Curing frostbite in hen

[Easter Chicks]

Hey there, so one of my hens got frostbite during the winter, unfortunately. This was a few months ago now. She lost two of her toes to it. I was hoping she would heal in the spring but it's summer now and she still limps quite heavily. She is very strong and, despite being tiny, is arguably top chicken. Is there any way to treat her toes, which are still swollen and white? I just don't want her to be in pain. She seems completely fine besides the limping.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Generally frostbitten areas turn black and than fall off. I have one who lost a few toes over winter due to her poor roosting choices. Perhaps you could share a picture. Mine healed up months ago and is now called no toes as she lost most of them.

Swollen toes makes me wonder about gout instead of frostbite.

 

[Easter Chicks]

Yep, that's exactly what happened! They turned black and fell off. I just looked up gout and I don't think that's what it is. This doesn't seem that severe. This is a picture I took a while ago (with Ginger photbombing. xD)

Thanks for your response!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It might always give her some troubles, as she will feel the exposed bone in every step. It does appear to be still healing. It's also possible she has a slight infection going on. What type of roosts do you have? She could need a wider roost as gripping will be hard with that foot, and it could get irritated by doing so. A platform for sleeping would be more comfortable.

 

[Easter Chicks]

This is what the roost looks like (excuse the mess). Penny (with the frostbite) is the one lying down. She tends to stand on one foot and then lie down.

This is where she chose to go in the garage when we brought her in to heal in the winter. I'll have to look into treating infection if that's the case. And that's interesting about the exposed bone; I didn't know that, though it makes sense.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Is that a 2x4 roost? Mine lost her toes back to the first joint, yours looks like she potentially has a bit of joint left? Would certainly hurt more.