What is wrong with my Roosters feet? (picture)

This after noon, I picked up one of my roosters to give him a squeeze. I had a look at his feet, because they caught my eye. Oh my goodness. I feel so sick. They have these aweful blisters on them, between his toes. Did I say I felt sick about it? I've never encountered this before, and I just feel like crying.

I have him seperated. I checked the other roosters (they are in a seperate coop). And had a quick look at the hens. I don't see anyone else with this.

What should I do? What is it? He's one of my two BLRW roosters. They cost me quite a bit, and I would hate to have to, but if it is something contagious then I guess I will have to.

I would like to lance them, but don't want any fluid to get anywhere, just in case. Gosh. I feel awful, and scared.

How cold has it been? My first guess is frostbite. Especially if you have anything meatal they can perch on. My silver wyandottes dont seem to have trouble keeping their feet warm if their roosting, but if he was out scratching around in the snow maybe? I'll let more experienced members give a more defintive diagnosis though. Hope he's okay!

kinda looks like frostbite to me. Definatley if there is anything metal for them to sit on, even if its not that cold, that could be the culprit. Luckily they dont look bad enough that anything would fall off. I dont think lancing would help. Frostbite blisters are there to help it heal IMO

Well, the toes are a little swollen.

There isn't anything metal in their house or pen for them to stand on. It's been -11 for the last couple days. My BLRW roosters are outside a lot in the snow, standing and walking around. They could go in the house if they wanted to, but hang out outside.


My other thought was if I lance the blisters then dirt could go into the open wound.

I just feel so bad for him.

Everyone else's feet look fine.

We had Polish hens in the house today blow drying their hair doo's. Ice get's built up when it's cold like this.

It won't do him any harm to bring him in, clean up those feet in warm water, and put a little antibiotic ointment on them them wait and see...

Sue

Ah Silkie, don't beat yourself up. I can see that the feet are in a sad condition, you did not know this was happening. I don't think that he has a contagious disease. I don't know what I think, but it doesn't look like disease to me. I wonder if he may be having an allergic reaction to something that he may have walked on, but then, if no one else is displaying this, then it probably is not. I hope that you can get to the bottom of it. For the meantime, I agree to put some antibiotic on it. Do you have any ointments? I would suggest ointment because that will stay on better and keep him isolated, off the cold snow, until his feet heal. I don't think there is too much feeling in the chicken foot (don't really know, but think not), so he may not be in a lot of pain, it just looks awful. Keep us posted on what happens, this is a learning curve for any that see this, that if they come upon something like that in their stock, we can know what to do. Good luck, and try to have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

Excellent picture, by the way, sure shows the good detail!!

I soaked his feet and put polysporine all over them. He was such a great guy while I was doing it. Talking away to me. I love the BLRW's. They're such friendly birds.

He's off in his own area now, but I do feel bad for him. He usually hangs out with his brother all the time.

Poor boy.

I googled blister's on feet, but pretty much all that came up was about Bumble Foot. Pretty sure it's not that.

Ya, Silkie, I think that bumblefoot manifests on the soles of the feet, not like this. Hoping good things for this fellow. Beautiful days, CynthiaM.

Well, I'm really thinking it's frost bite. I'm soaking his feet in Epson salt warm water, and putting the polysporine on it. The blisters have popped (I drained the larger ones on the bottom of his feet) and the skin is coming off. But his toes are still really quite swollen and stiff feeling. I feel awful for him.

None of my other chickens have frostbite, and their coops are insulated and they have wood roosts, no metal to stand on. Poor fellow.

I've had him separated, but he looks kinda sad all by himself, so I let him out with the hens this evening, where he went over and started eating, then he went and hopped up on the roosts with them. But he's balanced, because his toes aren't looking like they are bending. He also started preening. I'll have to keep an eye on him tomorrow throughout the day, to make sure the hens are being nice.

I really hope his toes heal up, and don't fall off. I feel so sick about it. Now I'm nervous about letting the other roosters out in the snow.

Is there anything else I should be doing for him? I would have thought that if it was really bad frost bite that they toes would turn black, which they haven't or does that take some time?

Has anyone else ever dealt with frostbitten toes?

Would just walking on the snow cause this? And why would only he get it.

had one with frostbitten toes last year, the hens were fine in the same pen, just him, Im thinking maybe he tipped his water over on a cold night so his feet were wet?
Anyhow, we did same as you, cleaned polysporined and wrapped up a bit with tape but after a week or so of wrapping and unwrapping, I unwrapped and his toes came off with the wrapping...yikes but it seemed like a nice clean seperation and after that we left the wrappings off and they healed up very nicely. He could still roost, just had lost the final joint of his toes but still got around fine.
So hope your guy is just as lucky.
I guess the main thing is you don't want the others picking at his feet as they heal...

