Chicken foot fell off

[NBraun2624]

Hello! I had recently acquired a hen from a friend. She seemed to acclimate well to my flock. One night I did not realize she had not went into coop. Next morning I found her outside. She had terrible frostbite on both feet. I separated her took her inside house. I treated with antibiotics and daily soaks and topicals. 4 weeks out one foot has fallen off. She doesn’t seem as bothered as I was about it! I cleaned and bandaged stump. I have read some people have made a prosthetic foot for a chicken. Does anyone know any information on this or have experience with this situation? Betsy is eating and drinking doesn’t seem painful but difficult for her to get around.

 

[cherrynberry]

@Allsfairinloveandbugs

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I am very sorry Betsy lost her foot. I have a hen that lost both feet to frostbite last winter 2021. And there are currently several BYC members who are helping their birds recover from losng feet to frostbite in 2022. All are doing well.

In the photo, it looks like Betsy will also soon lose her left foot. If you can keep her bedding clean, it is best to only wrap the stumps for a few days immediately after each foot detaches, then leave the stumps unwrapped while they heal. Medicate with triple antibiotic ointment, vetericyn spray, etc to prevent infection. It's also best to limit her mobility until the stumps have fully healed.

Once the stumps have healed, you will need to keep them wrapped and well-padded, which will allow her to walk again. As far as prosthetic feet, it's complicated to get a Good prosthetic fit, but it can be done. I (and others) have currently chosen to pad and wrap the stumps and let their chicken relearn to walk as best as they can.

But if you have access to a college, business etc. that could make Betsy some custom 3d-printed feet, that would be great, and I would Love to see the results! The video below is the one of the best I've seen re a chicken getting 3d feet. He was able to return to nearly 100% percent mobility.

Ask any questions you have, and I will be happy to help.

 

[NBraun2624]

I am very sorry Betsy lost her foot. I have a hen that lost both feet to frostbite last winter 2021. And there are currently several BYC members who are helping their birds recover from losng feet to frostbite in 2022. All are doing well.

In the photo, it looks like Betsy will also soon lose her left foot. If you can keep her bedding clean, it is best to only wrap the stumps for a few days immediately after each foot detaches, then leave the stumps unwrapped while they heal. Medicate with triple antibiotic ointment, vetericyn spray, etc to prevent infection. It's also best to limit her mobility until the stumps have fully healed.

Once the stumps have healed, you will need to keep them wrapped and well-padded, which will allow her to walk again. As far as prosthetic feet, it's complicated to get a Good prosthetic fit, but it can be done. I (and others) have currently chosen to pad and wrap the stumps and let their chicken relearn to walk as best as they can.

But if you have access to a college, business etc. that could make Betsy some custom 3d-printed feet, that would be great, and I would Love to see the results! The video below is the one of the best I've seen re a chicken getting 3d feet. He was able to return to nearly 100% percent mobility.

Ask any questions you have, and I will be happy to help.

Thank you! I’m glad she has options and will still be ok. I appreciate the advice and kind words. I feel terrible this happened to her.

 

[Chookmama72]

I am very sorry Betsy lost her foot. I have a hen that lost both feet to frostbite last winter 2021. And there are currently several BYC members who are helping their birds recover from losng feet to frostbite in 2022. All are doing well.

In the photo, it looks like Betsy will also soon lose her left foot. If you can keep her bedding clean, it is best to only wrap the stumps for a few days immediately after each foot detaches, then leave the stumps unwrapped while they heal. Medicate with triple antibiotic ointment, vetericyn spray, etc to prevent infection. It's also best to limit her mobility until the stumps have fully healed.

Once the stumps have healed, you will need to keep them wrapped and well-padded, which will allow her to walk again. As far as prosthetic feet, it's complicated to get a Good prosthetic fit, but it can be done. I (and others) have currently chosen to pad and wrap the stumps and let their chicken relearn to walk as best as they can.

But if you have access to a college, business etc. that could make Betsy some custom 3d-printed feet, that would be great, and I would Love to see the results! The video below is the one of the best I've seen re a chicken getting 3d feet. He was able to return to nearly 100% percent mobility.

Ask any questions you have, and I will be happy to help.

Amazing video! I love what technology can do, it never ceases to amaze me.

 

[tricid]

Is this a common issue?

I'm new to chickens, certainly not a doctor nor vet, but I have just about every type and style of 3d printer and wouldn't mind helping with something like that if it'd be of any use here.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Is this a common issue?

I'm new to chickens, certainly not a doctor nor vet, but I have just about every type and style of 3d printer and wouldn't mind helping with something like that if it'd be of any use here.

It is likely more common than we know, especially since the vast majority of cases never get reported on BYC, or anywhere else for that matter. . Chicken amputees are either immediately euthanized, or left to hobble along on their stumps as best as they can.

