hen with frost bite feet need help asap!!

[dlhunicorn]

agree with earlier posting from AK... you can't reverse tissue die off... however, the degree of your birds damage has not been established.
The best thing I think you can do is to bring the bird in untill the entire process of healing has completed... might be a bit long term, but antibiotics or other medicinal products are of limited use when compared with keeping the bird in a temp stable and warm environment until healing of the damaged tisses is finished.

 

[therealsilkiechick]

yes she is in the house with me in the liveing room in with a couple silkie babies about 3mths old, in a large brooder. the liveingroom is the warmest room of the house and the babies are to keep her company they have been snuggleing with her all day. so she has good little ones to brood with, they are leaveing her alone except to snuggle sometimes.

well after much looking at her she is definately going to lose a whole left foot about half inch below the leg joint. the right foot she will loose all toes except the 4th and 5th toe and will loose about half of her foot. it has already for the most part died and is now black all her toes hit by the frostbite are dead. the parts that are black are all parts i saw stuck in ice when i broke her free anything not in ice has no damage to it. i gave her a bath and blow dried her and clean her feet real good with saline. where the dead skin and new skin are touching the new skin is trying to heal and grow over the dead. i gently removed some of the dead skin so far down on both legs little bits at a time. i figure let it heal as much as possible on it's own but i didn't want it to rot or cause more damage with new tissue growing over the bad dead skin. it was trying to heal with dead inbetween the good still there and the new tissue forming. it is now removed so it can continue to heal propery. she never moved or felt it she layed in my lap cooing and it was healed under neath with nice new tissue. i coated her feet with bagbalm and wrapped them good with cotton and taped them.

we have also been giveing her antibiotics in her water, i got asprin from my mom, vitamins and electrolyts(sp) in there also(she gets this mixture when she is out with me not when she is in with the babies it's plain water in the brooder). her feed is in front of her with her waterer beside her so she doesn't have to get up to eat it's all right there. her poo is still fine and she has been eating and drinking great with full crops. she is useing her wings to help walk and balance but kept going backwards alot but i tapped her feet with enough cotton to keep her from moveing so much. she is haveing a heck of a time with her feet snagging as she walks since they are straight as a bored and stiff and she can't feel them since they are dead. i figured it's best to keep her from getting up and putting weight on them as much as possible to help them mend as they need too and to make it as less stressfull as possible.

i haven't found the pepper yet so i have been holding her while i watch tv or play on the comp and massageing her legs and feet where i can that i know don't bother her as some parts are close to seperating but i don't want them to snag or rip off since they are still attached to the good that didn't get hit by the frostbite. right now she is with the babies sleeping she just got done eating and has a full crop again so she is resting. i did not see any infection at all but we started her on antibiotics just incase she may have a secondary infection we can't see. i will change her bandages in the morning and let you know how she is doing.

thank you all so much for being here for snow and i. it really means alot. i have been crying since yesterday it is really hard to see her like that and she is like one of my kid's and was worse when i was cleaning her up but i knew i had to to help her, i could not bare the thoughts of looseing her. i think she will fully recover once everything has fallen off and had time to mend as long as she doesn't get any infections. however i honestly don't think she will ever walk again. she is still my girl and i love her to pieces so no matter what we're in this together for the long run.
hugs,
silkie

 

[dlhunicorn]

you should not mix the antibiotics AND the electrolytes together in the same waterer...

Do not the damaged tissues...treat as if it were a burn...here is some more info for you:
http://www.thecapsulereport.com/sa18,1-3.htm
Frostbitten tissues should be rapidly warmed. Immerse the affected part in water of 104-108 degrees F for at least 20 minutes or until thawing is complete. Dry heat should not be used. Never rub or massage the tissues. Application of soft, dry bandages to the injured part is required to protect the area from self-infliction or other trauma. Cage rest is required to reduce injury. Analgesics must be given as this injury is extremely painful. Topical antiseptics may help prevent infection of necrotic tissue or ruptured blisters. Prophylactic antibiotics are not recommended. Culture of an infected wound and sensitivity should be performed to select the appropriate antibiotic. Should the wound on a distal limb become superficially infected, topical administration of sugar with daily rinsing and bandaging until cleared (usually 3 days) works very well. Surgical management should be delayed until spontaneous amputation of necrotic tissue has occurred and is complete. Definitive surgical management is based on the individual injury. Heparin or low-molecular weight dextrans have not proven beneficial. Karol Mathews, DVM 83rd - WI VMA Conference Proceedings

 

[therealsilkiechick]

she is up walking a little today and her bandages showed no drainage, which was good to see. she is still eating and drinking really well. her feet are looking better colored on the new and good skin today better than yesterday with more color in them. she seems to want to be up and about more today too and socializeing more with the babies and us. it's good to see her more like herself again.

