Spur innards (infected?)

[chickens4pet]

My rooster is a big, old boy and his spurs are big and thick. So instead of removing, I decided to trim with a Dremel (the sanding tool). It worked great, no pain, no blood. But last time, I came to this area of the spur that was not solid. It looked sort of like a lattice and had little holes in it. I stopped because I didn't know if that meant the 'quick' was coming up.

Well, that spur looked dirty and black (stuffed with poop?dirt?) shortly thereafter. Now it has big black stripes running down it lengthwise on the inside. Did it bleed in there? Or could it be infected? And, he has started high-stepping with that leg. Something is hurting (foot looks fine). The other spur looks fine, completely normal.

Has anyone seen this? Or know more about spur anatomy than I can find out?

 

[aart]

Welcome to BYC!

Good clear pics would help immensely.

 

[azygous]

From Wikipedia:

A spur is an outgrowth of bone covered in a sheath of horn found in various anatomical locations in some animals. Unlike claws or nails, which grow from the tip of the toes, spurs form from other parts of the foot, usually in connection with joints where the toes meet the foot or the foot meets the long bones.[1] Spurs are most commonly found on the hindfeet, though some birds possess spurs at the leading edge of the wings.[2]


Anatomy
A spur is much like a true horn; it is a bony core attached to the skeleton and has an outer horny layer. Like horns, the spur grows from the base outwards, so the tip is older than the base. Some spurs form as an outgrowth of an existing bone, though most are secondarily formed as dermal bone hinged to the skeleton through a semi-rigid joint. Spurs on the hind-feet do not appear to molt, but the wing spurs of birds are molted once a year along with the wing feathers.[2]
Unlike claws, spurs are normally straight or only slightly curved, making them suited to striking or stabbing. In birds and mammals, their function appears to be for fighting, defense and territory marking, rather than for predation.[2] In reptiles, spurs are usually only found in the males and are used as holdfasts or to stimulate the female during copulation.[3]


I agree that photos would help. But my guess is that what you're seeing is dried, encrusted blood.

If you think the spur is not healing, try soaking it in warm Epsom salts for fifteen minutes, water hot, but not hot enough to burn your hand.

After the soak, spray with Vetericyn. I've recently had my rooster's spurs refuse to harden after removing the outer horn. They would bleed whenever he banged them against anything hard. I wrapped them in vet wrap for a few days until they were mostly hardened. The tips were the last to want to harden, but exposure to air quickly did the trick.

 

[chickens4pet]

Here is the good spur, just trimmed short, looks normal and white

The other one (see 1st post)

Here is the nice boy with one of his hens

 

[BantamLover21]

The other one looks fine to me. The dark part could be internal blood or just natural coloring. It is normal for the tops of spurs to look like they're made of rings and be dry/flaky in texture. With that said, if your rooster is limping or still walking strange, in this case, that spur may not be as normal as it appears.

 

[chickens4pet]

Thanks for your comments. It isn't getting any worse. It didn't happen til I trimmed it, and I didn't understand what had happened in there. I never saw external blood, but it could be that. Wondered if it was an infection, if I should take that spur off. I certainly hesitate to trim it again.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

@azygous i know this is an old thread so please let me know if I should start another one of my own. My Barred Bantam Cochin Rooster has one of those spurs that grows curled upwards and right back in towards his leg. He LOVES to fence fight in the morning whenever he is first let out to free range and a few days ago, he managed to get himself hung by his spur on the fencing. I managed to free him with his spur still intact. The next morning whenever I picked him up, I noticed his spur was pink. After closer inspection, I could see that the hardened outside layer was gone. I imagine the trauma from the previous day caused it. There wasn't any bleeding like I've read about happening with some. He just had a teeny tiny bit of red tinged ooze coming from the pointy nub. Apparently it's been oozing ever since. Last night I found it thickly coated in ooze, dirt, and feathers. I sprayed it with chlorhexidine and removed the dirty thick scab and the oozing has continued. He has another ooze and dirt coating again. Should I remove this, soak his foot, apply triple antibiotic ointment and wrap this up for a couple of days? I'd hate for this to become infected or even worse my biggest fear of Flystrike (if that's even possible, I don't know). I did find him off of his normal roost last night at my 1am check in. He left behind ooze on his normal roosting spot along with the spot I found him in, so I'm thinking it's tender (why he wasn't in his normal spot, but I had removed the dirt scab so maybe that made it more tender). What do you think? I'm not sure when I'll be able to get a picture but if necessary, I'll get one. Thank you so much

@azygous
@Wyorp Rock

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Can you get photos?

Is the spur still long? I may change my mind after photos - if it's still long, then I think I would trim the spur to get it shorter - might as well, since you're going to be tending to him.
For me, I would wrap the spur. Clean it, then apply triple antibiotic ointment. Use non-stick gauze pad over the spur, then wrap with vet wrap.
He's with other roosters still? So he's going to be fairly active. You may need to wrap from foot to above spur to get the wrap to stay on. I had a rooster with both spurs busted. He got both feet and legs wrapped so they stayed on. I changed wrappings every other day, but he was in a dry pen.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Can you get photos?

Is the spur still long? I may change my mind after photos - if it's still long, then I think I would trim the spur to get it shorter - might as well, since you're going to be tending to him.
For me, I would wrap the spur. Clean it, then apply triple antibiotic ointment. Use non-stick gauze pad over the spur, then wrap with vet wrap.
He's with other roosters still? So he's going to be fairly active. You may need to wrap from foot to above spur to get the wrap to stay on. I had a rooster with both spurs busted. He got both feet and legs wrapped so they stayed on. I changed wrappings every other day, but he was in a dry pen.

I'll get some pics in the morning. This sweet and gentle little guy gets picked on too much by the other boys so I keep him separated. I'm guessing this is why he loves to fence fight (the others can't get back at him). I've been keeping a very close eye on this spur because I thought it was going to grow back into his leg. As it got closer to his leg, it started to curl around to a direction that would make it go right behind his leg. The remaining spur sticks straight out, so it's significantly shorter. I'm sure pictures will be much more helpful here, so I'll get some in the morning after I get the ooze/dirt scab removed. He's a very nervous little guy but he's not at all aggressive. I'll go ahead and gather up the supplies mentioned. I imagine this will help keep him more comfortable. His other spur is a short blunt nub, so the opposite of this one. Thank you so much for your time and help. I appreciate it and so does Carlos (the current patient )

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I haven't forgotten about getting a picture. The yucky scab on Carlos' spur is quite hard now and he freaked out whenever I tried to soak his foot. He is a nervous little guy. I've sprayed it down with chlorhexidine. That was the only thing necessary to remove the stuff the night before, but it didn't do anything this time. After the failed soak earlier this afternoon, I've got triple antibiotic ointment slathered on it and plan on trying to remove the scabs later tonight once I take him off the roost. That may be a good time to soak him since he'll probably be more relaxed. With heavily feathered legs and feet, should I just try wrapping in one direction, with the feather growth? I didn't even think to mention that last night. Seems like wrapping a feather footed breed is going to be a job. Thank you again for everything @Wyorp Rock

This morning he still didn't attempt to spur the fence (smart choice!) but he was happily scratching around in the pinestraw with both feet. He doesn't act like it's so tender anymore but I still hate to just leave all of that gunk on his raw spur.

Another quick side note, I thought the spur was like a nail until a few days ago I am so grateful for everything I learn here on a daily basis