Frostbite on both legs! Help!

[lauranickerson]

I just came home from work and found my EE on the ground stumbling. I picked her up and her feet feel like ice, and her feet will not recoil or move. Her whole leg is ice cold. She seems to have been dedicating on herself today, which makes sense because she cannot stand. And I put food in front of her and she's eating like crazy. She is very underweight.

I will start a luke-warm epsom salt soak in the bathroom, but wondering what else I should do? I can't tell if any of the toes have died because her legs are naturally a very dark grey/green color.

Thanks in advance!

 

[silky smooth]

first things first

HEY EVERYBODY Lauran missed the vein on her first try! Congratulations Lauran!

down to business, shall we

wing tip:
I would debride the wound. clear away all of the existing debris and scab from it. in the process you might be able to identify the cause. then sterilize the wound and dress with ointment or salve. and then let it scab back up on its own and heal from there.

perhaps a sliver or something caused it.or maybe just banged it on something or repeated contact with the floor from using as a crutch caused skin tears.

right leg:
left leg:
they have a blood stripe in their nails like dogs. she will most likely keep any toes that have blood to the nails, as long as the flow isn't interrupted she should. if you fear the health of the one foot a way to test is to use guillotine clippers on the deadest looking of nails, have clotting agent on hand. she might surprise you.

shots: don't worry about the little bit you spilled between the skin and muscle. it too will be absorbed. if it had been much more it might have been a wasted dose( one that doesn't count).
see the purple spot? the goal is to avoid those. and you did!

They should not get lethargic, or act weird. if they do the dose is too high. by dividing the dose (yes it's more work) you can lessen the effects of the tapering. rise/taper up --plateau--drop\taper down

please if anyone has anything to add or offer please do.

 

[justplainbatty]

I just bought a packet of the oxytetracyline from TSC. I will use that and see what happens. Unfortunately, I don't have $100 minimum to spend on chicken vet bills, when I have so many medical bills myself. There is only one chicken vet around here that I can find, and the one time I did take a chicken there for lethargy, she felt the crop (chicken just ate), said it was impacted crop, said to never feed a chicken sunflower seeds and that's why it had an impacted crop, then put a shot of lube in it's crop. Well, she didn't have impacted crop, actually, and she didn't even look into the things I brought her in for. I feel like I know more than her.

Even if I didn't mind the vet, I still don't have the money for it. I will try the things suggested here, and if she fades fast, I will make the tough decision to end her suffering then (hopefully won't get there).

She is such a fighter, and acts like there is nothing wrong with her. I think she will make it through.

Yah, I took a chicken to an avian vet one time, he didn't know diddley. He was no help at all-an "avian vet specializing in exotic birds" OMG! I ended up putting her down bc I didn't know what to do. I had only just joined BYC and vey new to chicken keeping.You know what it was, that I learned later? Impacted crop!

8 years into it now, I am the best chicken vet my birds could have! I trust myself and all the helpful folks on BYC way more than any vet anywhere near me! You'll learn to be a good vet to your chickens too!
Your girl does sound like a fighter as most chickens and animals are, you keep trying as long as she does. Even if the worst happens, you'll see it sooner on the next bird and totally know what to do. We can't save them all but we can save a heck of a lot of them! Go Laura!

 

[lauranickerson]

So the feet are already room temperature to the touch after only about 5 minutes in luke warm water. At first she just laid in it, but now that the feeling is coming back, she's getting a bit more spunk, and trying to get out of the plastic tub that I set inside my bathtub. I caved and just filled the bathtub a few inches, barely increasing the temp, and now she has no choice but to soak in it. Still stumbling but not as bad. How long should I have her soak for?

 

[lauranickerson]

Here she was before I put her in, and just after I put her in. You can see her toes wouldn't even move when I put her in the water...just she just had prosthetics or something...

*sorry about the frozen stress-poo that stuck to her feathers. I am soaking her for that reason too. She will be blow-dried before she goes back outside. Frostbite doesn't surprise me with the -20 degree weather (before windchill) N. Michigan has been having lately.*

 

[lauranickerson]

Anyone?

 

[justplainbatty]

Anyone?

Hello, be patient, it takes a while to get answers sometimes. I've not had this issue (cross fingers) but I think you have done all you can for now. Sometimes the bird may lose toes or even the whole foot but still get around ok. It depends on how long she has been frostbitten and how deeply. Keep her warm and dry now, don't put her back outside until she recovers. Cage her on a heating pad and keep her quiet. Make sure she is getting hydration, syringe it to her if you have to, be careful not to get the water down the wrong pipe. You can crush a chewable baby aspirin into the water for pain.

She looks just like my girl named Pretty.

 

[lauranickerson]

Sorry, just freaking out over here. lol. Wont keeping her inside for a few days make the transition to going back out into harsh temps a problem for her?

 

[keesmom]

I would keep her inside for now. If I had to guess she will likely lose the toes on one foot, but the pad and rear toe may be salvaged. The ends of a couple toes on the other foot may be lost as well. I have known people who have birds that lose toes in the winter and they do well once healed up. All you can really do now is wait and not rush the thawing.

I have only dealt with this once before, with a broody that decided to set outside in an unprotected spot in the dead of winter, so my experience is limited. She ended up losing both legs.

Added to say - can you keep her in a basement where it's warm enough for her to thaw but not cold enough for her to freeze again? Just for a while.

 

[lauranickerson]

I think she's feeling a lot better, though I can see the damage a bit more clearly now. I don't really have a way to keep her inside...no cage, and my boyfriend would seriously kill me. I agreed to no chickens in the house when we bought the place.