HELP! Can I save this hen, or should I put her down?

I found her like this last night. She was limping so much that she would barely walk on this foot. It looks like something horrible happened to her, but I dont know what. There is puss, and the foot is swollen and has some bleeding. The reason it is kinda yellow is because last night I sprayed it with iodine (what I always try first). I put her in a kennel and seperated her for the night, but she is holding it up almost all the time. Is there anything I can do? It looks horrible, and I am affaraid these are the best pics I have.

The toes also dont look straight, but I am not sure if that is because she is not flexing to keep weight off of it.

Please help. I feel so bad for her!

another pic

another

I am sending all I took to show as many angles as possible

another angle...

oh! poor baby! I dont know anything about this...but I'm sure someone will come along soon ....

Last one...any ideas?

I know other people have delt with similar issues...can anyone help?

Do the toes move? If they will still move that should mean the toes aren't (sorry) crushed and you have a decent chance of drawing off infection, I think. I would try a poultice booty if so. Epsom salts and water, maybe? Wadded in paper towel and attached w/ tape. Squished/ground up onion works on a few things and should be totally harmless if it works. Neosporin with black or red pepper mixed in is the sovereign remedy around here for healing any kind of wound from the inside out.

I would try to make a quarter sized wad of poultice for her to stand on and a dime sized one to put on top. You' ll need at least 3 arms and a lot of patience though.

No expert on chickens, but Good Luck! Hopefully someone else has some good info.

All of that is worth a shot. I will try to come up with something. I have tons of gauze, and just about anything I need in my equire emergency kit! I have been through a lot with the horses, and cats...but little with the chickens. I will soak it in epson salts, and then try wrapping.

If anyone else has any more ideas please let me know!

Another poultice idea is vinegar with an aspirin crushed and disolved in it. This is what worked on the brown recluse spider bite I had. But, you only want to leave it on for about 1/2 hour and then change it to another one. Another thing. Do you have any antibiotics? I don't know what kind you would use for chickens, but since it has pus in it, it is bacterial so an antibiotic would work on it. Maybe neosporin? Just guessing here. Maybe some oral antibiotic?

GG

I was thinking a systemic (oral) antibiotic as well--I think you can get them at some feed stores.

This is what I have done so far:

1. soaked in epson salt water
2. put neosporan on the open wounds
3. cleaned and rubbed with oil/turp mixture
4. coated entire food with NFZ (a topical antibiotic for horses)
5. wrapped loosly in cloth to keep NFZ in place

The foot is really gross though, and I feel so bad for her!

You are doing all you can for her, so time will tell now. All you can do is wait and see.

Glad you've been able to handle her and get that foot soaked! If she handles the neosporin well, you might try adding in pepper. It DOES work beautifully on people and horses. Stimulates healing from the inside and doesn't hurt at all. I just don't know chicken medicine... Tell us how she's doing...

It wouldn't be snake or spider bite would it? Can you see any better now?

This message was edited Jul 29, 2008 5:42 PM

Is it getting any better? I can try to look up in my Chicken Health Handbook tomorrow. I do recall dealing with a bad foot infection once. Had tried a few different things - can't remember which worked best.

Unfortunately, I don't get home until 6:30pm PDT. Hoping it is better tomorrow. The antibiotic should have helped. I do know, you have to allow the pus to get out, somehow. Soaking in the epson salt would do that.

dmail me, I will look up, then post what I find here.

Cheryl

Kind of late -- I just saw this post. If you have any comfrey growing, chopping a leaf up and kind of making a paste of it, either with water or aloe, and poulticing it with that should help. Or if you're anywhere near a real herbalist or know any Mennonites, Black Drawing Salve works absolute wonders.

I dont know if we have comfry around here. I have been soaking it in salt water, and putting the anitbiotic paste on. She still will not put any weight on it...so not sure if it is better or not. I guess it kinda looks a little better...but not much.

Bless her little heart. And her little foot. I sure hope it heals soon.

I have a chicken with curled toes that is always getting string from the feed bag wrapped around her toes. I dont usually notice it until she starts limping and being unable to walk. The last time I removed the string it was extremely deep and bled alot. Lots of swelling. I cleaned the area with warm water and put liquid bandaid on the area to seal it. I did not put a bandage on the area, because I figured it would be soiled to easily and end up keeping the foot wet as opposed to dry. The foot healed up wonderfully. Hope she gets better. P.S. I now remove the strings from the feed bags as soon as I open them!

How's your girl doing? Is the wound clearing up at all and can she put weight on it yet? Would love to hear.

She is doing a little better. She is not holding it up all the time anymore...but that could be because her leg wasa getting too tired. It doesnt look infected though...so that is a good sign. She is still in the cage, and will be until she can at least walk a little. She runs the coop, so I dont want her trying to run all over the yard keeping girls in line until she is back to normal.

.Hope that your bird is doing better. We had a similar problem and I found Epson salts and black drawing slave to work well. Also benadine solution which we have also used on our bull when he had got bitten. You would be surprised at the stamina chickens have. I wish you well

Sounds like you've done the right thing for her if there's no sign of infection. If she's moving it and setting it down occasionally I'd say she's on the road to recovery. G'Luck!!