My Chicken lost a toe and now she won’t walk

[Lusee_Wags]

I've had a hen go through auto-amputation of a damaged talon. What happens is first the talon is damaged, then the tissue behind it swells up as the immune system cuts off blood supply to the damaged tissue, then the damaged talon turns black, dries up and falls away. You said you helped the last part by severing the final attachment. That's what I did.

Then the stump slowly heals and the swelling eventually subsides. The whole point of chickens having this immune response is so that a damaged extremity doesn't rot and cause an infection. It's actually a pretty nifty thing if you think about it.

The feet and legs look fine to me. I see no infection. They look as they should given what is happening with her immune system response to a damaged toe. You can assist healing by giving her daily soaks in warm Epsom salt water and spray the stump with Vetericyn. Give her aspirin if she appears to be in pain and try to figure out a place for her to sleep comfortably and safely without having to roost.

Thanks! I’ll go out and get those things. Now I have some hope that she will recover!

 

[Lusee_Wags]

Thanks for the suggestions. She seems to be doing a little bit better. She now wants to get out of the coop. She has way more energy than before. I will definitely put your suggestions into consideration! Thank you!

 

[peckpeckpeck]

Glad to hear she's feeling better!

As @azygous suggests, an epsom salt bath is really healing. My girls sometimes nod off to sleep while they're soaking & also love the blowdry afterwards.