Rubber bands left on feet of chickens, has grown into legs (PHOTOS)

[RustyHen]

Hi - followed you over from other site you posted on, wanted to see this through with you. You and dd did good last nite.

be carefull of HP though too much can cause tissue damage if used after you get down to good flesh that is ready to heal.
Good Luck to you and the girls,
I'm going sub to this site, please give us updates

 

[okieinalaska]

Thank you all for your replies. Switcharoo is doing great. She spent the night and the day in a tub in my kitchen. She is eating and drinking well. I also gave her her first taste of scrambled egg, she tried a couple of bites but wasn't too crazy on it. I gave the rest to the other two and they liked it better.

When I got home today I soaked her foot again in epsom salts and applied neosporin on her foot and then some pirds ? black salve on the gauze wrapped her foot and used self stick medical tape to hold it on. It looks really good tonight.

I tried the foot thing but she was not able to bend her toes. Maybe it still hurts though so we shall see. I took her outside briefly and she loaded up on grit and sand. She was using her bad foot to scratch so it must not be too bad. I ended up putting some sand/gravel in a bowl for her and bringing her back in as she was very active with her bad foot and I wanted to keep it as clean as possible. How much grit do birds eat a day anyway? My three act like it's the best thing ever and load up on it!

Here in just a minute we are going to grab the third one and remove the band from her foot too. I hope it's not the worst of the three.

 

[okieinalaska]

We took out my son's chicken (Tagalong) and soaked her foot in epsom water a couple of times. Somewhere I had read about someone doing a chicken whisperer trick of laying the chicken on it's side and covering it's head with a towel. This worked pretty well although she fussed a bit when I had to dig.

With my dd's help once again we donned our surgical gloves and took up the scissors. The rubber band was much harder to find and it turned out it was actually overgrown with flesh. I pulled off the scab and found the band and cut it. When I pulled it, it broke. I managed to pull gently from the other side and pull it out through her leg. I am 99% sure I got it all.

We then soaked her foot some more in fresh epsom water then took her out again and debraided the scabby parts that were left over. I didn't use hydrogen peroxide this time, we used bandaid brand anitseptic wash just a squirt or two. Then covered her foot with reg. neosporin. Covered the gauze with the prids or pirds salve and taped it up.

She started preening right away. We moved Switcharoo back out to the kennel (in the heated garage) with the other one and put Tagalong in the Med kennel in the kitchen. She was very loud and chirping. She has finally quited down though. She ate quite a bit of scrambled egg.

I think her foot is the worst of the three I have. We will see how she is tomorrow but I feel like things are looking up and it's a relief to know the bands are gone.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Brain damage? Thats the ONLY excuse...

 

[RustyHen]

Wow you did great, I hope you got them all on the road to recovery now.

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[spiritdance]

Some people don't have the common sense God gave a slug, or they would know you NEVER NEVER NEVER sell, give away, etc. any bird with a leg or wing band!!! I'm so glad these girls ended up with someone observant and caring enough to save them. I look at your pics and can just imagine my own little gold laced girls in that plight, and I can't stand it! BTW, of all the cochins I have, the gold laced are the friendliest and most affectionate. I have two that will follow me around the yard and beg to be held, so you and your DD are in for a real special experience with your girls.

 

[NewHopePoultry]

Quote:
Guess Im a slug

Why dont you give away birds with a leg/wing band?

 

[okieinalaska]

I soaked their feet tonight and replaced the bandages. Here are photos of switharoos feet, not the best but not awful.

Tagalong's foot doesn't look as good. It has a little more tissue that looks bad, do I try to scrape that off? What about soft white dead skin right over the wound? Scrape off or leave alone?

I will try to get pics later of her foot. I am off to store to get antiobiotics from feed store.

here they are in the kitchen in a tub having a bit of leftover salad. They loved the feta cheese.

 

[redhen]

Wow... look at that poor things feet..

 

[melodie_a]

Those poor babies, that must have been so very painful for them. I am so glad that you found it when you did, they are very lucky that you came into their lives.

I hope that they heal fast!