Help, 6 week old chick ripped toe almost off

[sillycmoy]

I just went out to lock the girls up for the first time in the coop tonight, and my one barred rock was screaming, thought maybe because it was dark. Have no idea what she could have done,(they are in an 8 ft by 8 ft fully enclosed run with 1 inch chicken wire) but its completely severed off, but is being held on by a very white thin string looking thing, assuming bone? I forgot to take a photo before I wrapped it up to stop the bleeding. But the whole rest of the toe literally is not attached. I washed it off really good, and put non-pain reliever Neosporin on it, then wrapped it with white dressing and taped it with medical tape. She was so good the whole time, just laid in my lap and let me do it, never pecked me once. I really don't know how much its bugging her either, she is on her perch in the house, and was walking just fine. But what can I do. Do I need to take her to a Vet or will it just fall off on its own and heal? Do I need to keep it wrapped up, I don't know what to do. I feel stupid that I didn't take a photo, but I was just tending to her before I thought if it.

Please help!

 

[countrygoddess]

That's a tendon that is holding the end of the toe on. What I would do is cut it with scissors cleaned with alcohol, then apply Neosporin again like you did, then wrap real well with gauze and tape (try to put the tape over the end so there is pressure on the open part, then just keep an eye on her. It likely will heal. I'm not sure how her gait will be, but she will probably overcome the disability. Just keep a close eye to make sure that dressing doesn't get real dirty or come off. Keep her indoors in "chicken hospital" for a day or so until it's feeling better; some place where she is forced to just take it easy.

 

[sillycmoy]

Should I run to the store and buy some Blue Kote[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif], not really sure what that is, but after reading some other posts that's what others said to put on it? [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Found out what she did, so today I'm getting some hardware cloth, and re-doing the bottom of the run, I don't want this to happen again. She must have been digging in the corner where we wrapped 1 inch chicken wire around a pole, so its somewhat looser in that area, or I should really say like a very small gap if that makes sense, and there is blood all over that area, so I wonder if she was scratching right there and caught her toe, and just kept pulling it out, I don't know. But my husband said that even with the hardware cloth there she still could have done it, but I don't care, I'm going to wrap with twice with this on the inside of the run, so that way there won't be that very small gap between the pole and the bottom board. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Thanks, I'm hoping she will be okay, I just have to get brave enough to cut it off, I just don't want to hurt her. [/FONT]

 

[Irishgirl]

If the toe is just attached with a tendon, amputating the toe should not hurt her. There was a lady who had to take off her chook's foot because of frost bite + gangrene, but last I heard the chicken was doing fine. They really are hardy creatures, and adapt pretty well.
I hope she gets better soon!

 

[sillycmoy]

I don't have the heart to do it, today she is walking all over the place in the dog crate, crying because I think she is lonely and wants out. She is eating and drinking just fine. She did tear off the bandage, and its all crusted over and she has a bent toe. I'm going to wait till my husband comes home for lunch so he can help hold her so we can get it done, but I'm wondering, do you think it will just skin back over if I just leave it, and she will just have a bent toe?

 

[sillycmoy]

So a friend came by, and we soaked her foot in warm water to loose up the dried blood, and it was only attached by the tendon. Poor chick didn't even make a noise the whole time we were moving her toe around. She is such an angel, she just laid in my arms the whole time. So we both decided it would be best for her to just have it removed, because there was nothing else to do. So I got really good sharp scissors, and cleaned them up good, and cut right through the white tendon. She didn't move, and there wasn't even any blood. I was sure she was going to start bleeding like crazy, and screaming like we were killing her. So I just put a bunch of Neosporin on it, and wrapped it up good. She still has on that bandage right now, and is sleeping on her perch in the wired dog crate. She doesn't really like walking around with the bandage on, so I will be taking it off in the morning, unless she has ripped it off.

My question now is, do I need to give her Meds, and what, and where to get them. Or do I need to take her to a Vet to get them?

 

[countrygoddess]

No, I think since you cleaned it all up and put on the Neosporin it'll be fine. It'll heal over and she'll just have a missing toe. Cutting the tendon didn't hurt her and it didn't bleed because there are no nerves or blood vessels in them. In fact, it probably feels better having the toe off because as it's pulled and moved around, she'll feel discomfort WITHIN the stump. So rest assured that she most likely feels much better now.

 

[sillycmoy]

She's doing just fine. I'm actually thinking of letting her out in the run tomorrow since it looks pretty much all closed up. She has been mad in the house. She will be the only one out there, which is sad. I might put out my other BR chick with her, that chick is 5 weeks, and this one is almost 7 weeks. I hope they will be okay together, its just she really is so much bigger. They were all together at first but she just got way too big to be with 9 babies, so I took her out. She hasn't been with them for about 2 weeks now. But the other BR is almost fully feathered, and its going to be about 70 tomorrow, so I figured I would let the 5 week old out as well for a few hours in the nice sun.

 

[countrygoddess]

I'm glad she's doing well!

 

[sillycmoy]

Thanks. She is outside all day long with the other 9 chicks, and is just as happy as can be.