Chicken is limping, has skin condition, please help

[APK]

Hello everyone,

Today I noticed one of my Rhode Island Red chickens was limping. She is a bit older than 1 years. She is smaller than the other chickens and has always been a little sickly compared to the others. I thought it might be that she has a foot infection but when I felt her foot I didn't notice any lump or swelling. When I held her there was a foul odor, and I looked under the wing and around the leg looking for any wounds. There were no wounds but under the wing there is a layer of skin peeling off which is a different color. It was whitish and has a clear discharge which is where the smell is coming from. Please see below link for the photograph for the folds of skin. I also see what look like either lice eggs or mite eggs in flat clumps on the inner feathers. I checked her other chicken mates and they seem healthy. This problem came up all of sudden, I didn't notice anything yesterday or day before.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13DKNl0g0s72pIiYpRYkgt0sWiL7aXEwl/view?usp=sharing

The immediate action I took was to give the chicken a bath in Epsom salt. I added about 500 grams of salt to water to a tub with about 5 or 6 buckets of water. The water was slightly cool or less than luke warm as I had 2 buckets of hot water to about 4 of cold water. She had water up to about her neck. She was very uncomfortable and started honking. I tried to get water under her wing where the problem areas were and waited until her feathers were completely soaked through. I did not rinse her in a clean water bath as I wanted some salt left on the skin to try and dry out whatever is growing on her. After a few minutes in the bath, I blow dried her. When I was blow drying I saw redness on the skin near the vent, lots of clumps of louse eggs, and also the white smelly folds. She was very uncomfortable and appeared to be in pain, her eyes were closed and she was pressed right up against the wall. I then put her in a cardboard box with dry hay and have put her in my sun room in a clean place. She is not lying down but sleeping standing with one foot. She did peck at her food a little bit and does move her head and look up.

I am not sure what the relationship is with her foot limping as the white skin condition is under the wing, but it might be rubbing when she walks ?

Please help me to diagnose what this illness is and what to do. If she makes it through the night, I will start her on garlic water tomorrow. People have said Apple Cider Vinegar, Oregano Oil, Electrolytes, or Turmeric. I am thinking of making garlic water for her to drink and then put Turmeric paste on the affected areas. Turmeric is supposed to be anti fungal, anti bacterial, and anti inflammatory, it is also very mild. Also it will help with the smell because it smells relatively good.

Also I don't know if I should cut off her feathers to remove the clumps of eggs or whether it might do more harm by possibly poking her.

 

[Hensofthehill]

Hello everyone,

Today I noticed one of my Rhode Island Red chickens was limping. She is a bit older than 1 years. She is smaller than the other chickens and has always been a little sickly compared to the others. I thought it might be that she has a foot infection but when I felt her foot I didn't notice any lump or swelling. When I held her there was a foul odor, and I looked under the wing and around the leg looking for any wounds. There were no wounds but under the wing there is a layer of skin peeling off which is a different color. It was whitish and has a clear discharge which is where the smell is coming from. Please see below link for the photograph for the folds of skin. I also see what look like either lice eggs or mite eggs in flat clumps on the inner feathers. I checked her other chicken mates and they seem healthy. This problem came up all of sudden, I didn't notice anything yesterday or day before.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13DKNl0g0s72pIiYpRYkgt0sWiL7aXEwl/view?usp=sharing

The immediate action I took was to give the chicken a bath in Epsom salt. I added about 500 grams of salt to water to a tub with about 5 or 6 buckets of water. The water was slightly cool or less than luke warm as I had 2 buckets of hot water to about 4 of cold water. She had water up to about her neck. She was very uncomfortable and started honking. I tried to get water under her wing where the problem areas were and waited until her feathers were completely soaked through. I did not rinse her in a clean water bath as I wanted some salt left on the skin to try and dry out whatever is growing on her. After a few minutes in the bath, I blow dried her. When I was blow drying I saw redness on the skin near the vent, lots of clumps of louse eggs, and also the white smelly folds. She was very uncomfortable and appeared to be in pain, her eyes were closed and she was pressed right up against the wall. I then put her in a cardboard box with dry hay and have put her in my sun room in a clean place. She is not lying down but sleeping standing with one foot. She did peck at her food a little bit and does move her head and look up.

I am not sure what the relationship is with her foot limping as the white skin condition is under the wing, but it might be rubbing when she walks ?

Please help me to diagnose what this illness is and what to do. If she makes it through the night, I will start her on garlic water tomorrow. People have said Apple Cider Vinegar, Oregano Oil, Electrolytes, or Turmeric. I am thinking of making garlic water for her to drink and then put Turmeric paste on the affected areas. Turmeric is supposed to be anti fungal, anti bacterial, and anti inflammatory, it is also very mild. Also it will help with the smell because it smells relatively good.

Also I don't know if I should cut off her feathers to remove the clumps of eggs or whether it might do more harm by possibly poking her.

For lice, just dust her with garden/poultry dust. If using it or poultry spray with permethrin make sure you follow the label for period of not eating the eggs. Washing chicken in epsom salt will do nothing to lice. Dont cut feathers! Do you have a sand box or place where they dustbath? Add to that as well, clean coop. If one has mites, the rest have them as well. Sicker chickens will have more of them as they cant clean as effectively.

 

[MysteryChicken]

For lice, just dust her with deatomacious eart or garden/poultry dust. If using the second, make sure you follow the label for period of not eating the eggs. Washing chicken in epsom salt will do nothing to lice. Dont cut feathers! Do you have a sand box or place where they dustbath? Add to that as well, clean coop. If one has mites, the rest have them as well. Sicker chickens will have more of them as they cant clean as effectively.

