Infected/Broken Toe: What to do?

[Chickmunk]

Alright.

So I have an Ameraucana hen, about three years old.​

She does have some scaly mite damage that I noticed and was going to treat, but then I noticed something else.
She seems to have a (broken?) infected toe, and I don't know what to do about it.
She's limping, and I need to kill the mites, but I don't want to mess with her feet any further and make it worse. A picture of her problem toe is below. I've soaked it in some iodine, and then some warm water and epsom salt, but other than that, I'm at a loss.

​

The mite damage is evident, and so is her toe, which is bright red near the nail, and the nail plus a portion of toe is flipped upwards.
Is there any way to fix it?
We don't take our birds to a vet, I'm the closest thing to one that'll I'll get, so if it just needs to be amputated, then I'm afraid I won't be able to do that properly.

Thank you for all and any help.
Chickmunk​

 

[henny1129]

I would treat for mites, even if it seems like you shouldn't be messing with the foot. The mites will eventually cause more damage, so it is a priority to get rid of them. Do you need how to treat for leg mites? If not, I can help if needed. Is the broken part of the toe able to move in anyway? If possible, I think you should try to splint it, but if it is stuck in that position, you might not be able to splint it. Make sure to keep the leg, foot, and especially the toe clean to prevent further infection.

 

[Chickmunk]

I would treat for mites, even if it seems like you shouldn't be messing with the foot. The mites will eventually cause more damage, so it is a priority to get rid of them. Do you need how to treat for leg mites? If not, I can help if needed. Is the broken part of the toe able to move in anyway? If possible, I think you should try to splint it, but if it is stuck in that position, you might not be able to splint it. Make sure to keep the leg, foot, and especially the toe clean to prevent further infection.

I do know how to treat the mites, yes, as I've had them badly for some time. The broken part is completely immovable and stiff. I've seperated her from the others to help keep the junk that could get in it to a minimum. I'm mainly just worried about infection and stopping it before it gets too deep into her foot. So i should just go ahead and treat the mites? Coating the foot and leg in vaseline and won't harm the toe?

 

[Eggcessive]

You may want to repeat the foot soaks daily with betadine or Epsom salts. A very sticky bandaid may help to keep debris out of it. Those get very sore until they heal. If it's hanging by a thread of skin, you may want to cut off the nail.
For the mites you could apply castor oil (or another oil or vaseline product) to the legs and feet once a week to smother the leg mites. Rub it under the scales well. Castor oil is cheap and less messy than vaseline.

 

[henny1129]

I do know how to treat the mites, yes, as I've had them badly for some time. The broken part is completely immovable and stiff. I've seperated her from the others to help keep the junk that could get in it to a minimum. I'm mainly just worried about infection and stopping it before it gets too deep into her foot. So i should just go ahead and treat the mites? Coating the foot and leg in vaseline and won't harm the toe?

As @Eggcessive said, you can use castor oil which is a lot less messy than Vaseline. You could also clean out the infected area everyday and each day apply a small injury wrap over the bent part to allow healing and prevent other nasty things from getting in there.

 

[Chickmunk]

You may want to repeat the foot soaks daily with betadine or Epsom salts. A very sticky bandaid may help to keep debris out of it. Those get very sore until they heal. If it's hanging by a thread of skin, you may want to cut off the nail.
For the mites you could apply castor oil (or another oil or vaseline product) to the legs and feet once a week to smother the leg mites. Rub it under the scales well. Castor oil is cheap and less messy than vaseline.

Okay, so the oil won't do anything to add further damage to the toe?
The toe is still very connected, but with a very open and clogged wound. Will the toe heal up with repeated foot soaks?
As for the mites, I can get rid of those easily, I just didn't want to mess anything else up with her toe.

 

[Kiki]

I do know how to treat the mites, yes, as I've had them badly for some time. The broken part is completely immovable and stiff. I've seperated her from the others to help keep the junk that could get in it to a minimum. I'm mainly just worried about infection and stopping it before it gets too deep into her foot. So i should just go ahead and treat the mites? Coating the foot and leg in vaseline and won't harm the toe?

Sorry about the poor toe..looks painful.

I have a quick question for ya.
If you have had mites badly for some time why have you not treated them?

 

[Chickmunk]

Sorry about the poor toe..looks painful.

I have a quick question for ya.
If you have had mites badly for some time why have you not treated them?

I'm trying to make sure she's in at least some comfort.

Because every time I've fixed them in my chickens, they always come back. They never stay away for long. We have really bad bug and parasite problems because my hens get roundworms often too. So I've been treating them, but nothing I've done really works.

 

[Eggcessive]

If you have problems with parasites or bugs, then you may need to treat all of the birds twice in a space of 7 days with permethrin, while also cleaning all of the bedding out of the coop, nests, and treat the roosts, nests, and coop with 10% permethrin spray. The spray or the garden dust can be used on the birds depending on the temperature. It may need to be treated weekly until bugs or lice eggsare gone. Don't treat for mites or lice unless you are seeing them on the birds. Leg mites are better treated by the oil on the legs once a week. Worming twice a year with Valbazen or SafeGuard Liquid goat wormer can help with a worm infestation. Either of those can be used once, and again in 10 days to treat both worms and their eggs. We can help with dosages. I will post some links to read in a bit on what to look for if you need that.

 

[Eggcessive]

Having a dust bathing area for the chickens can help with insect control. Permethrin is probably the safest insecticide to use around poultry. a bottle of concentrate will make many gallons for use in spraying the coop or birds. Here are a few articles on mites and lice and identification:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/08/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification.html
http://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8162.pdf