Lou Today

This is Lou when I woke her up this morning.  She was at attention and seemed happy for some company.  I was happy that her toe had not bled overnight.  Phew.  Her toe was treated once again with Purishield and a mixture of cornstarch and diatomaceous earth.  Then she was left in the garage coop for the day while Papa Hen worked in sunny California and Mama Hen went to school.

After school her toe was still not bloody so she got to explore the yard a bit on her own.  Testing the waters. The toe still looked good.  It's the toe without a long and scary toenail.  The one at the top of the photo.

 Then she got back to chicken business.

I checked her toe several more times and found it to be clean and dry, minus a little snow melt. 

The other chickens wanted some attention too!

  ps.  Lou will sleep in the coop tonight with Red Door Coop's small flock.

Lou

Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy here. 

Lou spent the day in the garage coop.  Every hour or two we sprayed her toe wound with Purishield and then coated it in a combination of Cornstarch and Diatomaceous Earth.  Her toe has stopped bleeding but we will wait to put her back in Red Door Coop with the other birds until it has really started to heal.  Lou will be in the garage tonight and tomorrow.  Perhaps longer. 

It's lucky that we take a pretty good look at the birds every morning as we go through our morning chore routine.  This wound could easily have turned into something pretty nasty if the other birds had had enough time to discover her bloody toe.  Blood makes chickens a bit coo coo for cocoa puffs. 

Toenail Trouble

Blood in the coop.  That was our wake up call this morning. 

After inspecting all the birds and the coop we discovered that Little Lou had torn off a toenail.  We were relived that the (carnivorous) birds were not attacking Lou since they are highly attracted to blood.  Papa Hen and I got the garage coop set up for a temporary patient.  We consulted our books and the wonderful resources on the Internet to formulate a plan.  First thing we did was remove Lou from the coop and bring her into the laundry room for a good wound cleaning with hydrogen peroxide and an application of diatomaceous earth powder and Vaseline.  After some more research and a trip to the ranch store we got some Purishield Wound Spray to disinfect and heal the nasty toenail.  This product came highly recommended by the three clerks that came to talk with me at Murdoch's, our favorite place for chicken supplies and advice.

The makeshift bandage I constructed stayed on for about five minutes.  Duct tape might be the best bet.

Here are some photos.

The patient in the garage coop.

The wrapped wound.

The medical "table."

Purishield.

Updates to come.