DE doesn't kill Lice/Mites either. We recommend using an actual chicken friendly insecticide Permethrin dust, or Spray to treat the birds, & coops

Garden, & Poultry dust is what I have, which is Permethrin Dust.

 

[MysteryChicken]

Hello everyone,

Today I noticed one of my Rhode Island Red chickens was limping. She is a bit older than 1 years. She is smaller than the other chickens and has always been a little sickly compared to the others. I thought it might be that she has a foot infection but when I felt her foot I didn't notice any lump or swelling. When I held her there was a foul odor, and I looked under the wing and around the leg looking for any wounds. There were no wounds but under the wing there is a layer of skin peeling off which is a different color. It was whitish and has a clear discharge which is where the smell is coming from. Please see below link for the photograph for the folds of skin. I also see what look like either lice eggs or mite eggs in flat clumps on the inner feathers. I checked her other chicken mates and they seem healthy. This problem came up all of sudden, I didn't notice anything yesterday or day before.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13DKNl0g0s72pIiYpRYkgt0sWiL7aXEwl/view?usp=sharing

The immediate action I took was to give the chicken a bath in Epsom salt. I added about 500 grams of salt to water to a tub with about 5 or 6 buckets of water. The water was slightly cool or less than luke warm as I had 2 buckets of hot water to about 4 of cold water. She had water up to about her neck. She was very uncomfortable and started honking. I tried to get water under her wing where the problem areas were and waited until her feathers were completely soaked through. I did not rinse her in a clean water bath as I wanted some salt left on the skin to try and dry out whatever is growing on her. After a few minutes in the bath, I blow dried her. When I was blow drying I saw redness on the skin near the vent, lots of clumps of louse eggs, and also the white smelly folds. She was very uncomfortable and appeared to be in pain, her eyes were closed and she was pressed right up against the wall. I then put her in a cardboard box with dry hay and have put her in my sun room in a clean place. She is not lying down but sleeping standing with one foot. She did peck at her food a little bit and does move her head and look up.

I am not sure what the relationship is with her foot limping as the white skin condition is under the wing, but it might be rubbing when she walks ?

Please help me to diagnose what this illness is and what to do. If she makes it through the night, I will start her on garlic water tomorrow. People have said Apple Cider Vinegar, Oregano Oil, Electrolytes, or Turmeric. I am thinking of making garlic water for her to drink and then put Turmeric paste on the affected areas. Turmeric is supposed to be anti fungal, anti bacterial, and anti inflammatory, it is also very mild. Also it will help with the smell because it smells relatively good.

Also I don't know if I should cut off her feathers to remove the clumps of eggs or whether it might do more harm by possibly poking her.

How does her shanks look?(Scales)

 

[nuthatched]

You need to get some permrethrine based spray or poultry dust. De is ineffective and bad for you and your birds to breathe.
Can you get better pictures of the folds? Are they collapsed blisters?
If she has an infection, you can use fish mox and antibiotic ointment. Acv is useless in this instance. If you're worried she won't survive the night, she needs something stronger the oregano oil and garlic, as she will not willingly take those things in the doses it will take to be effective.

 

[APK]

How does her shanks look?(Scales)

Her scales look fine. I will take more pics in the morning but I didn't notice any infection or problem on the feet. When I prodded the foot she didn't seem to react.

For lice, just dust her with garden/poultry dust. If using it or poultry spray with permethrin make sure you follow the label for period of not eating the eggs. Washing chicken in epsom salt will do nothing to lice. Dont cut feathers! Do you have a sand box or place where they dustbath? Add to that as well, clean coop. If one has mites, the rest have them as well. Sicker chickens will have more of them as they cant clean as effectively.

The chickens are free range and during the day they run around. Often times they dig into the soil and sandy loam on the property and take dust baths. There are mites and ticks in the deeper grass but mostly they are on the lawn.

The coop has straw bedding and there is a 10 x 10 run. I clean out the straw once a week and rake up the run also once a week. I clean the straw by getting a shovel under the clumps of manure and carefully removing them until all the visible manure is removed.

The coop has wire mesh at the very bottom to prevent predators from digging in. I have some large flat stones holding the mesh down and then everything is buried under the straw.

They sleep in the straw by huddling together. I added a type of shelf for them to maybe fly up but they don't seem to like it.

 

[APK]

You need to get some permrethrine based spray or poultry dust. De is ineffective and bad for you and your birds to breathe.
Can you get better pictures of the folds? Are they collapsed blisters?
If she has an infection, you can use fish mox and antibiotic ointment. Acv is useless in this instance. If you're worried she won't survive the night, she needs something stronger the oregano oil and garlic, as she will not willingly take those things in the doses it will take to be effective.

I will take more pics in the morning. It looks like peeling skin and has a clear discharge which smells and is only under the one wing. There might be an abscess somewhere I am thinking.

She has now sat down and is looking around pretty alert. Before she really looked like she would drop dead any minute. Her eyes were closed, standing on one foot, and head hanging down. The Epsom salt bath might have helped.

As for the antibiotic ointment, I am not sure if it is fungal or bacterial. The turmeric was supposed to be dual purpose and anti inflammatory, but it's probably not as strong. I will go to the store and look for the permethrine spray.

 

[APK]

Hello everyone,

Firstly thank you for your help and advise so far. The chicken has made it though the night. I can't say if she is better. But she smells a bit better than yesterday.

The pictures I am adding below will shed more light on what is going on. It appears that under the wing there is some sort of infection. The fluid is oozing out and also leaking along the contour of the wing to form a sac or abscess near the front of the leg. This is painful and causing the limp.

She is isolated, I have offered her water, food, and chopped garlic. She didn't eat, but did hobble around a bit.