Mangled and necrotic toe please help! Just found my roo limping this AM. The brown is tissue not poop it’s his tissue!

[Suzanne Buseski]

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[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

Does it have a bad odor?

If it were my bird, I would soak and clean the foot very well. Wipe down the toe with Hibiclen (Chlorhexidine). Let dry well, then apply triple antibiotic ointment. Wrap the foot and keep the bird on clean dry bedding. I would wait a day, then unwrap, inspect the toe looking for signs of infection or to see if it's healing, then repeat the process.
If you note infection, more swelling, the bird becomes lethargic, etc. let us know, but if at that point, the foot needs tending to daily.

Any idea how he injured it? Likely he will lose the toenail and probably the tip of his toe.

If you have vet care, of course that would be best.

 

[Suzanne Buseski]

Welcome To BYC

Does it have a bad odor?

If it were my bird, I would soak and clean the foot very well. Wipe down the toe with Hibiclen (Chlorhexidine). Let dry well, then apply triple antibiotic ointment. Wrap the foot and keep the bird on clean dry bedding. I would wait a day, then unwrap, inspect the toe looking for signs of infection or to see if it's healing, then repeat the process.
If you note infection, more swelling, the bird becomes lethargic, etc. let us know, but if at that point, the foot needs tending to daily.

Any idea how he injured it? Likely he will lose the toenail and probably the tip of his toe.

If you have vet care, of course that would be best.

 

[Suzanne Buseski]

Thank you! I think one of my horses may have stepped on him. He has no fear around them and gets right under them when they eat their grain to get leftovers. It’s definitely infected dead tissue. I currently have him in a dog cage in basement and am soaking 4x daily with Epsom salts. Last night I went to Farm and Fleet and purchased injectable antibiotics. I am sure he’s going to lose the toe just hope he can live and want to make sure he doesn’t have to suffer.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you! I think one of my horses may have stepped on him. He has no fear around them and gets right under them when they eat their grain to get leftovers. It’s definitely infected dead tissue. I currently have him in a dog cage in basement and am soaking 4x daily with Epsom salts. Last night I went to Farm and Fleet and purchased injectable antibiotics. I am sure he’s going to lose the toe just hope he can live and want to make sure he doesn’t have to suffer.

What antibiotic were you able to get?

Poor guy, hopefully with the daily soaks and your care you can get rid of the infection.
Is he alert, eating/drinking? No lethargy?
Any other injuries?

If it's infected, I would still try to find some Hibiclens or Betadine/Povidone Iodine to soak/clean the foot with as well. Maybe once a day or every other day since you are soaking 4X a day.

As for him losing the tip of the toe, if you get the infection under control and he has no other health issues, he should be fine and adapt easily. Chickens are resilient. There's been many threads here on BYC where birds have had severe frostbite and lost all whole toes or multiple toes (died/dried up and fell off) and they are still doing fine.

Keep us posted on how he's doing.

 

[Cluckstar]

I am a nurse. When dealing with necrotic tissue, it's best to keep it as dry as possible. Betadine/Povidone Iodine is great for this. I would paint the whole wound with it once daily and wrap it in clean, dry gauze to prevent it from coming in contact with any outside bacteria/pathogens.

Were you able to get an antibiotic? I think this is a good choice to get just in case it is infected. Are you able to keep him separated from the rest of the flock? You don't want anyone pecking at his bandages.

Not entirely related, but I rescue pet fancy rats here and there. Back in November, one came to me with a wounded toe. I was using antibiotic ointment and dosing her with pain medications from the vet. It turned necrotic, so I switched gears to Betadine and painted her foot each morning and night. After about 4 weeks, the foot was dried enough and it fell off. She never got infected and almost a year later she is a happy, healthy rat.