Hurt Chicken. Toe gone!

[Lreiter3]

Hey guys! One of my chicks decide to go and cut her toe off in the coop. Must have caught it on the metal grate. What do I do?! HELP!

 

[rosemarythyme]

What have you done so far to treat it? Main concerns would be to staunch bleeding and prevent infection. Probably need some vetricyn to clean it up, then gauze and vetwrap to keep it clean and covered. Losing a toe shouldn't impact it too much, if it can heal up cleanly.

 

[aart]

Yikes @Lreiter3 !!
Alarming for sure.
How is the little amputee doing?
How old is it?
Pics of the wound would really help here.
What does the metal grate look like?
Might need to replace that.

 

[Lreiter3]

What have you done so far to treat it? Main concerns would be to staunch bleeding and prevent infection. Probably need some vetricyn to clean it up, then gauze and vetwrap to keep it clean and covered. Losing a toe shouldn't impact it too much, if it can heal up cleanly.

So an update. They all made it through the night. And by all I mean, yes 3 more did it. We were in the midst of running to the store to get plywood and came back to more injured babies. They are 6 weeks today. We have sepereated them for now. They are back in the brooding box. Gave them electrolytes. Have sprayed the wounds with antiseptic spray and bandaged what I could for now. Need to go get some vet tape.
Thank you guys!!!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Woah - 3 more cut off their toes?!

Sounds like you know specifically how/where it's happening?
Just out of curiosity, and to maybe help others in the future, when you're not busy bandaging chick feet, can you get a photo of the area or describe the item(s) that you think did the damage?

 

[Eggcessive]

Could they be losing toes to a rat possibly?

 

[Lreiter3]

So they definitely lost their toes due to the metal grate that we had in the bottom of the coop (so the poop would fall to the ground) See metal below

 

[aart]

So they definitely lost their toes due to the metal grate that we had in the bottom of the coop (so the poop would fall to the ground) See metal belowView attachment 2148352

Expanded metal... worse thing to use for a poultry floor.
Hope you got it out of there.
How's the toes?

 

[rosemarythyme]

So they definitely lost their toes due to the metal grate that we had in the bottom of the coop (so the poop would fall to the ground) See metal below

Sad to say I can see how that would easily happen with a grate like that... all the narrow areas in each diamond are potential toe traps, and if the bird panics, off with part of the toe.

A solid floor is the absolute safest. If you must use a wire grid, something with square openings should avoid the problems you've had.

 

[aart]

all the narrow areas in each diamond are potential toe traps

...and all edges of those holes are sharper than the dickens!<cringes>