Buff Orpington darkened toenail and favoring foot

[AmandaMae]

Hello everyone! Fairly new to being a chicken mom so I'm not sure what to do about this issue with my buff. I was hoping you could advise! Yesterday I noticed my buffs toenail was darkened, slight dried blood around nail. Later that night while putting her the coop it was a bit darker, she was favoring her foot but not too badly. Lifting it up while standing but able to walk fine. Her foot seemed a bit warmer than the other without the injured toe so I applied Neosporin sound the nail area. It's the same this morning, I applied more Neosporin. I'm not sure what other steps I should take to help her and am worried it may get worse. Any advice? Thank you!

 

[teach1rusl]

I think toenail injuries are just very painful. I remember when my australorp broke a toenail off down close to the quick somehow - she sat around/limped for a few days, but then was okay. If you don't have a ramp/ladder up to your roosts in the coop, you might add one just to make it easier on her. You could keep her contained in a dog kennel for a few days, but the stress that would give her probably wouldn't be worth it for a toenail injury.

I would inspect the foot each day, just to make sure it's not becoming more swollen, which might indicate a bumble foot issue. But from what you're describing right now, it just sounds like maybe she got her nail caught in something and torn a bit at the quick (maybe like hangnail pain??)...

 

[AmandaMae]

Thank you so much for the reassurance! It's been a few days now. She doesn't seem to be worse. Is still favoring a bit and pecking at the nail. We've yet to add a ramp and just have a little table on each side for them to hop on to get in and out of the coop. The ramp is on our agenda tomorrow! Hopefully that'll help. I'll just keep an eye on it as you suggested. Thanks again!