My horse damaged a chickens foot!! Update and question

[jacyjones]

Ok - a few days ago the horse stepped back onto a chickens foot. Not her fault, the chickens insist on walking underneath her!! So - the injury was scraped off scales and no other outwards symptoms. I cleaned and bandaged the wound with antiseptic cream on. That was taken off the next day and the wound is looking really good. The foot became swollen and warm and she is not putting weight on it. I am keeping her in a separate shed and letting her out for short periods. My question is - should she be resting it or should she be trying to use it? I held an icepack on it this afternoon and she was happy to let me do that. She is now roaming in the tack room but I don't know whether I should stop her trying to move or encourage it. What do you think?

 

[soctippy]

Short of an obvious abnormality on the foot, you can't tell if it is broken. All the care you have given so far looks good so I would say keep her separated from every one in a small cage (like a dog cage) where she has a little room to move around but not much. Movement is gemeraly good for an injury because it keeps the blood moving in the affected area. Then just watch her and see how she is doing, if it is broken it may be a couple weeks before she starts bearing weight on it again. Hope this helps.

 

[jacyjones]

Quote:
That is really helpful, thank you. She is accepting her confinement well so I suppose that is her body's way of healing itself. I hope she does ok - we have had her several years and she still lays quite often.