chicken jungle rott/ gangreen

[RentaPig311]

My crooked toe chicken I posted about a while back has come down with jungle rott. It looks like his toe is rotting away. It's turned black and seems painful. He won't walk on it unless he's running away from something. He still eats and drinks but his feathers seem ruffled and rough compared to the others.

Has anyone seen this? His feet are quite deformed but were still usable until the rott set in yesterday.

I hate to say it but should I put him down? He is about 5 weeks old. Seems like his foot deformities are only getting worse. Of course my next question would be if the humane thing is to cull him what is a humane method at this age?

First time chicken owner.

 

[realsis]

you can get the toe removed and he should still be able to walk. my worry is if it will spread up the leg.I would try to see if maybe a vet can remove it?if it does not spread it might just fall off on its own. in that case it would be fine. as long as its not spreading it should be OK it will likely just fall off. at this point I don't think there is much you can do other than taking him to the vet and having them remove it. you shouldn't have to cull him unless it spreads even it it falls off he should still be alright. this is a call you will have to make. his deformation is pretty bad and I don't know if it will happen to the other toes too. this is a tough call. the best case would be if it fell off and then he would be better but I don't know what's caused the rot and not sure if it will happen again. poor baby. this is a decision you will have to make. if he were mine I might try to see if he had a chance but if it started to spread it might be trouble. you can try antibiotics and see if it might help if there is an infection. if the toe falls off he should still be OK. I'd probly give him a chance before I'd cull but that's just me.. I wish you the best. good luck

 

[Haunted55]

Do you know what caused this? Was it an injury or did he just lose blood to the toe? First things I would do...get some tylan 200 or penicillian into him ASAP. You need to keep the poison from getting too deep into the surrounding tissue and from going systemic. I would mix up some very warm water [not hot] and some betadine or iodine and soak his foot. 10-15 minutes. See if there is anything there to make you think it's an injury or bumblefoot. I know, strange place for it but who knows. I do not believe you will be able to save the toe as it's already looking necrotic, but hope springs eternal right? I would dose him with the meds and do the soak and see if there is anything there, or if there is any change. Now if I were dead set on keeping this bird I would remove the toe myself. No, it isn't a pleasant thought but if you don't have a Vet all you have is you. I would have some blood stop powder, you're already giving him the antibiotic, bandages and very sharp shears or knife. It's going to bleed pretty good so apply the blood stop powder and apply pressure. No creams or anything, you want this to dry and scab as quickly as possible.

For pain...give him some vodka, 1/2 tsp. about 5-10 mins. before you try to take the toe. The link below has a list of meds and the dosing.

https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/medicine-chart

I will still urge you to seek the advice of a Vet. To be honest, my first thoughts were to cull him, but I know I would want to try anything and everything before that. If you want to cull, do a search on BYC and I am sure you will find many ways that people use to help one without hope, along. Here, we take the head with an axe. it's quickly over this way.

I am so very sorry you're facing this.

 

[RentaPig311]

There does not appear to be an injury or laceration on the foot. These chick are still inside in a brooder as the coop is not complete so they don't have a lot of opportunites to injure themselves. I think the distortion probably got so bad that it cut off blood flow. Poor guy. It does not seem to be spreading and stops at the first digit. I would really like to keep him around as he is a the most social bird of the flock, and I've always had a soft spot for the under dogs, but I won't if he is in pain. Today he seems to be moving around better. I think I will try to treat it for the next few days and if it does not spread or fall off I will see if amputation of the first digit is possible. I doubt I can talk my wife into assisting with that so a vet visit will be in order.

 

[Haunted55]

There does not appear to be an injury or laceration on the foot. These chick are still inside in a brooder as the coop is not complete so they don't have a lot of opportunites to injure themselves. I think the distortion probably got so bad that it cut off blood flow. Poor guy. It does not seem to be spreading and stops at the first digit. I would really like to keep him around as he is a the most social bird of the flock, and I've always had a soft spot for the under dogs, but I won't if he is in pain. Today he seems to be moving around better. I think I will try to treat it for the next few days and if it does not spread or fall off I will see if amputation of the first digit is possible. I doubt I can talk my wife into assisting with that so a vet visit will be in order.

I'm with you on the under dogs. My flocks are filled with them, lol. I've talked with a couple of people since posting and their suggestion was to just let it come off on it's own. You can take the wait and see approach but I would use an antibiotic as well, just in case. If he's in pain, you can give him an asprin. It's one regular asprin for an adult bird and I would figure down from there. Figure an adult bird is usually around 5 lbs. and they get the 625mg of asprin, so maybe half? Check my numbers, please! I'm writting this off the top of my head right now!

I wish you and your little man the very best of luck! Please keep the thread updated as others will want to know how everything works out for you.

 

[RentaPig311]

Tried to get a picture of the toe yesterday but he's a timid bird. I'll try again today if the weather cooperates. The flock just transitioned to their outside coop and they are loving it. He seems to be getting along fine even if he is not as active as the others. He doesn't seem to be limping or avoiding using that leg anymore. The first digit looks almost dried up and mummified. I think it will likely fall off or could be removed with minimal effort now. Knocking on wood but I think he's going to make it.

 

[Haunted55]

I'm glad! I hope everything gets better for him and it probably will. Keep us updated, please!

 

[RentaPig311]

Was finally able to corner him today. The first digit has wasted away to just about nothing. He walks on it as if it is no long tender. looks like I could probably just pull it off now but waiting to see if nature takes its course before doing that.

 

[Haunted55]

I agree with waiting at this point. My poor head roo lost part of his back toe about a month ago. Poor bugger, got it caught in a set of metal stairs while he was chasing one of his girls. Bleed? Oh man did that sucker bleed! Even with the blood stop it took a while to get it to stop enough to spray it with Blu-Kote.