Figgy's Injuries

I was injured in the nest; I got an ingrown feather near my right elbow which became very badly infected after I pecked at it. My arm swelled as gangrene set in, pulling the skin tighter and tighter. The open wound was on my elbow, and as my arm swelled the wound hole slipped up and over much of my elbow joint, exposing it. In addition, the wound bled a lot, and the blood dried, sticking my wing to my body. At 4-5 weeks of age when I fledged, I jumped from 12 stories up, and fell straight down because my right wing was only able to partially open. In the fall I broke my right humerus about a centimeter from my elbow joint. It is natural when birds fall too fast to the ground for them to break their fall by opening their wings, thereby creating a cushion of air, like underneath a hovercraft, unfortunately, this very natural survival reaction cost me a broken bone because my wing would not extend. Anyway, eventually, I lost the entire elbow joint and the loose bit of my humerus which broke off. Due to the highly progressed infection at the time I was rescued, there was no chance to save the joint. It was actually fortunate that my humerus broke because it allowed my elbow joint to dry and fall off neatly. I was very lucky not to lose my right wing, or die from infection. It was a tough two month fight, but I survived with both wings, and now I can even fly a little horizontally, and glide downward. In fact, I enjoy regular flying exercise, both on my own in my living space, and with Matt. I can only fly up about one meter and a half, including jumping, but with a bit of flapping I can climb and scale trees, poles, and buildings and other textured obstructions better than you might think. I I can only glide down safely from a height of 3-4 stories, but I seem to understand this, and I usually won't climb to a dangerous height. Also, I am only able to retract my wing partially, so it is a little bit difficult for me to keep as warm as I'd like when it's cold. In short, I could never survive on my own, but I am trying hard to learn to be somewhat independent; I need lots of daily, special care and love, all of which you can read about more and more, right here. 

Here are some gruesome pictures of my infection, and injury for anyone interested in the medical side of things. This is my elbow at the time I was rescued. This picture was taken after two one hour long soapy baths to separate my wing from my body which was glued fast with a large amount of dried festering blood. The black mass you see if you look carefully is the cartilage of my elbow joint which is superficially dried out; the bones are all infected and gangrenous. The swelling was dramatic; usually the upper arm is about pencil width.

The second picture below is seven weeks later. The skin managed to grow in under the joint, and pinch off all of the cartilage. A small detached bit of humerus also managed to fall out of the wound. It was a very stressful, and challenging two months of daily care for me, and for Matt. Without any free medical care available for a Crow, Matt was left to care for me on his own. Fortunately he has quite a bit of experience, but this was the worst injury he has ever treated. Uncertainty loomed everyday for weeks while we fought back the infection together. A vet would most likely have amputated my wing, so the fact that Matt used a low tech approach to fight back infection, drying my joint two to three times per day for 20-60 minutes, with only a warm hair dryer and a bit of iodine solution actually ended with a much better result for me, because now I still have both wings, and some limited flight, and I can keep warm. If my humerus had not broken, I am not sure I could have healed as I did, so actually breaking that bone was a bit of luck too. You may need to scroll down to see the second picture, our computer is wonky.