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

[Bogtown Chick]

I'm sure it's a jamming, broken toe injury. The toenail jammed right up the line and probably broke the bone within. It looks a little infected and soggy looking in the initial picture too. Does it stink? I would make sure you get some Veterycin ($20) spray, neo sporin, non stick dressing, vet wrap. do the soaks once a day or so for a while, spray with the veterycin, apply neo sporin then the non stick pad and wrap it up with a strip of Vet Wrap or sport wrap that sticks to itself but not the chicken. WRap the toe and then up the ankle so it anchors the bandage and will stay on the little skinny toe. It's intensive work at first and you might need help holding your chicken while you work on it. But then you get the hang of it and they start to lay in your lap better with each time you do it. It will probably work its way out and will heal up just fine. But you need to do the work if your hubby doesn't want you to take it to the vet...they'll probably have you do the same anyways. If it stinks right now try the topical treatment I outlined above but if it doesn't turn the smell around you might want to beg your vet for some cephalexin and dropper to fight off the infection. There's another good antibiotic out ther too...I forget the name but it's expensive. $50 or more just for the med to treat a chicken for a week.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Baytril tablets are the preferred medicine for treating an infection in these birds. I just found it. x 10 days. I'm not sure of the mg strength or if there is just one strength. My rooster has only received Cephalexin liquid--3.5 cc twice daily 50mg/cc x 10 days. That's what we did for him. that was $27 for that little bit of medicine.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Also...are your roosts lower? That's the biggest thing you can do: prevention of another broken toe. Recommendations for standard breeds is 18-24 inches for roosts off the ground.

 

[choptank330]

You are awesome Bog !!!!! You know all about this and you done really well !!

 

[brittanyc]

Thank you! It has no smell yet. The first picture it's moist looking because I had just soaked it. Some of he black came off afterwards. I will go get the spray tomorrow morning. Someone in another thread had mentioned injecting with penicillin G. I want to try it your way first though. My roost is higher than that, I will have to fix it. I will update pics at the end of the week. Hopefully it's a quick recovery. I really appreciate all the information

 

[choptank330]

Hope your chicken heals soon !! Keep us updated !!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

Brittany: Careful on the pen G. I think the full name is pro-pen-G and the 'pro' stands for pro-caine. Caines are a big no-no with avian medicine. I researched and was going to get pen G as well and then talked to the vet the day I got the cephalexin and and she advised against it and when she said pro-caine all sorts of red flags went up and I then agreed with her. you have been researching! That I can tell! Sounds like you got on the same threads as I did! Somebody may have had success with it with their birds but I don't think it's worth that risk.

anyways the Veterycin and and Neosporin wrapped up (so the med doesn't wear off too fast) should do the trick. Expect it to take a few months to heal. You might have some tissue loss and the toe will be malformed after healing possibly. But to be honest these chickens are sooo tough...it won't affect her too much. The goal is to have intact skin around the injury.

OH! I almost bought the Neosporin with "Caine" in it too! you don't want that one...just the plain stuff without the pain "numbing' medicine.

My birds loved their high roosts SO much. I hated moving them down...but really it's so worth not having them with these toe injuries.

Thanks choptank....it's always so good to hear from you! Your Roo in your Avatar is a stunner~!

 

[brittanyc]

That is good to know I was reading about the injection and decided I would go to the vet at last resort. I will check the neosporin I bought! I feel at ease now knowing I can help her! My little ladies are my pets! Your knowledge is a blessing! I'm so glad you could help me I will update with some pictures!

 

[Bogtown Chick]

He could have had bumble foot and you may have not noticed it

look up bumble foot

You know Brittany and Choptank...I just looked at those pictures a little closer and there's a little bit of a look of bumble foot to that injury...like it's been there a little while and maybe has a core or exudate to it like bumble foot does. if you are not too squeamish Brittany you could probably scrape a bit of that crusting away with a clean blade (scalpel if you have access or new blade on a box cutter) just really clean it before and after. I think there's some "debriding" that needs to be done on that toe and then it should come along nicely. You could even try peroxide to bubble and lift some of that crusting away. Peroxide and a few q-tips working that crusting over. Kind of like "Picking off a scab" to reveal a cleaner wound bed and allowing more direct contact to the injury with the medicine. Doing that once is okay. After the initial clean you don't need to debride any more unless it gets dirty or "thick" looking again.

 

[brittanyc]

So I should cut off the black stuff and not pull it off. It gets really soft after soaking so I'm hoping it will be fairly easy to get off. I am also wondering what type of bedding I should have in there run now. I have a thick layer of pine needles right now. Wondering if that is what could have gotten us into this mess