Help! Ameraucana Hen Lost Part Of Her Toe!

[Patchesnposies]

We had a really bad wind storm here in the desert today and our coop door blew shut and I think one of our hens must have been in the doorway.

She lost one of her toes at the first knuckle. A tiny, little bit of the bone sticks out (at first I thought she lost a claw) and the whole toe looks slightly swollen. If she moves around too much it bleeds.

I cleaned it and put woundkote on it. She still has a great appetite and doesn't seem too unhappy right now. It seems to be quite tender.

She is inside the house in a small animal carrier to keep her from walking around too much. And to keep the others from pecking her.

Do I need to do anything else? Should I put alum on it to stop the bleeding? (ouch!) I put a bandaid around the stump and so far it is still on.

Should I put antibiotics in her water?

Has anyone else had a bird lose a toe? What did you do?

Thanks for any help!

Deb

 

[meriruka]

When I rescued my OEGB Boots from a coyote trap, she had lost several toes to frostbite & infection. I cleaned them, Neosporined and bandaged her feet , repeated every other day until healed. The vet gave me Baytril to stave off any infection.
I think your hen will be ok as long as you can keep infection out.
Good luck, I hope she recovers!

 

[Patchesnposies]

Thanks, Sam!

Did you keep your bird isolated until it was better or put it back with the flock? I know they are always so much happier when they are all together.

Is baytril something I can only get through the vet? Is it an oral antibiotic or topical? Can I get it at the feed store?

I appreciate your help. I love my girls and it makes my heart hurt that she (Granny) got injured like this.

Deb

 

[meriruka]

I kept her isolated, mainly because I didn't know if she had other illnesses as well. But the other birds will pick at the bandage (she probably will too) and you probably don't want her running around until she heals a bit.
Baytril has been pulled from the market (the stuff I had was given orally) because people were giving it to whole flocks indescriminately. It is similar to Cipro (human drug) and there was concern that overuse of Baytril would somehow lessen the efficacy of drugs like Cipro. Anyway, I'm sure there are other antibiotics available (First State Vet supply is a good source).
You may want to give it a few days and see if it improves on it's own, using plain Neosporin or something topical that won't harm chickens, if it gets worse, you could probably ask a vet or send a PM to DHunicorn, she was really helpful to me when I had sick/injured chickens.

 

[meriruka]

How's she doing?

 

[CovenantCreek]

I had a pullet lose a toenail last year -- by the time I saw her limping around the yard her leg was starting to turn green (not a good color for a sex-link). A week on Terramycin (then 2 more weeks of not using her eggs) did the trick. I think I was using 1 tsp per 2 qts of water. I would definitely recommend you use it rather than risk an infection since she does have an open wound.

 

[lurky]

I have a hen that has lost 2 . I think they get caught in between things and then the bird panics and rips it out. They do heal very well on their own. chickens are tough critters!!!!!

 

[Patchesnposies]

Thanks for asking, Sam!

Granny is doing great. (Granny is a misnomer since she isn't even a year old-we named her that because her beard tufts are grizzled.)

She is keeping her bandaid on which makes us happy. No more bleeding and the swelling seems to be going down.

She is still inside the house in a small animal carrier. She gets lots of love and attention from the kids and lots of treats, too. She hollers when we leave the room, its hilarious.

We have let her outside for an hour here and an hour there. None of the other animals have bothered her but I just feel better keeping her inside until I know that toe is healed over and there is no risk of infection.

It snowed here in the desert of southern NM last night and got down to 19 degrees. All of the barnyard fowl were perplexed by it. It was funny to watch them. I fed them hot oatmeal for breakfast and did they ever enjoy it!

I jokingly told my husband that when we put Granny back outside for good we'll probably find her somewhere trying to chop off another toe to get back inside!

Another question for you, though, since she is inside a rather dark carrier she is not laying eggs (she MAY have laid one when she was outside-not sure) will that be hard on her or cause her to be egg bound? Sorry if that is a dumb question!

Take Care! Deb

 

[silkiechicken]

Her egg system probably just stopped, so it won't hurt to start again. It may take a while, but nothing should get backed up since nothing is forming.

 

[clhbubba]

I hope your chickens toe heals quickly. Sounds like she is enjoying the special treatment though! Also wanted to say thanks about the tip to grind the chick starter into powder for my Serama babies. They love it and are eating great. Thanks.