 

[picklespickles]

we used to put red pepper in our socks in the cold winters. it did irritate the skin enough to make them feel warmer. don't know if it's relevent to chickens or not.

 

[fallenweeble]

if she's up and walking a bit that seems like a good sign. i wouldn't let her do too much moving around at this point though. dlhunicorn posted a really good synopsis of care! i would pay close attention to the part about analgesics. i know that people talk about putting asprin in drinking water for chickens but i don't know the formula to do this safely - can someone post it here?
if nothing else you want to make sure that she is in as little pain as possible while she recovers. she sounds like she is very dear to you. these learning experiences are so hard and yet very, very effective. you will be an "expert" on chickens and frostbite by the end of this and if it ever happens again you will know, precisely, how to handle it. that's the positive side here right?
okay, hang in there.

 

[Pinenot]

How is your girl???

 

[therealsilkiechick]

she is still alive and doing well.

she is getting to where the dead skin is shedding on her feet so she hasn't been walking around to much as i have been keeping her feet wrapped up in dry bandages. otherwise she is stumbling alot and i don't want her to hurt herself worse and it helps keep everything off of her feet till they heal. she has been useing her wings to balance when she needs too but i hold her alot so she is not about trying to walk so much. with her starting to loose her feet her balance is way off so i don't want her stressing anymore than she needs to be.

snow hasn't had any infections and is doing great all things considered. when i changed the brooder bedding a few hours ago she flapped the heck out of me,lol so she must be feeling better and is getting stronger more like herself. she is eating and drinking really good still. the babies in with her love her up all the time so i'm happy they have taken to her to keep her company. i love her up all the time too and snuggle with her she's still my baby girl even as big as she is,lol. she is so beautiful and is only about 9mths old if i remember right. it's such a shame she had to go through all this but i'm very thankful she is still here with us and i thank god everyday for another good day with her. it will be a very long recovery road ahead but i think she will make it just fine as long as she keeps going the way she has been.

thanks so much for asking about her, i'll keep ya all posted.
silkie

 

[therealsilkiechick]

UPDATE ON SNOW: snow is alive and doing great!!! her feet detached enough to amputate the last of the dead skin and the dead bone. it was really gross but i knew it's what i had to do to help her through this sever case of frostbite since it did so much damage and killed so much tissue.

she now has a stub on one leg it had to be amputated about 1/2" above her one foot. the other she has a good half of her foot and we saved 2 toes her 4th and 5th toes and she lost from there down that had to be amputated as well. she can't walk but she uses her wings for support so she still gets around some on her own. we carry her around and love her up all the time. she has been seperated from the brooder babies to help her recover better so she's not bummed around so much cause they love to snuggle her. she shows no infection, new pink skin and although the biggest healing proccess just started is looking fantastic in just a shrt time.

i was going to post pics through it all but it was way to nasty to see so after it heals some more i'll take nice pics of her feet to show how much she has recovered. for now here is a pic of my snow taken a few minutes ago. she will always be a house chicken now and is very spoiled and we are so thankful she is alive and doing well!! i didn't realize it till i uploaded the pic she looks yellow but she is pure white it's the cam flash from being so close.
silkie

 

[jckbohlken]

I need some help with frozen feet too. I have never had this problem before and we have had birds for almost ten years. I have a hen that is one of my bothers 4 H cochin hen and I needd some advise. When it happened we move her and a friend into the garage cage, a little warmer,but not too much change o shock her. Thought she might loose a toe, but her feet just fell off. She is still really healthy. The leggs are healthing well. My boys are carrying her too a lard pen when warm. We have carpeted the cage and gave her vit.s. My husband is not like this and thinks we should that care of her! It has been a very hard time for my children.What can I do?