Matilda is going to lose her feet. :(

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Tu for your kind words. Yes even with aspirin it was no doubt painful, especially until her toes and left foot went necrotic. I do think some of her pain/reluctance to walk was from an injured leg due to one spur supporting her entire weight as she hung upside down. She currently seems like she has no feeling in her left foot at all. When she stands to walk, she doesnt seem to know how to use/where to place her left foot. UNLESS its because the left foot is becoming infected just above the swelling. Im still not sure if an antibiotic is needed, and if so, which one would be best. Cephalexin is better for skin infections, but amoxycillin is good for broad use. I find it peculiar that the frostbite damage ends in the same general area as other birds where it was thought their feet got wet. I couldnt take her to a veterinarian until 3 days after her accident, because my rural roads were snow-covered. Plus almost almost all businesses were closed due to power outages and road closures. Idk if taking her to a vet 3 days later would have helped her. Have since become aware of a med called pentoxifyline, which is prescribed to ftostbite victims to improve blood circulation. In hindsight, i Would have taken Matilda to a vet asap. Wouldnt spend the money for all my chickens, but Matilda, yes. She is 5 years old and very sweet. Very easy to care for, & hasnt complained once. Has been a premier broody hen too. Hatched her first clutch at 6 1/2 months, & her last clutch just this past october. We've raised a lot of chicks together.

Poor girl best of luck with her! It's very interesting to see the progress, but it looks so painful

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry about Matilda the Marans. I am fairly sure that she will eventually lose all of her left foot up to the spur. The right foot, may be lost as well, but the red could be a sign of some blood circulation under the skin. I had an RIR hen with spurs once. She is definitely going to be disabled, but it can take a month or more to see the full extent of her frostbite.

The problem may have been because she was trapped upside down during the extreme freeze with blood circulation, but she may still have suffered the frostbite.

There are chicken sling chairs, and some commercial and homemade wheelchairs available for chickens with no feet. Since once leg may be shorter than the other, it will be harder to get around. Please keep this thread updated to let us know how she is getting along. Antibiotics are not always necessary or available without a vet, but enrofloxacin/baytril (banned in chickens,) cephalexin, and clindamycin would probably be effective antibiotics. Some of those may be found online for pigeons or fish.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Ok yes start the neosporin if you have one without painkiller .. better do you have bag balm ? use that I do not think she has to loose either one

Tu for your input. Yes i have since learned that coating her feet a with bag balm or aloe vera could have possibly helped too. The thing is, at the time of her accident, i had no phone service, so no internet signal to research how best to treat her. My rural phone service is poor already, but learned a few days later there were widedpread regional phone outages. (No clue if 911 would have worked if needed). I do feel that if i would have had more knowledge, i could have potentially improved her odds. Im intending this thread to potentially help others, if they ever experience a similiar situation. Seems most people discover their poultry has frostbite only after the feet turn black, sometimes not even until feet/toes fall off. Once those ugly red blisters appeared, i knew she had more problems than possible ligament/tendon injuries.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Use the bag balm now if there is any hope ..
JMHO

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

So sorry about Matilda the Marans. I am fairly sure that she will eventually lose all of her left foot up to the spur. The right foot, may be lost as well, but the red could be a sign of some blood circulation under the skin. I had an RIR hen with spurs once. She is definitely going to be disabled, but it can take a month or more to see the full extent of her frostbite.

The problem may have been because she was trapped upside down during the extreme freeze with blood circulation, but she may still have suffered the frostbite.

There are chicken sling chairs, and some commercial and homemade wheelchairs available for chickens with no feet. Since once leg may be shorter than the other, it will be harder to get around. Please keep this thread updated to let us know how she is getting along. Antibiotics are not always necessary or available without a vet, but enrofloxacin/baytril (banned in chickens,) cephalexin, and clindamycin would probably be effective antibiotics. Some of those

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Tu for your input. @Eggcessive. I really appreciate it. It did cross my mind her feet got so damaged because hanging upside down in very cold temps would have further decreased blood flow to her feet. Especially since her comb survived intact, & one of the straight-comb roos lost ALL of his comb points. I do have cephalexin on hand. Does red above the swelling on left foot signify infection is starting? Its a bit hard to see, but ia definitely there. I first noticed the redness yesterday morn. Thats also about the time the leg started to swell at line separating dead skin from live.

 

[humblehillsfarm]

If you have an Instagram, reach out to lipstick_and_chickens. She adopted a rooster with feet in the same stage as your hens and he lost his feet. Be prepared, she will feel when the feet break off, and it will be incredibly awful. There is no sugar coating it. She went into graphic detail of his journey. The rooster's name is Barth, and it's been at least two years since he lost his feet and he lives a fairly good life, and learned how to walk on his nubs. There was a turkey on BYC who also lost its feet and developed bumblefoot on the nubs, so you would have to monitor her mobility very carefully. Based on what I've seen of other frostbite cases, I think she will lose at least some of her feet I am so sorry. Just remember she can keep living the good life. I agree with @Eggcessive to make a chicken sling so she can have a chance to be off the ground for a few hours a day and in a more natural position without putting weight on her feet. Keep us up to date on her journey. My heart is with you both, although those are just words, I know.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Use the bag balm now if there is any hope ..
JMHO

Would bag balm help 5+ weeks after the injury occurred? If so, i do have bag balm on hand. Tu for your input. As ive said, if i had only known---

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

If you have an Instagram, reach out to lipstick_and_chickens. She adopted a rooster with feet in the same stage as your hens and he lost his feet. Be prepared, she will feel when the feet break off, and it will be incredibly awful. There is no sugar coating it. She went into graphic detail of his journey. The rooster's name is Barth, and it's been at least two years since he lost his feet and he lives a fairly good life, and learned how to walk on his nubs. There was a turkey on BYC who also lost its feet and developed bumblefoot on the nubs, so you would have to monitor her mobility very carefully. Based on what I've seen of other frostbite cases, I think she will lose at least some of her feet I am so sorry. Just remember she can keep living the good life. I agree with @Eggcessive to make a chicken sling so she can have a chance to be off the ground for a few hours a day and in a more natural position without putting weight on her feet. Keep us up to date on her journey. My heart is with you both, although those are just words, I know.

Unfortunately im not on instagram or facebook. I get almost all my chicken knowledge right here on byc. I will look up the turkey thread, havent seen that one. Yes, i am absolutely dreading discovering that her foot has separated from her upper leg. (Idea makes me wanna throw up actually.). Yes i have read that the nubs can become irritated and infected if not carefully wrapped and protected. Not exactly sure how best to protect the terminal end yet, but will figure it out through more reading). I have seen enough threads to know she can still have a decent quality of life. Have also learned that frostbite can cause other damage including heart problems. Matilda was in perfect health before her accident, but she Is 5 years old. Im also really sad because i named her "Waltzing Matilda" because she was always really bad about scratching all the feed out of chick feeders for her babies, no mattee how hard i tried to secure the feeders. I used to get sooo mad at her for wasting so much feed.(She scratched it all into the dirt where it disappeared). And now shes not gonna have any feet to scratch with.

 

[BuckeyeFoodie]

I had a silkie-cross boy who ended up losing his feet to frostbite. I ended up padding his stumps with a bit of cotton batting and vet wrap, and he got around just fine until he died of old age two years later. Keep your hopes up