So some of the ends of his toes came off. Yuck. The blisters cleared up but the toes stayed swollen. I wasn't expecting them to come off so soon. They didn't turn black. I just went in and some of them were gone and he had been eating himself. So gross. I soaked them in salt water, and put polysporine on them then tried to wrap them up really good so he couldn't pick at them anymore. He must not have feeling in his feet if he is eating them. I was right grossed out. I hope the bandages stay on. If they are off in the morning, I'll try taping a pair of my kids socks on his feet and see if that will work.

My husband thinks maybe we should just whack him. But, then I'll be out my best (of 2) breeding BLRW roo's. Then I ask myself, Will this affect his fertility? I don't know what to do.

Oh, I bandaged him up out there in the chicken house. It was kind of funny, because I dropped a bandage wrapper, and the hens thought it was a fine treat. One stole it, then they all gave chase, including me, and she tried to hide to eat it, silly girl. She was still looking for it after I took it away.

He's in a pen all on his own, in soft clean peat moss. I was told that way back when, that they used to pack peat in wounds to stop bleeding because it was sterile. I don't know if it is true or not. Anyways, his feet are bandaged, so their not in immediate contact with it. Just wondering if anyone else has ever heard of that.

Googled to answer my own question about peat moss, and yes it was used to pack wounds. http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/m/mossph54.html

I can't suggest anything to help, but if you're needed a new rooster I have 3 extras that are hanging around avoiding becoming soup so far.

silkiebantam wrote:
He's in a pen all on his own, in soft clean peat moss. I was told that way back when, that they used to pack peat in wounds to stop bleeding because it was sterile. I don't know if it is true or not. Anyways, his feet are bandaged, so their not in immediate contact with it. Just wondering if anyone else has ever heard of that.

3.2 - 4.5 Honey

4.5 (can be lower, like 3.5) Canadian sphagnum peat moss

This is terrible about the rooster, I feel for him. I think he is lacking feeling in his toes for him to be self-consuming, and wonder too if this will indeed affect his fertility, really. Hmmmm...just test him out I guess when he gets better.

I found that most interesting about the peat moss being a sterile environment and had really never thought about it. I think it is true. I say this because:

Honey has a low pH, which is between 3.2 - 4.5, it is almost impossible for bacteria to grown in that low of a pH.

Peat moss is acidic, and the range for Canadian sphagnum (the most common here) is 4.5 and I have heard that it can be as low as 3.4. Seems those numbers have something in common.

I think that peat moss would be an excellent product to inhibit the growth of bacteria. Never thought of it in this way before.

I now am pretty sure that it why when peat moss is used in the chicken coops, the smells are diminished, the bacteria, which makes awful stinkiness cannot live. I always, and I mean always, sprinkle a layer of peat moss on the droppings below the roosts every few days and the chickens have it in the floor of their coops, mixed in with the shavings, straw, rice hulls, etc. Guess it is helping to keep bacteria down, so my coops are not stinky at all. I just never looked at it in this light before, but makes total sense. Sorry to be a little off topic here, but I thought it pertinent to put in information. Have a most wonderful day, CynthiaM.

CynthiaM, where do you buy your peat moss?

I guess that peat moss would be a great thing to put an injured bird on then. Interesting that the PH is so close to honey.

Survivor, thank you for the offer! I'm going to do what I can to get this guy better. I have my back up boy, who has nice lacing, but I'm not crazy about the way he walks to be honest. I think it might have something to do with the trouble I had with incubation humidity trouble and some of the chicks took forever to hatch and I had to tape his feet up. They're fine now, but maybe having duck-like feet for a while taught him to walk funny.

My hens are from Westcoastmamma, and are beautiful. The Roosters I have now are From VancouverIslandChicks (Buffy) and are not related to closely to my hens, so I'm going to do my best to get this dude well.

I'm thankful the weather has been so warm for this time of year, so don't have to worry about that very much right now (knock on wood).

Coopslave, I wonder why you ask this, can't you get it near you? I get it anywhere I can. Buckerfields, Canadian Tire, Pedro's, lots of places carry it. Surecrop, unfortunately does not, no clue why, but they don't, that to me is weird. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

CynthiaM wrote:Coopslave, I wonder why you ask this, can't you get it near you? I get it anywhere I can. Buckerfields, Canadian Tire, Pedro's, lots of places carry it. Surecrop, unfortunately does not, no clue why, but they don't, that to me is weird. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

Because I have never used it and just thinking about it. Thanks for the info, something new for me, such fun!

