Young chick, frostbitten toes

[schambo]

This is Barbara.

Barbara is a 10 week old barred rock - she was out in a small growout in the outdoor coop with a brooder plate a few weeks ago, and the temps dropped more than I was expecting. She got pretty bad frostbite on all her toes. She’s been inside since, and everything seems to be healing nicely. I just want to make sure I’m doing everything right.

She’s in a brooder with a few younger chicks for company (around 5 weeks) and it seems to be a good fit, because she’s not larger enough than them to pick on them, but because she’s a bit bigger so they don’t pick on her. All the chicks were raised under a brooder plate, and they’re all off heat now. They’re in my heated garage (I keep it around 60°).

I feed chick starter, fresh water, and electrolytes.

Regular (not quite daily, but frequent) epsom salt foot soaks, followed by unmedicated antibiotic ointment if anything is open, and Vetericyn. Haven’t administered pain meds, because I can’t find an appropriate dose for a chick.

She has lost the tips of 3 toes on one foot, and I expect that she will lose a portion of the rest, but the stumps look super healthy, and she’s walking and getting around great.

Any other tips or tricks? I’ve already read the big threads on frostbite on here I think.

 

[Eggcessive]

All of the black tips will fall off eventually. Some soak the feet in warm Epsom salts water daily, and apply Betadine (povidone iodine) to the toes daily. Hopefully, she won’t have too much trouble roosting or scratching around, but she can live a good life with the loss of her toe tips.