Bloody foot, help!!

[violetgriffith]

One of our hens has bloody feet. her left foot is worse than the right, and I have no idea what happened, but she's acting normal. I was going to go out and attempt to clean it/put Neosporin on it, but I'm not really sure what to do. she is almost a year old, and we live in Massachusetts and it's 36˚ out right now. It's not muddy in our run right now. any advice?

 

[violetgriffith]

please help! I put some Neosporin on but it was difficult. I don't want her to get infected!

 

[violetgriffith]

Hello? She has been limping and hiding her foot to avoid pecks. I think it could be cracked from the cold-I may try vaseline. She is sitting alone right now.

 

[Aapomp831]

I would get her separated immediately and keep doing what you’re doing. Put her in an area by herself, and continue with the Neosporin and keep and eye on it. You want her separated so the others don’t peck at the wounds and make it worse. Can you identify where they came from? It looks like she walked into something that sliced her up....

 

[CluckerFamily]

I would also look for what may have sliced the spots then lead to pecking.
I personally would use vetericyn, I always have it on hand for all my animals.

 

[violetgriffith]

The thing is, I doubt she would get pecked because she is head hen. She is rarely pecked by the other 4, but it's possible. I was looking for sharp places, but I couldn't find traces of blood/anywhere where it would be possible for her to get the tops of her feet. Also what is vetericyn? How is it used and where can I find it?

 

[CluckerFamily]

Vetericyn is at most feed or farm stores. It heals a wound faster.
They make some for healing wounds, some for healing heat spots, and some for umbilical cords on cows.
If you ask someone where it is and they don’t know, check by the dog medicine, cow medicine and even horse medicine; our local farm store keeps moving in between these three places.

 

[violetgriffith]

Thanks! I bought some on amazon today, it will be arriving tomorrow. For now, I'm slathering Neosporin on her cuts. they seemed to scab over last night but opened again this morning.

 

[violetgriffith]

She has been seeming weaker, though her behavior is mostly normal. She has been tucking her bad foot up to her stomach whenever she isn't pecking around, and sitting in the sun although she is eating and drinking fine. She laid an egg today as usual. It's not as raw as it was earlier, probably because she has been protecting it.

 

[violetgriffith]

Update: her feet are still bloody. I've been putting on vetericyn 1-2 times a day (she's scared of the bottle). sometimes the cut has opened up again, but its looking better. however, another chicken now has the same problem. the first chicken has also been looking kind of sick, just a paler than usual wattle and a weird expression. maybe its just because its warmer than usual today, although she was doing it on a chillier day yesterday. the pictures are
of the pale comb and wattle, and of the second victim.