Frozen feet - how long does frostbite damage take to show up?

[Ltilden]

I’m curious how long it can take frostbite damage to reveal itself? I found one of my Silkies not in the coop with her flock two nights ago, and her feet were frozen solid. I put her in a warm bath to thaw her feet and have kept her inside since it happened. The next morning she was able to walk and stand relatively normally, and has been eating and drinking as usual. Is there still a chance damaged tissue could reveal itself? Her feet look normal from what I can tell, they are blue/grey because she’s a Silkie but other than that I don’t see any red or black areas. Is it possible I caught it in time or can frostbite damage still show up over 48 hours later?

I plan on keeping her inside for atleast the next week (unless her condition worsens, then it will be until she is fully healed) since we have below zero temps expected all week.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Blooie]

Scout, my rooster who lost his toes to frostbite, got around just fine on his stumps! He even flew up to the roost at night, slept up there all night, and flew back down in the morning. He mated with the hens, scratched in the dirt for goodies, and could outrun me with no problem.

 

[WallyG74]

@JacinLarkwell the expert on frostbite

 

[Ltilden]

Hi Ltilden, how is your hen doing in the meanwhile? How are her feet?

Hi @Chickeria, thank you for checking in on her! She’s doing okay right now, still living inside my house with her Silkie sister for company. She eats and drinks normally, however her feet are not doing very well at all. She just lost her first toe recently and it looks like all the rest will be gone soon (I’ll attach pics for people to see, if they happen to come across this post with this same issue, but they are graphic.)

Not sure what the future holds for poor Magnolia but I am going to continue keeping her comfortable and hope she can pull through this and is able to live some sort of normal life after but who knows.

If anyone has any advice for handling a chicken who has lost most if not all their toes, I’d love any input you might have.

Thanks,
Lindsay

 

[Eggcessive]

Thank you for the update pictures, it will be so helpful to others. Sorry that she is probably going to lose most of her toes. The black areas will eventually fall off, but she may be able to still manage to get around on her feet. There are quite a few threads about similar birds. Please let us know how she gets along, and post any tips about padding or things that could be helpful.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Okay, frozen solid as in they could bend if forced or frozen solid as in if you tried to bend, they would likely snap off? Of its the latter, odds are it wont end well unfortunately if its the entire foot. Ive had 3 birds in two years get that bad, all 3 ended up losing the foot and needing to be culled.

However I'm surprised it happened to a breed with feathered legs, I have yet to have that happen fortunately. All 3 were clean legged.

If they're stiff but stil barely bendable, then they might get away with losing a knuckle or toe. Usually it will show up in a few days, but my mosaic i was working on took about 2 weeks with medicine bwfore it was a definate dead foot.

 

[Blooie]

Check out the (long and photo heavy) story of Scout and his frostbitten feet. His looked like they were healing, then BAM….suddenly they aren’t. The link to his story is below.

Edited: Well, doggone it, it used to be there. Gimme a minute…

 

[Blooie]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/frostbitten-feet-the-adventures-of-scout.67277/

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'll check when i get home what medicine i tried. It didnt save his foot, bit it kept infrction down and made it take longer to die. If yours isnt as bad as he was, it might work for her

 

[Ltilden]

So unfortunately some signs of damage have started to appear it’s mostly on one foot right now, a few white spots that look slightly like blisters (but flat to the foot, not round bubbles) have showed up. She also has started to lift that foot quite frequently when standing and she puts it out in front of her when she sits so I’m sure it’s causing her pain. Anything I can do to help alleviate this? Should I wrap her foot, or try to fashion some sort of chicken hammock for her to rest in to relieve some of the pressure?

Anything else I can do to help her? I’ll take any and all suggestions! Picture of my sweet girl during one of our cuddle sessions after her daily foot bath.