- Sep 7, 2012
- 156
- 59
- 119
Hello forum friends,
I have a two and a half year old Lakenvelder hen who came dashing to the door this morning with the most unusual stride. I picked her up to examine her and noticed that the 3rd digit on her left foot had a brown lumpy mass instead of a toe nail. We have had torrential rain for the past 2 days so it looked liked caked on mud but when I cleaned her up the brown lump remained. It is hard and as wide as the end of her fleshy digit (wider than her normal nails). It still has a vaguely nail like shape but looks withered and brown at the tip.
She is alert and eating and drinking but tends to lie down in the garden a lot and will not put much pressure on her left foot (unless she is resisting me trying to bathe her). I cleaned her legs well with warm water and mild castile soap and put some tea tree & oregano oil on the toe. We have been struggling to treat a serious mite infestation (mainly body mites, I have not seen any scale mites) but I rubbed her legs down with vaseline just in case. Can chickens loose a toe nail from mites? I had heard it is possible. Could it be something else I have not considered? Might she need a toe amputation?!
This hen is a real handful but I love her all the same. She has been close to death once before and thanks to help on the forum she made a slow but successful recovery. She seems ok at the moment, but I would rather catch something early than be scrambling later.
Thanks!
Kat
I have a two and a half year old Lakenvelder hen who came dashing to the door this morning with the most unusual stride. I picked her up to examine her and noticed that the 3rd digit on her left foot had a brown lumpy mass instead of a toe nail. We have had torrential rain for the past 2 days so it looked liked caked on mud but when I cleaned her up the brown lump remained. It is hard and as wide as the end of her fleshy digit (wider than her normal nails). It still has a vaguely nail like shape but looks withered and brown at the tip.
She is alert and eating and drinking but tends to lie down in the garden a lot and will not put much pressure on her left foot (unless she is resisting me trying to bathe her). I cleaned her legs well with warm water and mild castile soap and put some tea tree & oregano oil on the toe. We have been struggling to treat a serious mite infestation (mainly body mites, I have not seen any scale mites) but I rubbed her legs down with vaseline just in case. Can chickens loose a toe nail from mites? I had heard it is possible. Could it be something else I have not considered? Might she need a toe amputation?!
This hen is a real handful but I love her all the same. She has been close to death once before and thanks to help on the forum she made a slow but successful recovery. She seems ok at the moment, but I would rather catch something early than be scrambling later.
Thanks!
Kat
Last edited:
