Can an old foot injury make your chicken more prone to frost bite? (Photos)

[Bogtown Chick]

Morning Shell3.

Welp. I shut off the brooder lamp today!

It was a Balmy 6 degrees Fahrenheit. And Roger came out into his Run, but then went back in as it was still sorta dark out and all his hens were at their feeders and waterers inside the coop. Big "Chicken" LOL. I looked at his toe and it is still noticably larger and whiter at that knuckle. I'll go home for lunch and check it, massage it and post another picture. He holds it up like a flamingo (I'm thinking he's careful with it now) but he still walks on it and scratches with it too. It will get to the -8 tonight but then Saturday Sunday Monday it will be in the 30's and that's going to feel amazing. And take a little less worry off of me about Roger's crazy toe.

Thanks for checkin' in Shell! I'm going over to "Sour Crop" now.

 

[shell3]

'big chicken' lol love it! bless him. glad to hear your weathers improving, 30's next week! im so jealous! lol id say if he's walking on it and scratching with it it cant be hurting him. sounds like its just a bit tender and his being careful with it which can only be a good thing. be intresting to see if it improves in warmer weather. x

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Here is Rogers Toe today. I think we're getting "darker healthier" looking toe more distally. There maybe a dark spot in the white area. It would be very deep or bruise looking. It may be nothing. Will watch I guess. He walks and splays the toe in the run today just fine.



I think it's pinking up further down the toe!

 

[shell3]

just coppiedto compare pics on same page,

 

[shell3]

still lighter isnt it, though its hard to compare pics, different light/angle.
thou it dosnt look sore or inflamed or anything. could be something that might just give him jip when cold weather swings around. but with you around to keep it under control, his got nothing to worry about xx
very interested to see if it darkens when the weathers good, i know ive got terrible circulation myself and cant stand the cold. when i go out my fingers hurt and go really pale, just saying, could be ,specially if its an old injury, like people or dogs when they have arthritis, cold makes it much worse.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Shell3: Exactly! This acts like Raynaud's syndrome. (whitening of the fingers) When cold weather strikes it is a circulatory issue. It reminds me alot of that except for the swelling part. Does your Raynaud's swell at all after a bad episode? Or just blanch out?

I'm really really hoping he develops some new circumventing vessels that go past the damaged area. and take up the job of the old damaged ones. I think all of this takes time though.

ONce again. I thank you for your input. I do believe we're on track.

Today I was gone most of the day. Daughter had a Basketball tournament. I will get more "Roger and Chicken time" in tomorrow. Can't wait.

 

[shell3]

oh dont know about raynauds? im just a cold person! dont do cold weather well lol always heat my house to max, hubby says its like a sauna but im quite comfy lol . just know my fingers and toes get cold quickest and go kinda pale, never any swelling, and not real pain really (i like to dramatise as we know lol)just wanna get indoors pretty quick. indoors or summer, no probs at all.
hopefully his vessels will have time to heal in better weather so as at least to be improved in the next cold snap. i might look it up online see how it works. also ill have appt with vet soon for check up with bombie so ill ask his opinion. see if he suggests anything.
how did your daughter get on at basket ball? dont you just love watching them do these things x my daughter loves drama, watched her in beauty and the beast at local theatre. so proud! xx

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Husband helped hold Roger's toe for the picture. He showed some concern about my chicken today which was sweet of him. HIm and Roger have had a "come to Jesus Meeting or two this past September." But that's another story...LOL. Let's just say Roger likes me.





Not good news today. Beautiful warmer morning but... Roger's toe has begun to degrade. The skin and a few of the scales are lifting and an ulceration has begun at the most distal knuckle. So this was the darkish part I felt I needed to watch. he is picking the toe up and flexing it a bit. I'm sure it hurts. I brought him in and he was feisty and scared. I tried to let him wade for a bit in the wash tub but he would not stay put. There is no pus that is draining from the ulceration with squeezing. Half way through his administrations of cleaning, antibiotic and bandaging I looked down and saw I was wearing a red shirt. he absolutely becomes unnerved when we wear red. LOL. I put on a black sweater & I got him wrapped up. Chopped up a couple tomatoes past their peak for him to present to his hens as he was gone a bit from the early morning "scratch" routine a bit. Hopefully that set things right with his flock. he was crowing this morning and dancing for his girls. He's feeling good other than that old toe in this warmer day.

Morning Shell. I love watching my daughter play! Her team is really quite excellent and they won 2 straight games. They were scrimmages of 5th and 6th grade girls (10-12 years old) she individually wasn't quite up to her best early on (tummy ache) but then after the scrimmages there was a Free Throw contest and she brought home the 10 year old trophy. I think she slept with it last night and as I look over at her right now she is holding it in her arms watching tv. LOL. We're all quite proud despite her rough start. How fun to have a daughter in theater. You must be so so proud. Love beauty and the Beast too. Such a sweet story. Which part did she play?

Over to Bombie's thread now...

 

[shell3]

Oh no his poor little toe! antibiotics sounds like a good idea, as does the washing it and nice bandage to keep it clean. all you can do is watch it close and keep it as clean as possible.
strangly the cold could have been holding the infection off??

fantastic news for your daughter! so sweet that shes hugging her trophy x my daughter was like that with her medal(she was nominated at her awards show for singing ability) she even took the medal to school to show everyone, she played the part of 'Bell' as a child (flashback scenes) she was also a singing, dancing spoon!lol. hopefully bigger part next year as she is one of the youngest at 9 yrs and the group is 9 to 14 yrs. but yes very proud!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

I'm just using a real nice topical antibiotic right now on it. I might have to consider an internal or even injectible if this becomes more nasty and opened up more. I'm going down for my Noonish check for eggs and see if his bandage has stayed on longer than the 2 minutes I anticipated it to. LOL. I think the cold does delay infection. That makes sense. I think bacteria enjoys warm moist conditions. Whereas this toe is in the cold except when he's roosting. There's a part of me wondering if the toe is a total loss and I'm just delaying the inevitable of him losing this toe. But if there's a chance that it can heal entirely I guess I'd just as soon see him keep it of course. So I guess in my head I'm going to try to nurse this through. If it starts to shrink and shrivel and turn black well then I'd know the obvious outcome. But this white swollen ness I don't quite know what to make of it.

Shell your daughter starting Theater at such a young age is so wonderful. Makes for good confidence and that's a valuable thing when she heads into the world, if you ask me. So so wonderful.