Frostbite: What to Know About Injury, Care and Recovery

Excellent article! Have had this happen before, so this will be useful in the future.

I hope I never need to know, but if I ever do, this is one of the best articles I've read on how to care for frostbite.

I am so thankful of you documenting this, a couple of my girls feet were bloody and I’ve had 15+ years of experience but I thought I was going crazy. No bumble foot no scaly leg mites. I’ve been searching for days! Here’s to hoping for a successful story like you! Thank you, thank you THankYoU!

What an incredibly informative and well written article! Hats off to both mom and Matilda for not giving up. The patience and care given to this sweet soul is second to none and I don't doubt Matilda will live a long, and very spoilt life

One of the best articles that I've read in a very long time and it had a happy ending. That's great, thank you for sharing this.

Thank you for sharing Matilda’s healing healing journey. Very helpful. I hope she is living her best life now.

Thanks for the information/ very helpful. I have a peacock 8 weeks into the frostbite process

One of the best articles I've ever read. Brilliantly written. What a journey the author and the hen made together. Readers cannot help but become emotionally invested.

This was very helpful!

Thank you for this informative article and pictures. You did a great job caring for Matilda!

this is the best written article I have ever read. I commend your tenderness and commitment to her care. Most sincere gratitude for your documenting this as it happened. It not only tells me that it is possible to care for this type of injury, but it deepens my commitment to checking on their comfort during cold snaps. I live in an area where the cold takes victims, and sometimes I hear the voices of people who live in warmer areas screaming that we are TOO attentive to their discomfort. But really, I would rather err on the side of spoiling them, than having to deal with this kind of injury. The "down-side" of having a spoiled hen is easier to deal with.

I have seen hens in this area (not kept by real farmers who keep their coop inside a barn in winter, but by chicken keepers like me who are just keeping pets) who are missing combs and toes. I know some of those hens have really suffered because there was no one giving the level of care you gave your girl. They just left them in the coop to survive or die, no pain-killers or wraps, or baths. Now seeing what you had to do to keep her comfortable, I feel even more for those girls.

I also fully understand why she has a place indoors at night. There is something that happens when we have a girl whose life is in our hands for a long while. Before having chickens I would not have imagined this bond, but now I live it. Pictured is Robin Hood, she is 3 yrs old this week, and is currently living on my desk, she is so used to needing hospice stay that she knows the house routine. Except for picking up poo on the floor, she is the same in the house as the 9yr old dog. They are both napping next to me as I type this. She will go back out to the coop in a few days, when she is fully recovered from her current issues, but until then, she is my house-hen. (yes, she is spoiled, so what? Not as though I am raising a spoiled human who will be a pain to others in society, she is just a hen whom other hens envy a little, but the others get the same level of care when they need it.)

thanks again for the article, I read it to the very end, I was even able to look at the pictures because the text gave the images a real context. (and were not gratuitous gore)

all the best to you, and all your girls.

Thank you for all of the details. At most, I might see mild frostbite in comb/wattles. I think it's very helpful to see what can be expected in severe cases. I also commend your dedication to treatment/recovery.

Wow, this bird is a real trooper to have survived all this! This must have been difficult for you as well watching this unfold. If I could give this article 10 stars, I would. You did so well in caring for this bird, helping her to heal along the way, all the documentation and photos... GREAT job!! Oh and give her a hug for me!

What a journey, cudos for both you and Matildas tenacity and resolve. Your patience and meticulous care has not only extended Matildas life, but extended the knowledge for us, as poultry owners. Thank you.

Wow! Super important information and, while graphic, very helpful photos. A must save

Once in a while there comes along a truly remarkable story showing human compassion for animal welfare to such a degree that it touches ones soul. Matilda’s story is such a story. The article initially began like a case study on frostbite, but the author managed to, very effectively, marry medical management of a serious injury with the art of nursing an old friend back to health. I am moved.
This article reminds me of the book, A dogs purpose by W. Bruce Cameron.
Bravo!!

This is a very professional, thoroughly documented, enlightening, helpful, and heartwarming article worthy of a scientific publication. Excellent.

Very educational, written in layman's terms explaining care for birds suffering frostbite.

A good documentation on how you treated frostbite in your hen.