How to treat an injured foot

[taprock]

This weekend we ended up with the blizzard conditions. During the storm the wind blew in snow and iced up our roosts. I noticed some blood on the roost in the area where the guineas usually hang out. I checked over all of their feet and couldn't find anything. Today my son told me one of their feet was bleeding. She has a crack on the bottom of her foot and it is red around it. How do you treat this type of injury? They have not been going out side at all this week so it is staying dry at this point.

 

[Judy]

Just ordinary first aid, clean it up and put some Neosporin or something similar on it. You could isolate him and try to keep a bandage on the foot, or just put him back and keep an eye on the foot. If it's not too severe he might even heal without treatment, but of course a little care would increase the chances, plus make him more comfortable, at least in his foot. I always think they don't want to be away from their flock; I've only isolated a chicken for an injury once, and then only for a day.

It's a shame animals can't tell us how much something hurts or what they would like done about it.

You might try vet wrap or even duct tape to keep a dressing on. You could also clean it up and put ointment on it but no dressing, then just keep a check on it, clean and reapply ointment once or twice a day.

Good luck to you both.