Hen with foot injury

[birdmanjr]

ive recently taken in a young hen from a nearby breeder who had somehow gotten string from a tarp wrapped around her foot. It got wrapped when she was young and has grown into here skin and I’m pretty sure bone. It’s around 1 toe but she’s a silkie so her feet aren’t exactly the most pristine thing in the world. It’s a very large toe. The guy said she was walking on it fine for awhile but now she is just laying down. She stands up on one leg and Tries to hop around to no success. She isn’t walking at all. I have here in a dog crate with food water and fresh hay after i rinsed I️t with soapy water, but i don’t know what to do from here. I don’t want to cull her she is a beautiful and friendly bird.

 

[FishMtFarm]

Sounds like you need a vet cause if it’s wrapped to the bone, and its causing pain all of a sudden, it’s probably infected and infection in the bone requires amputation. That’s Kristal nd of expensive for a chicken so you should really weigh out if she’s worth it to you or not. Bless your heart for trying to help her.

 

[birdmanjr]

Sounds like you need a vet cause if it’s wrapped to the bone, and its causing pain all of a sudden, it’s probably infected and infection in the bone requires amputation. That’s Kristal nd of expensive for a chicken so you should really weigh out if she’s worth it to you or not. Bless your heart for trying to help her.

I appreciate that. It really breaks my heart, but i do not have the finances to take her to the vet. Is there any way to do the amputation at home safely? And would you quality of life even be near good?

 

[townchicks]

If you cannot take her to the vet, first step is to remove the string, if you haven't already. You will have to dig for it, and get all of it. This is likely going to need a helper to hold the chick. Have supplies ready. You'll need betadine to clean the wound, styptic powder such as Quik Stop, to stop bleeding, and Neosporin (without pain ingredients) to apply to the wound. Bandages, non stick telfa pads and vet wrap to keep it clean afterwards. !/2 a baby aspirin for pain would be good. Do not try to amputate the toe. It may fall off on it's own, but the most important thing is to get the string out.
Clean the toe well first with betadine, use a sharp pointy scissors (disinfected first by soaking in alcohol) to dig down to the string and cut it. You may have to pull off some scab to get to the string. Once you get the string out, rinse it with betadine and put pressure on it to stop bleeding. If that doesn't stop bleeding, then apply styptic powder. Then apply neosporin and bandage with non stick pad and vet wrap to hold that on. Just wrap the whole foot. Keep the chick warm and inside to keep the foot clean. A drop or 2 of nutridrench before and after may help boost the chick. Change the bandage and clean the wound daily. Antibiotics would be good if you can get them, we can't, here ,w/o a prescription so I don't know if you can.
The chick may already be septic, and this will be hard on it, so prepare yourself. But without getting the string out, she has little chance. However, if she survives, even if she loses the toe, she should have fine quality of life. It's worth trying, IMO.

 

[FishMtFarm]

Sounds like it’s been in there for months tho and if you don’t even have a local anesthetic then I wouldn’t do it. That’s gonna be painful if down to the bone and been there for months. Proper way is under anesthesia. If it had only been on there for weeks I would say try it. Can you get the feathers plucked around the wound and get a photo?

 

[townchicks]

Proper way is under anesthesia

Yes, that's true, but OP states that a vet is not an option. Yes, it's gonna hurt, but without getting that string out, it will get necrotic, if it's not already and the chick will die.

 

[FishMtFarm]

Yes I understand the vet is not an option, that’s why it should be put down. Inflicting serious pain with no guarantees and no experience is cruel. I have birds I love but I myself wouldn’t take that on. Working with possible bone is gonna be painful, boarderline shocky.

 

[birdmanjr]

Upon closer inspection the toe is about to fall off soon. She is still eating and drinking. I think I️t should fall off within a day or too. I washed I️t again, and put some antiseptic and neosporin on it and now she’s back in her cage.

 

[birdmanjr]

From looking I’d say it’s been there for about a month and a half, but she’s in that stage of growth where they just double in size so it’s really deep. I moved the toe around a little bit to clean I️t out with saline and it’s not attached by much. I’m hoping I️t will fall off and i can deal with I️t from there.