Urgent Frostbite Aftercare

[centrarchid]

They are warm and flexible, but he’s not acting himself (most our roos aren’t handleable). Colour is basically normal minus the red

View attachment 3392457

Feet appear swollen to my eye. Not a good sign. If toes are warm because they have circulation, then that is good. Warmth caused by bird sitting on his feet is not informative.

 

[Poodlemum]

He’s been standing for a while now and they’re still warm But tons of blisters are still forming. If he has a chance to recover, I’ll baby him along. I just don’t want him to suffer

 

[Eggcessive]

As long as he is inside where it is warm enough, it might be helpful to soak his feet in warm saline or Epsom salts, even weak betadine, or chlorhexidene once a day. Leave blisters alone, don’t break them. If he is not inside above freezing, then do not do that, just leave it alone. It does look more serious today. You will be able to tell in a week or two, if he will lose toes or feet.

 

[Eggcessive]

In post 1 in the third picture, you can see where there can be both pink and black tissue on the feet. This chicken lost most of both feet unfortunately:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help-prevent-frostbite.843501/

 

[Poodlemum]

In post 1 in the third picture, you can see where there can be both pink and black tissue on the feet. This chicken lost most of both feet unfortunately:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/help-prevent-frostbite.843501/

Aside from the blistering, Kevin’s definitely look and feel really good. My expectations from hearing about frostbite (and from one of the roo’s comb last time we had negative temps, but nowhere near this extreme) was the black with white tissue. Hopefully this dumbass isn’t too badly affected mobility wise. He’s pretty happy in his little pen, living the sweet life in our kitchen. Hopefully he will let me soak them

 

[Poodlemum]

Kevin has been a polite and happy house guest, but I’m wrapping up loose ends before a trip and need to figure out instructions to leave for him. He appears to have movement in the toes to grip, nothing looks black like some of the combs are becoming (thought we’d avoided that, but some very minor tips are turning up). What should I tell my chicken tenders to watch out for or if he can go outside before we’re back in March?

 

[Razzlefrazzle]

Kevin has been a polite and happy house guest, but I’m wrapping up loose ends before a trip and need to figure out instructions to leave for him. He appears to have movement in the toes to grip, nothing looks black like some of the combs are becoming (thought we’d avoided that, but some very minor tips are turning up). What should I tell my chicken tenders to watch out for or if he can go outside before we’re back in March?

View attachment 3397586

His feet are looking pretty good, but I think it will be another week or two until you will be able to know for sure if he's going to lose toes. The "index" toe on his right foot looks a little darker than the others... Nothing you or your chicken sitters can do but wait and see.

All in all it's probably safer to keep him inside while you are gone, but if it's just him alone all day for weeks he might get lonely and depressed. If he were mine I'd be letting him out with the flock during nice weather (provided reintegration went well and no one was bullying him) and keep him inside at night/during freezing weather, but not sure if that is an option with your chicken sitters.

 

[Poodlemum]

His feet are looking pretty good, but I think it will be another week or two until you will be able to know for sure if he's going to lose toes. The "index" toe on his right foot looks a little darker than the others... Nothing you or your chicken sitters can do but wait and see.

All in all it's probably safer to keep him inside while you are gone, but if it's just him alone all day for weeks he might get lonely and depressed. If he were mine I'd be letting him out with the flock during nice weather (provided reintegration went well and no one was bullying him) and keep him inside at night/during freezing weather, but not sure if that is an option with your chicken sitters.

Thanks! This is our first time with frostbite and it couldn’t be at a worse time My parents are watching our 5 kids and one of our dogs, so I don’t want to put too much on them. My dad keeps guineas and I don’t worry about feed/water, etc. But if we let Kevin out, there’s no way to catch him unless he’s seriously injured again. When he hears Karen crowing, he cries back The two of them just kind of exist in their own world, but no one picks on them luckily

 

[Eggcessive]

I would probably leave him out in his normal routine and hope for the best while you are gone. His feet look pretty good so far.

 

[Poodlemum]

I would probably leave him out in his normal routine and hope for the best while you are gone. His feet look pretty good so far.

The next few days should be very mild, their coop stays at least 10° above the outside weather too (hoop covered in greenhouse plastic). If I send him out on Friday or so, he can reacclimate and I can keep a watch on flock dynamics. Thanks for the reassurance!