Aricana's foot is falling off

[mattdylan]

Two of our 3 yr old aricanas got frost bite this winter. we've had them quarantined and warm for the past few weeks and thought they were getting better, until today. One of the aricana's foot is literally falling off. It's dangling by about a quarter inch of tissue at the ankle joint. It's not moving around to much, when it does it's limping horribly, but doesn't seem to be in pain. We are going to slaughter it this evening to put it out of its misery, though. This is the first time we've actually killed one of our birds, we usually keep them for eggs. Anything we do, we'll be doing ourselves, as we aren't able to take our chickens to a vet. I guess we have two questions.
1. Is it possible to just remove the foot, and bandage up the joint? if so how? otherwise
2. is the meat safe to eat? the hen is very docile, pale, and weak. the leg doesn't feet particularly hot, which i was told was a sign of infection

thanks for all your help

 

[terrilhb]

I don't know the answer just wanted to say I am so sorry.

 

[SamuelMcF]

The meat is definitely safe to eat and that's what I would do is just butcher it. I don't know how you could bandage it up but a chicken without a foot is pretty useless. I'm sorry for your loss!

 

[Louise's Country Closet]

I have to disagree about a chicken being useless without it's foot! I have a chicken that I rescued from a guy last year who lost all her toes on one foot and her whole foot on the other leg so it's just a stub. We call her 'Stumpy', and after she healed and got use to having to walk a different way, she can limp around so fast that she can keep up with the other chickens!! If it wasn't for her limp, you wouldn't even know that she has anything missing. She's a happy little chicken.

About your question (sorry, was in a hurry to tell you you didn't have to butcher it, lol!) you can bandage it up and wait for it to fall off. We kept a bandage on Stumpy's (yes.. very clever, eh?).. stump for a little while until it had turned into a big scab. After that, we kept a close eye on it to make sure that it wasn't getting infected and she healed up just fine on her own.

Oh for pete's sake, have to edit again LOL. You can bandage it using the vet bandages (I can't remember what they're called) you can get at any place you can buy supplies for horses. Wrap that around the foot, that's all we used.

 

[Jenski]

I have to throw my opinion in with the cull group. I would certainly not allow one of my own birds to suffer with such a severe case of frostbite. It is extremely painful.

Hope all goes well, and that you make any necessary coop modifications so it does not happen to your other birds. This winter has been awful. Best of luck!


[Ed. to add - where are you located? If you don't have one already, using a flat 2 x 4 for a perch can help the birds roost at night so their feet are completely covered by their bodies. This can help prevent frostbite, as can a secure and draft-free coop.]

 

[classicsredone]

I would cull the hen, too...but the I think the wrap sweetxlilac was thinking about is Coban. It is usually tan if you get if from a drugstore, or in bright colors at the feed store.

 

[Louise's Country Closet]

Yeah, I think that's it too. It's the kind you can wrap and it will cling to itself without using tape.

Anyway, I'm not saying the poor thing isn't going through any pain with the frostbite right now, it has to be really painful

But that doesn't mean it's a lost cause.

Stumpy this summer after healing up:

 

[ruth]

I too wanted to post and say that you don't have to slaughter it (unless you want to). I had a rooster that lived over a year with just a stump. His foot swelled for some unknown reason, I never could find out why or do anything to help it. It swelled to the point it cut off circulation. Then the foot slowly dried up and literally cracked off, first the toes, then the pad part (all of which were dried up). He was left with the stump of his leg and his spur. He used the spur to balance and get around like normal. He finally wore it down/off and continued right on. He would walk with the stump and when he wanted to run he would be using the stump like you would your leg if you riding a scooter. He lived a normal life with everyone else freeranging the farm.

I also had a hen that we amputated her leg and she too got along just fine with everyone else like a normal chicken. In her case she hatched with a bad leg. It stuck straight out from her body and the "knee" joint was fused together and got worse and worse. By the time she was grown the leg would stick straight over her head or out from her body and she would get it tangled in vines and get stuck in fences. The foot also seemed dead and she could not move it. We amputated her leg just above the bad knee joint. She was able to get around so much better. I wish I had done it earlier.

If her foot is dangling by a thread, I would cut it off and bandage the stump as was suggested. A foot hanging by a string of flesh can't have any feeling left in it.

 

[Cass]

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

IF you decide to butcher the chicken this is a great post regarding butchering.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=109583

(A "how to" with pics)

IF you decide to keep her and see how things go, you might just want to bookmark it for future reference. (Like I going to do after spending 10 minutes trying to find the darn thing..sigh)

 

[mattdylan]

First off, i just want to thank you all for the overwhelming and speedy response.
As for where are, the chickens got frost bite with some friends in Cle Elum, WA, I brought them back to Olympia in hopes they would recover better here.
I have to say, I am surprised that amputation/bandaging is a viable option, Pleasantly though. That was my roommate's idea, and I know she'll be pleased. I think that's what we'll end up doing. Slaughtering it when it's weak and thin, and could heal and thrive again doesn't seem worth while. .

Upon just looking at it's foot, i did notice it's leg above the ankle is now significantly warmer than the other leg. Also, it is coming off at the ankle joint, with probably all but 1/2" connected. it seems thick and like a lot to cut through. any tips? also, area is pretty dirty, as she's just been laying there, any tips on cleaning before bandaging?