Exposed Bone in Broken Toe - is amputation necessary? **Update**

[CMV]

No. It's usually an injury that does it. Sometimes it doesn't take much of an injury to do it. If they get hit in the right spot- POOF. And they blow up like a balloon.

 

[Tikkijane]

Quote:
Try crumble over the top of a spoonful of yogurt. You can also try a crumble/scramble mix, too. You may find that once you get going with the treats, she will be more likely to try new things.

 

[rivers2011]

ah, great idea!

 

[Rocky Top Chick]

Quote:
I actually took her toe off at the joint so she has nothing there at all. And when I say I amputated, it actually turned black from a break and it was only holding on by the bone. I was soaking her and just gave it a quick twist and the toe fell off. She never moved at all and just kept soaking. No redness on the foot or anything. Chickens are amazing at healing.

 

[rivers2011]

The scab on her most swollen toe fell off!!! AND that broken, severed bone came out with it

It happened after an epsom salt soaking, and now it's been doused with iodine. Hopefully progress continues

 

[CMV]

Excellent. That is exactly what I thought would happen. Keep it clean and she should be no worse for the wear.

Great work. Good luck.

 

[rivers2011]

Thank you!
If she's getting better it's because of all the great people at BYC who have been guiding me through the process of caring for her.

 

[all4truth31]

OK- here's what's going to happen: Once a toe goes bad it does one of two things
1) gets horribly infected, rots away both up the foot and down the foot, and kills the chicken with a case of sepsis (blood borne infection).
2) gets infected but compartmentalizes, dries up, looks and smells bad for about a week, and then just falls off leaving a relatively clean stump behind.

If your chicken has no other underlying health issues then chances are good that the problem will resolve itself with little intervention on your part. The toe will wither and fall off on its own. You can amputate if you are not sure of the overall health of your bird, but I am pretty sure that if the bird is in good health that the injury will heal on its own.

My recommendation is to keep the site as clean as you can. Soaking the foot in straight Betadine/Iodine will help to dry the wound out. Whenever I have messy (oozing) wounds, straight Betadine works incredibly well to dry them out. A toe like the one pictured is going to fall off eventually, so the best you can do is to help that process along. Soak it for a few days, and as needed if it starts to look gooey. It will dry up. Once it dries it will fall off. You just need to prevent an infection from taking hold in the mean time.

I am on the fence about antibiotic usage. I try to avoid them, but I am not against them by any means. You will need to be the judge of whether your bird needs them or not. They carry their own risks. I have used them in the past when I had evidence of an established infection, but I usually don't treat prophylactically. If you are using antibiotics, then you must remember to treat the bird with probiotics afterwards. A couple week course of organic ACV in the water and a couple tablespoons of yogurt each day for 2 weeks should re-stock all the gut bugs that will ensure good GI health.

A protein rich diet will help your bird to heal quickly after an ordeal such as this. Some scrambled eggs, BOSS, and the yogurt I mentioned earlier will aid in healing. I have had birds lose toes in the past, and it was not a big thing. They survived and recovered quite nicely.

I hope this helps. I hope your bird recovers quickly. Good luck.

You seem very knowledgeable and hope you can help me. I have a rooster with a permanent dislocated leg, but he has been this way for over six months and is coped well and still eats and crowes and runs and mates.
Almost two months ago or longer he got a
Bad Bumblefoot on top of his toe and we have did all the epsom salt soaks drawing salves neosporin etc.. antibiotics and now after cleaning with a toothbrush the dead skin is coming off and part of the bone is exposed...
At this point can the skin grow back or is it going to rot away like this post you described.My husband forbids any more vet bills. The rooster still acts fine but we are keeping bandage covered still cleaning applying salves etc.. If his toe just falls off and the infection is in the bone is this painful and after antibiotics is the infection gone

 

[all4truth31]

You seem very knowledgeable and hope you can help me. I have a rooster with a permanent dislocated leg, but he has been this way for over six months and is coped well and still eats and crowes and runs and mates.
Almost two months ago or longer he got a
Bad Bumblefoot on top of his toe and we have did all the epsom salt soaks drawing salves neosporin etc.. antibiotics and now after cleaning with a toothbrush the dead skin is coming off and part of the bone is exposed...
At this point can the skin grow back or is it going to rot away like this post you described.My husband forbids any more vet bills. The rooster still acts fine but we are keeping bandage covered still cleaning applying salves etc.. If his toe just falls off and the infection is in the bone is this painful and after antibiotics is the infection gone

Since that picture I've scraped off more infection and more of them bone is showing