Frozen Foot

[drmamabeal]

Any suggestions on what to do then? She's an outside chicken, though she's not the smartest apple in the bunch.

my point being, she will most likely have problems with frost bite again. Could we cover it with something? Put a sock around it to insulate?

 

[drmamabeal]

Any suggestions on what to do then? She's an outside chicken, though she's not the smartest apple in the bunch.

my point being, however the frozen foot happened, it will most likely happen again. Should I be covering it with something? We did have her wearing a sock a few weeks ago because she had a cut. That seemed to work. how do you get them back outside without more frostbite happening?

 

[aart]

Here's recent thread about frozen feet, there are other threads linked in there that might also be helpful.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/urgent-frozen-feet.1288799/

 

[Eggcessive]

She needs to be brought in to thaw the foot as posted by others. If the foot is frozen she could lose it. If you bring her inside to treat it, you might be able to save it if is not frozen totally. Wet conditions or high humidity can lead to frostbite. Betadine or cholhexidene are good to use on frostbitten tissue if you bring her inside. Do not massage or rub her foot or it could damage it further. It may take weeks or months to see how much damage has occurred.

Do you know if she could have stepped into a water bowl? I would look around the coop, and make sure there are no spills or pans of water, or metal roosting spots, since others can get frostbite. Here is some reading about treatment for frostbite:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/frostbit-in-backyard-chickens-causes/

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/frostbite

 

[drmamabeal]

it's literally frozen with all her toes open. As if she fell asleep standing on one foot. Really strange. She's not the smartest chicken. None of the other chickens seem to have any issues.

 

[PirateGirl]

Unfortunately areas that have frostbite/have been frozen are prone to problems in the future as circulation is permanently compromised.

If you bring her inside to thaw her foot, I would plan on keeping her inside in a box or dog kennel or something for at least a week or two, or until weather improves. You will need to watch once the foot thaws and she starts losing the necrotic tissue to be sure infection doesn't set in as well.

She may lose toes or the leg, she may regain some function, only time will tell. The fact that she is able to hobble around and get up to roost is a good thing for now.

Take a look at some of the reading others have provided and hopefully she can heal up and adapt.

 

[drmamabeal]

Here's a few pictures of her feet. They are warm and mobile but she won't completely close the foot that was frozen. (Right foot is the one that was frozen). Looks like it's peeling on the bottom of the R foot. Some bleeding between the toes. Should I soak them? Or leave it to see what happens? First two pics are of the left foot which I see some damage. Second two pics are of the right foot.

 

[PirateGirl]

Is the color of the legs the normal color for this bird?

Regarding the left foot, do you see where the skin changes to white on each toe? This is how far the damaged tissue extends. In a few days take another photo that you can compare to see if it spreads further up the toes to the foot. If it is limited to where it is currently I would expect she might lose the nail (or more) from the two worst toes on this foot. The nail may or may not ever grow back, I suspect not, but this is not a big deal.

On the right foot, the damage clearly extends to the joint where the toes meet the foot. Circulation to the toes is severely compromised and because of that, she is in danger of losing those toes. If you can keep her inside on a towel or something other than dirt/pine shavings for a bit, that would be good. You don't want anything getting into the wound as the skin peels that can introduce infection. It's kinda a wait and see period now.

I'm not sure about continued or repeated soaking at this point. Hopefully someone else can advise you on that. Fingers crossed she make a good recovery. I hope she is eating and drinking as normal now.

 

[Eggcessive]

She looks like she will lose all toes on the right foot and probably a toe tip and half a toe on the legt foot. She may be able to still get around okay. It can take a month or more for toes to come off. I would use some betadine on her toes. Soaking her feet is probably not necessary at this point, since it happened a while ago.

 

[BYCforlife]

How large are your roosts? A flat and wide roost is best in my opinion, because your chickens can completely cover their toes when sleeping. As others have said, she will never have good circulation in that foot, so I would recommend making your roosts wider.