URGENT-- frozen feet!

[Dona Worry]

Still they are alive and have a chance. You have done well. It is about to be bitter cold again. Are you planning to bring the remaining chick in the house? What about Nardole? Wouldn't he be alone then?

Nardole and Yaz seem to have bonded. They should be fine, even in the cold. Yaz seems to be bigger and fluffier than the polish.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Victoria is not doing very well.
View attachment 1656550 View attachment 1656551
The photos look bad, but it actually looks worse in person...

Victoria I am still soaking 2X a day in Epsom salts, and then applying neosporin, covering her toes loosely with cotton and securing with a little tape. This is more to keep the antibiotic ointment on the feet and cover the bloody bit than anything else.

Gangrene is setting in in earnest. The toes are becoming quite gross.

I'm sorry that Victoria is not doing well. Is she eating/drinking at all?
Hopefully the vet can help you with this, if there is infection at least I would think they would give you some antibiotics.

 

[Dona Worry]

I'm sorry that Victoria is not doing well. Is she eating/drinking at all?
Hopefully the vet can help you with this, if there is infection at least I would think they would give you some antibiotics.

She is still eating well, thank goodness. I think the bits that aren't dead are doing ok, but I don't have much experience with gangrenous toes...

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She is still eating well, thank goodness. I think the bits that aren't dead are doing ok, but I don't have much experience with gangrenous toes...

I'm really hoping your vet can see her when they visit. I'm glad she is eating/drinking though, that's still hopeful then.

 

[Dona Worry]

I'm really hoping your vet can see her when they visit. I'm glad she is eating/drinking though, that's still hopeful then.

I do too, although I don't know what he will tell me that I don't already know.

 

[aart]

Isn't gangrene black and/or streaking red due to infection moving up extremity?

 

[Dona Worry]

Isn't gangrene black and/or streaking red due to infection moving up extremity?

No, it's just dead tissue. I think it's always caused by lack of blood flow, there may be other causes though.
ETA I think you might be thinking of septicaemia, aka blood poisoning.

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be that the frostbite is just on out layer of skin, and not full thickness. We have seen some chickens on here with frostbite on either the top of bottom of the foot, and though some of the skin sloughs off, they don’t lose the toes or foot. I still have hope that the legs and feet will eventually heal. It can take a month for all of the effects on frostbitten feet to show. At this point, maybe the vet will suggest stopping the daily leg baths, and just spraying with vetericyn or just using antibiotic ointment, and letting things heal or not.

 

[Bogtown Chick]

The dusky tissue on Jaimie’s middle toe and victoria’s one leg might be inidicative of the loss to come. It will wall off, turn to dark black eschar and break off- yes bone and all. Frost bite of the feet has not infected on me. But I did not keep them inside for long periods of time either in warmer environments that can sometimes increase a bacteria bloom. I got them back out to the coop as soon as I felt I could manage it. Veterycin, neosporin and vet wrap for holding the med and supporting toes and feet. But I did not have young Polish either.
This was a horndog rooster chasing hens and hitting 2 x 4 framework in the coop—breaking his toe.
Last year I had a fox attack on my coop at Christmas. The fox got one of my old spent hens and I found the rooster on the floor of the coop his feet very cold maybe partially froze. Idk if he was flogging the attacker and breaking toes in that confined space but he was uncomfortable and on the floor. His feet were very large thereafter. The toes knobby, thick unhealthy looking but still yellow in the spring. He was slow and uncomfortable in the woods. Mother’s Day the fox returned on their free range at 4ish or so—before they turned in to the coop for the night and took him. So I cannot tell you how those feet would have turned out. I think just watching his discomfort for a few weeks of free ranging I was close to culling anyways. He was not a vibrant spring roo with those feet. I just wanted to give him a chance. I tried setting a few of his welsummer hen’s eggs because he was gorgeous. They weren’t viable so he was so sore he wasn’t even mating. What a rooster lives for.
I’m interested to see how it goes. Your care could make a difference. You take a break once in a while. It can be intense and sometimes you feel alone. BYC offers great support. And you’ve got some of the best on here. If you need to skip a day in baths because you need a break. Just do it. They’ll be fine.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have never had a chicken with frostbite toes get gangrene. The toes turn black, shrink up, than fall off at some point. The remaining tissue ends heal over time.