Chicken has super swollen frozen feet

[NatureGirl74]

This morning my dad found one of our hens with really swollen, frozen feet. All the others are fine and they were locked up in the coop all night so I don't know how she got this cold. She can balance, but it takes a little while for her get fleet balanced. She can't really walk. My dad had to help her back into the coop this morning, because she couldn't get up the ramp. She has no control over her toes, but her knees are fine. She's really hungry and thirsty. Her pool is normal. I don't think this has anything to do with it, but I did just discover ocular mareks in my flock. I know some strains can cause nerve issues. What should we do. Also, we all have COVID so I can't get any new supplies. Any help is appreciated.

The feels like will be -55F tonight so I don't know what to do about that either.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would bring her inside and set her feet and legs in tepid water, not hot not cold and gradually warm her feet. Don’t rub or massage her skin. It canntake a week or so to see the extent of damage with frostbite. The toes can turn black and shriveled. Pictures later or daily can help us tell what damage there its. What is your location? Is there any way you could move your chickens into a basement, garage or warmer spot during the extreme cold spell? Was she outside all night? Here is a good article on frostbite:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/frostbit-in-backyard-chickens-causes/

 

[NatureGirl74]

I would bring her inside and set her feet and legs in tepid water, not hot not cold and gradually warm her feet. Don’t rub or massage her skin. It canntake a week or so to see the extent of damage with frostbite. The toes can turn black and shriveled. Pictures later or daily can help us tell what damage there its. What is your location? Is there any way you could move your chickens into a basement, garage or warmer spot during the extreme cold spell? Was she outside all night? Here is a good article on frostbite:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/frostbit-in-backyard-chickens-causes/

Thank you for responding quickly. I'm about in the middle of Nebraska. I have 25 chickens and a pair of peafowl. They wouldn't all fit in the garage. My grandparents have our biggest crate right now because they got a puppy. Our other 3 crates/carriers are only big enough for 1-2 chickens. The peafowl wouldn't fit in them. She was in the coop all night. I brought her in the house for about 30 min. Her feet started to thaw out and she was able to stand a lot better. She actually has a lot more energy now than she did last week. She's finally getting close to being done molting. She's been chirping a lot and seems very alert right now.

 

[Kanekoded]

I have always worried about my chicken's feet during the winter as I live in a very cold state. While I don't heat my coop, I do heat the floor of my coop using a dog house heating mat giving my chickens a way to warm their feet, I have placed it under a "floating floor" which can easily be achieved by placing the mat under a piece of cardboard (mine is placed under laminate click-together wood flooring). On super cold days, I will hang a couple of heads of broccoli above the mat so that my chickens will "remember" to periodically warm their feet throughout the day. I started doing this about 20 or so years ago after one of my chickens lost her toes to frostbite. I have not had any frostbitten feet issues ever since. Perhaps, it's an option that will work better than moving your chickens into the garage.

 

[NatureGirl74]

I have always worried about my chicken's feet during the winter as I live in a very cold state. While I don't heat my coop, I do heat the floor of my coop using a dog house heating mat giving my chickens a way to warm their feet, I have placed it under a "floating floor" which can easily be achieved by placing the mat under a piece of cardboard (mine is placed under laminate click-together wood flooring). On super cold days, I will hang a couple of heads of broccoli above the mat so that my chickens will "remember" to periodically warm their feet throughout the day. I started doing this about 20 or so years ago after one of my chickens lost her toes to frostbite. I have not had any frostbitten feet issues ever since. Perhaps, it's an option that will work better than moving your chickens into the garage.

That's a good idea. I had never thought of that. We only have 1 and it's in our cat house. The cats don't usually get off of it. I can't get any more though for awhile, and they're really expensive. My dad cleaned the coop this morning and put in a ton of shavings for extra insulation.

 

[Kanekoded]

That's a good idea. I had never thought of that. We only have 1 and it's in our cat house. The cats don't usually get off of it. I can't get any more though for awhile, and they're really expensive. My dad cleaned the coop this morning and put in a ton of shavings for extra insulation.

Regular human heating pads work as well. That's actually what I started with before I found the dog house heating mats.

 

[NatureGirl74]

Today her feet weren't nearly as swollen. She has no problem standing, and is walking pretty well.

 

[Eggcessive]

Glad that she is walking and the swelling is down. The color looks much darker than the first pictures. How does that color look compared to the upper legs. A dark color like that could be frostbite, but hard to know what her normal color is.

 

[NatureGirl74]

Glad that she is walking and the swelling is down. The color looks much darker than the first pictures. How does that color look compared to the upper legs. A dark color like that could be frostbite, but hard to know what her normal color is.

Her legs are black anyway so it's hard to know. In the picture yesterday I didn't have my flash on. When I took the picture today it was dark so I had to turn it on. That's why the pictures have slightly different colors. I think the color is a little different, but her feet are also really dirty so it's hard to tell.

 

[NatureGirl74]

This is her feet today. She did bend her toes on her own a little which is good. She's pretty much the same as yesterday though. I think she has frostbite on her wattles, but that's not a surprise.