Chickens and tetnus

[twinklemama]

We had a meat bird that we believed to have bumblefoot. When we went to take care of the foot it turned out she had a half in long nail embedded in the center of her foot. OUCH!!!

My question now is what is the chance that the chicken could get tetanus?

We cleaned the wound. The foot felt hot and was swollen but there was no pus at all, lots of healthy looking blood. We also treated it with triple antibiotic cream and beta-dine.

She is currently isolated with her foot wrapped so we can keep treating her. I am just worried that she is going to get tetanus on us. We have no idea where the nail came from.

Any help would be much appreciate.

 

[azelgin]

I don't think chickens can get tetanus, just like foul don't get rabies. It has something to do with their body temperature and nervous system differing from that of mammals.

Anybody else know about this?

 

[twinklemama]

I looked it up and it said a letal dose is 10,000 to 30,000 times greater than that in animals like horses and possibly humans. I'm worried because she had this nail in her foot for at least 3 days.
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[azelgin]

Considering my chickens favorite pastime is digging through the mule poop

, which is the natural place to find the tetanus bacterium, I would bet your chicken will survive, without contracting the disease. I know mine get cuts and sores, that get mule poop in them. The chickens love to dust themselves in the big pile of poop.