Hey folks,
Any advice welcome!! A feral peahen raised a brood on our farm this summer and the Minnesota winter has been hard on the three 6-month-old chicks. We have a house flock of chickens, but know nothing about peafowl.
Yesterday, I found one of the male chicks with a badly broken foot. It's all but severed at the ankle joint (the tissue is damaged, the bone is exposed and the foot curled under backwards) and one of the toes was completely degloved. He was in bad enough shape that I could catch him, even though he's essentially wild.
Here's what we've done so far:
- Washed the foot in epsom salts
-Applied triple antibiotic ointment to the whole foot
- Wrapped and splinted the foot to a flat duck-foot shaped piece of cardboard in a not-perfect position, but closer to normal than it was dangling
I have this feral bird in a dog crate indoors. He was still alive this morning, but not standing up. Maybe that's fine.
Sorry I didn't take photos during the treatment. It was hard enough to get it done.
Wondering a lot of things:
- Should he be on oral antibiotics? We've got amoxicillin and doxycycline on hand.
- How often should we change the bandage and splint?
- If he can possibly heal some and live a life with one good foot, can we house him with our flock of chickens? With what adaptations?
- Should we just put him down? That would make me very sad, but I don't want a creature to suffer.
Thanks for any advice!!
Any advice welcome!! A feral peahen raised a brood on our farm this summer and the Minnesota winter has been hard on the three 6-month-old chicks. We have a house flock of chickens, but know nothing about peafowl.
Yesterday, I found one of the male chicks with a badly broken foot. It's all but severed at the ankle joint (the tissue is damaged, the bone is exposed and the foot curled under backwards) and one of the toes was completely degloved. He was in bad enough shape that I could catch him, even though he's essentially wild.
Here's what we've done so far:
- Washed the foot in epsom salts
-Applied triple antibiotic ointment to the whole foot
- Wrapped and splinted the foot to a flat duck-foot shaped piece of cardboard in a not-perfect position, but closer to normal than it was dangling
I have this feral bird in a dog crate indoors. He was still alive this morning, but not standing up. Maybe that's fine.
Sorry I didn't take photos during the treatment. It was hard enough to get it done.
Wondering a lot of things:
- Should he be on oral antibiotics? We've got amoxicillin and doxycycline on hand.
- How often should we change the bandage and splint?
- If he can possibly heal some and live a life with one good foot, can we house him with our flock of chickens? With what adaptations?
- Should we just put him down? That would make me very sad, but I don't want a creature to suffer.
Thanks for any advice!!