Frozen feet.

[Pardee_Boy]

I recently got two younger birds this winter and with a coop with mature hens and one silkie roo I didn't inter mingle the two flocks due to age differences. So long story short I placed the two birds one roo and one hen in a makeshift coop inside of my shed a nice cozy 4x4 space with a heat lamp. I placed shavings on the floor but on the floor the last owner of the house for some ungodly reason placed carpet on it. As this is a shed the carpet is frayed and some of the string's are showing. Well the roo got his feet caught in the string's and was fighting against them and they acted like a snare tangled all around his ankles and toes. He had done it some time during the night and I cut him loose this morning.While undoing the string I noticed his feet were very cold and stiff , swollen and starting to turn redish in areas.

I've checked in on him all day and he seems to be improving . At first he wouldn't walk on them and I thought with the minus 20 degree weather that maybe he had cut off circulation to them and that frostbite was soon to set in. On my last check in tonight he was walking on them alittle bit better and the color is more of a pink and it looks like they are healing , but they are still swollen on the bottom almost like he has bumble foot.

Should I be concerned or intervene in some way or just ride it out and see what takes place?

thanks in advanced for any helpfull information.

Jeff

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

Sounds like it was the strings that cut off the circulation, not getting frozen. I hope you cut the frayed part out immediately, or at least put something strong on top of it for now, like un-constructed cardboard boxes.

Keep checking and let us know.

 

[tammye]

I agree it is the carpet strings that cut off the circulation to his feet, poor guy, I'm sure they are still sore for him to walk on, I would keep him in a warm place for a few days if you live in a cold climate, he needs time to heal those feet so he does not lose them, any additional stress like freezing temps could affect his feet even more now that they are injured. I wonder if a warm, not hot, soak in a tub of water will help his feet, the warm water will help get his blood flowing. Put an antibiotic cream on any open wounds. Time to remove that carpet this will happen again since chickens scratch the floor!

 

[NewToFarming]

A warm soak, not hot could definitely help restore circulation to his feet again. That is what you really want to try to do so he doesn’t end up losing all or part of his feet. As long as it isn’t frostbite, massaging can help stimulate blood flow but that is not recommended for frostbite. It really sounds like it wasn’t frostbite and his circulation got cut off from the carpet string.