50 can cause muscle damage, does anyone know what that looks like? And does it lead to necrosis?

I made a separate thread pertaining to her fracture here.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/960172/compound-fracture-above-the-knee

 

[Eggcessive]

Usually gangrene is black and rotting with a foul odor. Tylan can cause muscle damage, so giving the smallest dose possible into the breast muscle, and rotating sides is best. Giving any medication into the leg muscle may cause the drug to be excreted prematurely in the liver before it is circulated all over the body, and it also can be more likely to dage a nerve in the leg. Tylan 50 is preferred to Tylan 200 in chickens since it is more dilute--Tylan 50 contains 50mg of medicine, versus 200mg of the drug in Tylan 200. Tylan can even cause muscle damage in cattle, the main animals Tylan is used for.

 

[EthanJM]

Usually gangrene is black and rotting with a foul odor. Tylan can cause muscle damage, so giving the smallest dose possible into the breast muscle, and rotating sides is best. Giving any medication into the leg muscle may cause the drug to be excreted prematurely in the liver before it is circulated all over the body, and it also can be more likely to dage a nerve in the leg. Tylan 50 is preferred to Tylan 200 in chickens since it is more dilute--Tylan 50 contains 50mg of medicine, versus 200mg of the drug in Tylan 200. Tylan can even cause muscle damage in cattle, the main animals Tylan is used for.

I will remember this and avoid injecting in the leg in the future. I have had a lot of luck with it in the past though. She did not have that much tylan, six shots total, and I tried to avoid the muscle and just go under the skin. So it can definitely cause muscle damage, but what kind of damage? Does it cause necrosis of the muscle?

 

[EthanJM]

Well, it was turning to gangrene, I have seen it before. It was spreading, the muscle didn't feel the right shape in certain areas, the leg was becoming immobile, her toes were curled, she wouldn't squeeze my finger anymore with her foot, and I'm pretty sure it was starting to smell a little. The skin was starting to bubble up, it was a matter of time before it was going to burst. It was her entire right leg doing this. I had to do the difficult thing and put her down, very difficult, she was a pet and we were very attached to her. As for the broken leg, it did seem like it was starting to fuse, but a tendon had been ruptured so it was also mostly immobile, she also couldn't feel her foot.

I think it was probably green muscle disease, but I'm not positive. But just in case it was the tylan 50, I am never injecting it again, at least in turkeys. I have been injecting it for 11 years in chickens, but I don't want to take that risk ever again, especially in turkeys. We had a turkey get gangrene of the leg last year, she was also getting tylan 50 injections, but she also had to lay on that leg for a month, so it also could have been green muscle disease. Seems more prominent in turkeys from what I have been reading.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your turkey.

 

[casportpony]

Sorry about your turkey... I used Tylan 50 once and it caused necrosis at the injection site that never healed properly.

FYI, injections should be given in the breast, not the leg:
Quote:

Intramuscular injections
Intramuscular injections are often given more frequently in avian patients than in cats and dogs where IV catheters are more common. However, studies have shown that muscle necrosis happens frequently with intramuscular injections. Therefore other routes of administration should be considered when available. IM injections are most commonly given in the pectoral muscles located on either side of the keel bone. Due to the renal shunt of birds, where blood in the lower part of the G.I and caudal extremities may pass directly through the kidneys prior to being filtered by the liver, it is recommended that injections be given in the upper two thirds of the birds’ breast muscling. These muscles also contain a higher number of capillaries making aspiration before giving the injection even more important.

-Kathy

 

[casportpony]

Though I should mention that I don't think the Tylan caused that level of bruising/necrosis.

-Kathy

 

[Michael Apple]

Thanks for the response. I did not know iodine could cause discoloration in the skin, I will look into this. I hope it is either that or bruising and not a form of necrosis. It has got me worried because last year we had a female turkey get necrosis in the leg, but she had lesions that cropped up first, then green discoloration came afterwards, eventually gangrene set in and she could not be saved. Pretty sure she had a staff infection, and even wide spectrum third generation antibiotics could not stop it. This looks familiar, though not identical. I have heard tylan 50 can cause muscle damage, does anyone know what that looks like? And does it lead to necrosis?

I made a separate thread pertaining to her fracture here.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/960172/compound-fracture-above-the-knee

I used iodine for years until I learned that Chlorhexidine is not destructive to tissue like iodine can be. I am sorry about your turkey. I know how you feel.