My poor rooster!

[janet2802]

I need advice from all of you experts out there. My poor rooster (who is only a year old) has a major problem with one of his feet. It looks like his center claw is "frozen" or atrophied extended. He can barely walk on it now and sits most of the time. He eats fine and clucks when he wants. When he does walk, he limps around. So, I am not sure what happened. The only thing I know was when I went into the coop a week ago and saw some blood on one of the bars. I thought one of the girls got her wing stuck on the chicken wire because one had a blood spot. I fixed the area and didn't notice anything until now. With the black on his comb, I am so worried about him. My husband thinks we should end his suffering, but he belongs to my two daughters and I wouldn't feel right about serving Crispy at dinner. Has anyone seen this before?

 

[ivan3]

Sorry about your roo. Would it be possible to post photos of his comb/feet?

 

[janet2802]

I will post them tomorrow. Thanks for your concern!

 

[janet2802]

Ok, got the images done. Hard to take a picture of a chicken at dinner time around our house. The girls all thought my camera was food. Crazy birds! So here are three images that I did take that were not blurry. From reading around though, I think he has frostbite (or had) on his crown. Not sure, but would love feedback. Also, what should I do about him and his poor foot!

Again, thank you all for your advice.

 

[d.k]

* Is he handlable?? You really need to check for wounds on his foot.

 

[janet2802]

That's the good thing about Crispy, he doesn't mind being carried around. So, look for scratches? Should I take him in?

 

[ivan3]

Janet, the comb looks to be frostbitten (but not a total loss), if you can keep it from being frozen again he might not lose too many tips. The leg is a mystery to me (but there are folks here who should be able to give you some pertinent advice). If I had to, I'd guess he might have been injured further up the leg/cold injury to foot/possible bumblefoot.

If he is still eating and drinking and not being picked on by the others I'd probably start by crushing 5 325mg. ASPIRIN (only) in a gallon of water. See if this improves his ability to get around.

Mr. Crispy, however, doesn't look near ready for the frying pan, yet!

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Has it been really cold there? It looks like he's got a case of frostbite.

 

[janet2802]

It has been cold here and the insulation on their coop was thrown away by my teenager because, in her word, "it got yucky with chicken poop". So if it is frostbite, then I will feel better. It is just the foot I am worried about.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Crispy, OY! LOL

Definitely frostbite on his comb.

As for his feet, they're being black makes a diagnosis harder.

If he has a black scab on the bottom of his foot, it's bumblefoot.

It looks like all the scales are gone off his middle toe; that could be from scaly leg mites.

If his foot was frostbitten all of the toes would show some damage.