A
Anonymous
Guest
I recently went to buy in some new blood for my table chickens. I was so unhappy at the state of the chickens that I bought them all. The seller asked me if I wanted a tiny hen which 'hasn't done much' and, looking at the state of her, I took her.
Just as background info, I know this person suffered a fox attack around a month or six weeks ago and lost a lot of his rare breeds amongst others.
When I got them home, it was so cold in the field so I put them all in a pen in my polytunnel where most have made great improvements in the last 6 days.
But, two days after I rescued the birds, Betty Buttercup (the tiny chicken) had not improved and, in giving her a good going over, I found a fair-sized hole in the skin on the back of her neck which we cleaned out as best we could and stitched up with disolvable sutures. At the same time I cut off one of her toes/toenails that was black and not doing a lot - she felt no pain. I've administered antibiotics and she is a little more lively and preening herself today. The problem is, she doesn't walk very well at all. I'm assuming that she has been injured in the fox attack and had gone untreated. She had tended to stagger about balancing on her wings; she is missing the tips of some of her toes which have gone black, and some of her nails. All seem to have healed on their own. ...................
Will the nails grow back? Is there anything I can do? I can put up some photos of her feet if it would help.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Just as background info, I know this person suffered a fox attack around a month or six weeks ago and lost a lot of his rare breeds amongst others.
When I got them home, it was so cold in the field so I put them all in a pen in my polytunnel where most have made great improvements in the last 6 days.
But, two days after I rescued the birds, Betty Buttercup (the tiny chicken) had not improved and, in giving her a good going over, I found a fair-sized hole in the skin on the back of her neck which we cleaned out as best we could and stitched up with disolvable sutures. At the same time I cut off one of her toes/toenails that was black and not doing a lot - she felt no pain. I've administered antibiotics and she is a little more lively and preening herself today. The problem is, she doesn't walk very well at all. I'm assuming that she has been injured in the fox attack and had gone untreated. She had tended to stagger about balancing on her wings; she is missing the tips of some of her toes which have gone black, and some of her nails. All seem to have healed on their own. ...................
Will the nails grow back? Is there anything I can do? I can put up some photos of her feet if it would help.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