Sorry silkiebantam, you can have your thread back.

No problem, Coopslave! After all, I did bring up using peat!

My boy is now wearing sock booties. hee hee! He doesn't seem to mind them.

You can also purchase poultry peat, it is mich coarser and should be avalible at most livestock feed stores, they is much less dust than regular peat.

I don't know.....I don't think that's frostbite. Frostbite affects the extremitites. It should be his toe tips that are frozen, not the areas between the toes. A frostbitten comb loses its outermost tips, not the area right next to the head. To be honest when I saw the pic, frostbite did not enter my head. Plus frostbite is typically white skin or black skin. That seems to be neither, more red/pink, like chapped skin.

There is a condition people get when their hands get really cold, called chill blains (blanes?). The skin is red, angry looking, swells, hurts and then itches. Having it once makes you susceptible to having it again. I used to get it bad as a kid. Hands would get too cold, turn beet red and swell up then when they warmed up, itch like the devil!

Nothing about this photo would make me consider putting the rooster down. He may have a combination of too cold and chapped, but I don't think frostbitten (although I could be wrong). I would proceed as you are, clean and polysporin, which will aid in preventing further chapping and soothing what might be there. I would only consider chopping him if he becomes painfully crippled or this turns into some uncontrolled spreading infection.

You will never go wrong with honey! Lucky thing chickens can't lick themselves!

uno wrote:I don't know.....I don't think that's frostbite. Frostbite affects the extremitites. It should be his toe tips that are frozen, not the areas between the toes. A frostbitten comb loses its outermost tips, not the area right next to the head. To be honest when I saw the pic, frostbite did not enter my head. Plus frostbite is typically white skin or black skin. That seems to be neither, more red/pink, like chapped skin.

But Uno, in the last post Silkie made, she said that the toes had fallen off and he had been eating them off too. Gawd that sounds awful. So there must not have been any feeling in the parts that he considered something yummy to eat (heard chickens' feet taste mighty fine, a real delicacy with some ). That to me indicates dead flesh, and frostbitten flesh is dead flesh, so I am thinking still it is frostbite.

Silkie keep an eye on that rooster, just like you are so doing, I wonder if the eaten off parts might get infected, so you have done well to wrap that poor soul.

Ya, when chickens get something they think is yummy, especially when it looks different, it is funny how they run around. Now if they were smarter when they got something and didn't make all the noise, no one would really know what they had!! Smiling. I had the 10 little ones about a week ago after something in their coop. I had a plastic font that I had pushed a hunk of sponge into an opening and forgot to pull out. One had found it. After watching everyone chasing this fellow for at least 5 minutes before I intervened. If only he had been quiet, he could have eaten it all himself, but nope....he had to make that sound, like "I got something cool, gonna eat it" and the chase was on. Boy could he run fast and so many corners to turn and run around. Made me laugh that inside laugh, what a dummy!! I got it anyways, when he saw me chasing him too, he dropped it like a hot potato and I got it before anyone else could jump in, smiling. Beautiful days, CynthiaM.

Yes, I'm pretty sure it's frost bite, too. His toes did swell up, except for the ends (from the knuckle to the nail), and then that part fell (or he ate) off most of the toes. All I know is when I noticed, his beak was bloody, and the ends of his toes were gone, and when I went to pick him up, he looked down at his feet and tried to peck at them.

I had a silkie last year who froze her feet, and it looked similar, but didn't blister up. Her feet just swelled, and then the ends of her toes seemed to dry up and fall off. No blood or anything there though.

I think this guy just got it really bad. Which is surprising, because it wasn't really all that cold (-10 for a couple days). He must have stood in the water bucket or something.

Yes, my hen running with that wrapper reminded me of my parents wiener dog when she finds something. Usually she heads under the couch. Well, this hen finally ran under the nest boxes with her 'prize'. She was even trying to keep it away from me! Silly girl.

Sorry! I misread that, I thought she was talking about a different rooster whose toes had fallen off. Sorry.

Well now I know...it just did not look to me like the way I see frostbite but like I said, I have been known to be wrong (do not tell my Hubby I said that!)

No problem! I could see where you could go wrong. When I took the pictures I would have never guessed it was frost bite. I was actually freaking out (Literally crying) thinking I had some horrible disease going through my flock.

I am no happy it's frost bite, but I am happy it's not worse.

Oh, and don't worry, I won't tell your husband! They must never find out that sometimes we misunderstand.