Frostbite/Frozen Foot

[mmwellsfarm]

You are doing a great job to help her recover, and it sounds like she is thriving from the care and attention you are providing her. By the time her injury heals, don't be surprised if you have decided to welcome her inside as a semi-permanent house chicken!

We've pretty much figured we have a house chicken. She happy inside. We already looked at a prosthetic foot for her. Thanks. I wanted to double check that I was doing everything right. Other groups told me to give her antibiotics now for it but I read it better to wait until the foot comes off because that's when she's likely to get an infection. I don't want to over do antibiotics as that's not even good for us. I do give her oregano leaves to munch on randomly but not everyday. Just a couple here and there. They also kept trying to tell me to keep giving her vitamins but over doing vitamins isn't good either. I gave her some when she first got injured but I was going to wait on them again until after her antibiotics or until she looks like she needs them. This was on a vet page but not vets saying it. I can't get any vets on there to respond or help me ever when I ask a question. Others get so many responses but mine get ignored.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Your instincts and common sense seem spot-on, and as long as you continue to learn all you can while continuing to trust your intuition, Nubz is going to be fine. It is true that her remaining healthy stump will be most suscetible to infection after the necrotic foot falls off and leaves remaining healthy tissue exposed. But you will be surprised at how quickly a protective scab (eschar) grows to cover it. Should only take a few days. During those first few days is also when it is most advisable to loosely cover the remaining open wound and not allow the stump to get dirty or wet. If you decide to give antibiotics during that time, cepahalexin is a good antibiotic to help skin, tissue and bone infections heal. But as long as you continue with your current level of care, antibiotics will probably not be necessary. The auto-amputation process does an amazing job of keeping viable remaining tissue healthy while it prepares the necrotic foot to separate and fall away.

You probably aren't getting any responses from online vets because they aren't experienced in treating chickens and other birds, and cats and dogs rarely suffer severe frostbite. Unfortunately, birds with severe frostbite appear regularly every year on this forum, and the medical experts here are very experienced in giving poultry owners excellent advice to help their birds recover. You will receive much helpful advice here to help Nubz, so never hesitate to ask.

 

[mmwellsfarm]

Your instincts and common sense seem spot-on, and as long as you continue to learn all you can while continuing to trust your intuition, Nubz is going to be fine. It is true that her remaining healthy stump will be most suscetible to infection after the necrotic foot falls off and leaves remaining healthy tissue exposed. But you will be surprised at how quickly a protective scab (eschar) grows to cover it. Should only take a few days. During those first few days is also when it is most advisable to loosely cover the remaining open wound and not allow the stump to get dirty or wet. If you decide to give antibiotics during that time, cepahalexin is a good antibiotic to help skin, tissue and bone infections heal. But as long as you continue with your current level of care, antibiotics will probably not be necessary. The auto-amputation process does an amazing job of keeping viable remaining tissue healthy while it prepares the necrotic foot to separate and fall away.

You probably aren't getting any responses from online vets because they aren't experienced in treating chickens and other birds, and cats and dogs rarely suffer severe frostbite. Unfortunately, birds with severe frostbite appear regularly every year on this forum, and the medical experts here are very experienced in giving poultry owners excellent advice to help their birds recover. You will receive much helpful advice here to help Nubz, so never hesitate to ask.

Thank you. It's a chicken vet page so I'm surprised they aren't responding but that's why I asked I'm several places just to make sure all information matches up or to make sure I get correct information, but also that what I read matches up. I don't want to hurt my chickens. I do a lot of research before I do anything to them but I do preventative care that I know isn't harmful while I find out more information. I've had chickens for almost 20 years but never had one with frostbite like this and only recently with combs. I've been lucky. I keep Amoxicillin, meloxicam, baby aspirin, neospirin, Vetericyn spray, poultry cell, probiotics, eye ointment, missing link, etc on hand for anything that might come up or is needed. I have more but of course I can't think of the names. We have turkeys that have gotten blackhead so we keep those meds handy also. Frostbite is just a whole new ballgame for me, especially the foot.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We've pretty much figured we have a house chicken. She happy inside. We already looked at a prosthetic foot for her. Thanks. I wanted to double check that I was doing everything right. Other groups told me to give her antibiotics now for it but I read it better to wait until the foot comes off because that's when she's likely to get an infection. I don't want to over do antibiotics as that's not even good for us. I do give her oregano leaves to munch on randomly but not everyday. Just a couple here and there. They also kept trying to tell me to keep giving her vitamins but over doing vitamins isn't good either. I gave her some when she first got injured but I was going to wait on them again until after her antibiotics or until she looks like she needs them. This was on a vet page but not vets saying it. I can't get any vets on there to respond or help me ever when I ask a question. Others get so many responses but mine get ignored.

I think you are doing a good job taking care of her.

You're getting excellent advice from @Allsfairinloveandbugs she has experience this first hand and you can't get any better than that, imho.

As mentioned, an antibiotic may be necessary at some point, but if the healing is taking place and there's no infection, it's best to let the process work.

Vitamins are great at the beginning to give a weak or sick bird a boost and build them up for a few days, but as long as she's eating/drinking and doing good, they are not really necessary. Sounds like she's holding her own - playing with the cat, she's doing good

Please do keep us posted on how she's getting along. The photos and process/documentation of care is always helpful to others that may be looking for help. I find them educational and helpful as well - always something to learn.

 

[mmwellsfarm]

Update on Nubz: she still favors her foot but she walks on it with a limp, flies out of shed/coop where she's the only one allowed to roam free (we keep babies, quail, and bunnies in there), she laid an egg the other day, and she goes to visit her old run and lays outside of it which is up a hill.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for the update, I'm glad she's able to get outside.

Do you think she will lose the foot? It actually doesn't look too bad at this point.

 

[mmwellsfarm]

Thank you for the update, I'm glad she's able to get outside.

Do you think she will lose the foot? It actually doesn't look too bad at this point.

I think she will still. She wasn't having any part of me taking pictures of her foot yesterday but I got some this morning.

 

[MarlaMac]

I hope she is able to retain the foot.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I think she will still. She wasn't having any part of me taking pictures of her foot yesterday but I got some this morning.

Oh, I see now. The other photos just showed the top and the toes, but I see that it is loosening at the footpad. If she's going to lose that, it's going to take a while, but it sounds like she's hanging in there and not letting this stop her.

 

[mmwellsfarm]

Oh, I see now. The other photos just showed the top and the toes, but I see that it is loosening at the footpad. If she's going to lose that, it's going to take a while, but it sounds like she's hanging in there and not letting this stop her.

Definitely isn't. She's feisty and sometimes trying to get a picture of the foot is hard.