help- Guinea with swollen toe, too far gone to save?

[RIRedMama]

I have a guinea hen (or rooster, its so hard to tell), that has a severe swollen toe and is missing two toenails. I noticed a couple weeks ago that its foot look larger, but it was happy and flying/foraging, and I didn't think much of it. Yesterday I noticed a limp, and it had trouble getting into the coop. It was also about 10 degrees outside so I thought that might be part of it. I picked it up and locked it up for the night with the other chickens/guineas. This morning I went out to let them out and noticed it couldn't even get up, and it had been laying in its own mess all night. It literally can't get up and doesn't appear to be eating or drinking. I noticed one of the other guineas pecked at it this morning too. I will now seperate it from the rest so they don't pick on it.

I have read on here that its possible to ambutate the foot, but I can't do that myself. Should I call a vet, or at this point is it too far gone to save? Should I put it down so it doesn't suffer?

 

[MIghtyClucks]

Can you take a look and see if there are any black, scab-like markings on the pad of her foot or toes?

 

[RIRedMama]

I will check that when I get home from work. I heard that is typical with bumblefoot. I have been trying to figure out if they can recover after they are having this difficult of a time getting up. Have you heard of any that can recover after they are that infected?

 

[Eggcessive]

It sounds more like your chicken has suffered frostbite on her toes, which can happen if they step in water while the temperatures are below freezing. The pictures below may help you to tell if it is frostbite, especially showing the swollen skin above the part that may fall off. When the tips of toes are frostbitten, they fall off.

 

[MIghtyClucks]

One of my girls was hobbling around when we noticed that she had a little black circle on the bottom of her pad.
It was infected to the point that her toe/foot started to swell and the scales were a bit nasty and falling off. We had her separated to keep her protected from the outdoors (it was very rainy/muddy at this time) and to get a little TLC.
I did end up taking her to the vet because it was over our heads to try and fix naturally, as I always try to go the natural route vs. antibiotics, but it was necessary for her to heal correctly and in as little pain as possible.
She was put on antibiotics for 10 days and it cleared up- she lost half her toe, though. Now, she's happy, healthy, and livin' it up.

I would definitely give the guinea some water via syringe- try and drop small amounts right on his/her beak so that s/he drinks naturally instead of trying to force it down his/her throat.
You could make some scrambled eggs to encourage eating and for some extra strength and protein. (At least, that's what I do for the chickens).

http://fresheggsdaily.com/2012/03/bumblefoot.html Here is a link from Fresh Eggs Daily that could be helpful if it is bumblefoot. A couple of ways to handle it before anything invasive.

I would also research guinea fowl and leg injuries?

Keep us posted!

 

[RIRedMama]

Thanks for all the advice. Yesterday the guinea was eating and drinking normally. I dropped pedia lyte into her water and she drank quite a bit. However, today she looks even worse. I notice both of her feet are very swollen and club-like. She seems to have no control over them. There are also no black scabs on her feet or anything that looks like frostbite. This has me stumped. I tried to take a picture but it was so traumatic and she was shaking I gave up. I am thinking at this point i should just put her down to stop the suffering

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your chicken. Several things besides frostbite and bumblefoot can cause swelling in the feet, such as gout and mycoplasma synoviae. A picture will help a lot to help diagnose it. If you can get a picture with her on the roost tonight, she might be less stressed. You have to do what you feel is best for her.

 

[MIghtyClucks]

Thanks for all the advice. Yesterday the guinea was eating and drinking normally. I dropped pedia lyte into her water and she drank quite a bit. However, today she looks even worse. I notice both of her feet are very swollen and club-like. She seems to have no control over them. There are also no black scabs on her feet or anything that looks like frostbite. This has me stumped. I tried to take a picture but it was so traumatic and she was shaking I gave up. I am thinking at this point i should just put her down to stop the suffering

Poor thing Another idea may be to soak her feet in warm water with epsom salts. If she's inside and separated now, you can give her a warm epsom salt bath and dry her with a hairdryer after-
it sounds silly, but they actually like it.
The epsom salt baths may help draw out infection and make her a bit more at ease.