It would be Soooo awesome if you are able to help. My intuition says it would be best to have a bird fitted for prosthetics as soon as possible after the stump(s have healed. Here are photos of the reason why.

Fourteen months after her frostbite injuries, my hen has learned to rebalance herself when she stands and walks by making herself new flat "foot pads" on her shanks. She does Not stand on the ends of her shanks where the feet detached. This is structurally not a good thing, and may eventually cause compensatory injuries to her hocks, hips, etc. But since my hen is now 6 years old and is a large-breed hen weighing seven pounds, I've made the decision to not order prosthetics for her, which would force her to relearn to walk all over again. (However, If I knew of a place near me to at least get an exam/evaluation for her, I would do it in a heartbeat.)

@NBraun2624 , there are some sellers on Etsy that make 3D feet for a very cheap price. One popular site includes photos of people holding a bird in their arms that are wearing prosthetics, and also a few pics of birds standing on the ground. But the two video links that supposedly show birds walking don't work. Several months ago I called and left a vm with the company that I was interested in purchasing prosthetics, but had some questions first. I never heard back. The Etsy sites may be a good option; I just haven't yet seen the evidence. There are also past threads on byc where people made prosthetics for their chickens. In all the cases i saw, the bird only lost one foot.

If you are able to have prosthetics made (or make them yourself) for Betsy, please post your sucess here on her thread! It is yes very tragic she will be a double amputee. But with a little extra care from you, she will be ok. Btw I forgot to mention that once her stumps are healed and kept wrapped, they still need to be unwrapped weekly, checked to make sure all is well underneath, then rewrapped. If you get prosthetics for her, you will be the first person I've seen that will be knowledgeable on stumps care using prosthetics. Go Betsy go!

To close, my hen resumed laying eggs last summer. Once Betsy's injuries have healed, she should resume laying too. How old is she?

 

[RoyalChick]

I am very sorry Betsy lost her foot. I have a hen that lost both feet to frostbite last winter 2021. And there are currently several BYC members who are helping their birds recover from losng feet to frostbite in 2022. All are doing well.

In the photo, it looks like Betsy will also soon lose her left foot. If you can keep her bedding clean, it is best to only wrap the stumps for a few days immediately after each foot detaches, then leave the stumps unwrapped while they heal. Medicate with triple antibiotic ointment, vetericyn spray, etc to prevent infection. It's also best to limit her mobility until the stumps have fully healed.

Once the stumps have healed, you will need to keep them wrapped and well-padded, which will allow her to walk again. As far as prosthetic feet, it's complicated to get a Good prosthetic fit, but it can be done. I (and others) have currently chosen to pad and wrap the stumps and let their chicken relearn to walk as best as they can.

But if you have access to a college, business etc. that could make Betsy some custom 3d-printed feet, that would be great, and I would Love to see the results! The video below is the one of the best I've seen re a chicken getting 3d feet. He was able to return to nearly 100% percent mobility.

Ask any questions you have, and I will be happy to help.

Here is a source for 3D printed prosthetics for chickens: https://branscums3dprinting.com/

 

[tricid]

I wonder if she would benefit from something closer to a shoe than a full prosthetic? What a trooper. I had no idea chickens could keep going after that type of injury!

I'm going to spend some time this weekend studying chicken kinematics I guess and brainstorm.

The collective knowledge on this place I bet we could come up with something pretty great. If there's enough interest I guess we could start a thread specific to that subject. I didn't mean to side track this one lol

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

I wonder if she would benefit from something closer to a shoe than a full prosthetic? What a trooper. I had no idea chickens could keep going after that type of injury!

I'm going to spend some time this weekend studying chicken kinematics I guess and brainstorm.

The collective knowledge on this place I bet we could come up with something pretty great. If there's enough interest I guess we could start a thread specific to that subject. I didn't mean to side track this one lol

I don't think you are sidetracking the thread at all, since Betsy is the subject of this thread, and she will soon need prosthetics! I only loaded photos/gave info re my hen's stumps on this thread to show why I think it would be better for @NBraun2624 to get prosthetics for Betsy asap after her stumps have healed, if they choose to go that route.

Here is a source for 3D printed prosthetics for chickens: https://branscums3dprinting.com/

That is the business I contacted, since they seem to be by far the most popular prosthetics maker on Etsy. I reread their website just now to see if the video links are now working. They have updated their website some, and now say they currently have no videos of birds using their products. Their heart seems to be in the right place as far as trying to help avian amputees regain mobility, and their prosthetics may in fact be effective. But I am a "show me the evidence and then I will make my decision" kind of person, and I haven't Yet seen their evidence. I have no intent to discourage anyone from trying them out, and would love to see a video of a bird that that wears their products!