Chicken foot caught in foot trap

[ferryman]

First, let me acknowledge that I made a mistake with the foot trap.

I put out foot traps to trap a predator (as instructed by the DFW) and like a dumb dumb thought chickens couldn't set it off. One from my bachelor flock escaped their pen and wanted to go say hi to the ladies and got trapped. He was trapped a few hours before I noticed.

His leg was still attached and bloody. I couldn't tell if it was broken (but it was limp so suspect yes?). I brought him inside in a crate to heal up. His leg is SO swollen now. He puts little to no pressure on it. He eats, drinks, crows, and chirps at us when we shower.

There is a nasty black band around his leg where the wound is. I'm worried about severe infection at this point. The pictures below are bad but if you look closely, you can see the size difference in swelling.

Does anyone have advice? We don't really have a vet to go to. We thought it was bumblefoot so planning on treating that but the black wound is very concerning. I want to minimize suffering.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

First, let me acknowledge that I made a mistake with the foot trap.

I put out foot traps to trap a predator (as instructed by the DFW) and like a dumb dumb thought chickens couldn't set it off. One from my bachelor flock escaped their pen and wanted to go say hi to the ladies and got trapped. He was trapped a few hours before I noticed.

His leg was still attached and bloody. I couldn't tell if it was broken (but it was limp so suspect yes?). I brought him inside in a crate to heal up. His leg is SO swollen now. He puts little to no pressure on it. He eats, drinks, crows, and chirps at us when we shower.

There is a nasty black band around his leg where the wound is. I'm worried about severe infection at this point. The pictures below are bad but if you look closely, you can see the size difference in swelling.

Does anyone have advice? We don't really have a vet to go to. We thought it was bumblefoot so planning on treating that but the black wound is very concerning. I want to minimize suffering.

Ouch!
Poor guy.

Did this happen today? How old is the injury?

I would clean the wound really well with Chlorhexidine or Povidone Iodine. Apply triple antibiotic ointment to the wound.

There's going to be swelling and bruising for a while, the skin may turn a bit green (bruising).
Daily soaks in a warm epsom salts bath may help reduce swelling, but it's still going to take time.

Keep him eating/drinking. Do you have any antibiotics on hand?

What type of critter are you trying to catch in a foot trap? If you are going for Raccoon, then I'd use a Dog Proof Racoon Trap (if they are allowed where you live), these would be hard for even a chicken to get their foot in, the trigger is in the bottom of a tube and has to be pulled. I use them when needed. You can order them from trapping supply stores and I've seen them on amazon as well.

 

[ferryman]

What type of critter are you trying to catch in a foot trap?

A bobcat.

The injury is about a week old. It looked okay. I feel like we would have cleaned it with triple antibiotic but I can't remember

 

[Wyorp Rock]

A bobcat.

The injury is about a week old. It looked okay. I feel like we would have cleaned it with triple antibiotic but I can't remember

Bobcat is a challenge for sure.

I'd keep triple antibiotic ointment in the wound. Is he able to put some weight on the foot/leg since it's been about a week?

 

[ferryman]

No weight at all unfortunately. He's been in a kennel in our bathroom to rest away from others. We let him out to hop around. He doesn't react when we touch his foot.

The bobcat was our bad. We had two and took care of one, but didn't realize the second one was around. We finally have a bobcat proof coop and the new run, while not fully bobcat proof, is much better than before.

 

[aart]

Is his foot warm?

 

[ferryman]

Is his foot warm?

It could be room temp. It's hard to tell. He holds it up near his body in his feathers so it could be warm from that. I assume if its room temp then there's no blood supply and he's going to lose the leg. That would be heartbreaking

 

[Wyorp Rock]

No weight at all unfortunately. He's been in a kennel in our bathroom to rest away from others. We let him out to hop around. He doesn't react when we touch his foot.

The bobcat was our bad. We had two and took care of one, but didn't realize the second one was around. We finally have a bobcat proof coop and the new run, while not fully bobcat proof, is much better than before.

It could be room temp. It's hard to tell. He holds it up near his body in his feathers so it could be warm from that. I assume if its room temp then there's no blood supply and he's going to lose the leg. That would be heartbreaking

Time will tell whether or not the leg is damaged enough that he will lose it. It's still quite early.