Chantecler with frozen feet

[Alntess04]

When I came home from work today I noticed my 2 year old chantecler hen sitting outside by the chicken door. She is usually one of the first to come inspect the treats. I checked on her and when I picked her up, her feet were nearly frozen solid! I immediatley put her in the coop and closed the chicken door to keep all of them in. There is some movement in one of her feet. She seems to be getting around on her own and is eating and drinking. I put her under the heat lamp. my questions are 1) can her feet be saved? If so what do I do? 2) Why wouldn't she come in the coop? Why would she stay outside to the point her feet froze?! All the other chickens are fine, none of them seem to have any frost bite on combs or waddles and are doing just fine.

 

[Imp]

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I don't know if the feet can be saved.

Here is some info on treating frostbite. Sounds like it is good info.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2602413/how_to_treat_chickens_suffering_from.html?cat=53

Good luck & Welcome to BYC, too bad under these circumstances.

Imp

 

[Alntess04]

Thank you so much for that link! I've got her inside a nice cozy box and am getting prepared for all eventualities. I feel much better about it. I'm still puzzled as to why she wouldn't go in the coop today. I'll be keeping a closer eye on them all.

 

[Grog]

That is odd. Mabey she was out some where new and diddnt get back to her area in time? Some times my birds get caught out in weather or too far from home in the dark and they just hunker down. But I cant explain the out till freezing thing.

 

[Imp]

Quote:
I don't claim to have any insight into why chickens do what they do.

Maybe Grog is right, or maybe her feet just went numb.

The time I frostbit my foot I did not feel it.

I hope your hen makes a full recovery,

Imp

 

[silkielover5]

she might lose her toes or her leg but she will be able to get around just fine if there is some stub left. i found a rooster in the middle of the road in december he later lost all three toes on one foot. they just shriveled up and fell off. then we had a hen stand in the snow for at least 2 hours (we dont know why she would) her whole leg turned black and fell off. since it was her whole leg we put her down. if it was just her foot we would have kept her cause then she would have some way of getting around. we have a friend with a chicken that has stubs as both feet he gets around just fine

 

[rbaker0345]

Chickens are really awesome, but they're not the brightest bulbs in the box. Coupled with the fact that they tolerate the cold extremely well, frostbite happens. Always keep petroleum jelly or, even better, bag balm on hand. When I lived in a climate that actually got cold enough for frostbite, I kept my birds indoors on very cold days and slathered all of the non-feathered parts (especially combs and wattles) with bag balm. Vet RX is also good. I used to duct tape kids socks onto my muscovies to prevent bumble foot from the cold.