Limping hen, swollen foot, drained it today

[Crazie Eddie]

Thanks for the info Anarchy. It seems from what I've been reading that what ever this swollen foot thing is, it starts with another injury. I've lowered my roosts so it doesn't happen again.

My Mildred doesn't seem to drink much, but then again, I'm not out there all the time. We did wonder about some form of gout, and my friend recommended adding cherry juice to her water.

Oral antibiotics don't seem to have an effect, and I didn't think about it stressing the rest of her system. I'm not sure about the draining either - my friend has medical training and lanced it good and proper, but the swelling went right back up again. I'm thinking I'll try the poultice next rather than putting her through the trauma of another surgery.

She also has a spot where it looks like the blood has dried like a scab under the skin. I'm hoping a poultice will help with that too.

And crazy me, I went out and got six more chicks yesterday, I guess I'm just a glutton for punishment!

 

[Crazie Eddie]

Just a thought, what about using Tea Tree in a poultice? I know it's it's use on animals is controversial, and especially with a chicken I would probably use it only as a last resort. However when I have any kind of injury, a drop or two of Tea Tree seems to stop infection in its tracks. Looking at Mildred's foot this morning, it seems the swelling is going up her leg a bit... Sigh

 

[BirdsOfAnarchy]

I'm sorry to hear you think it's spreading up her leg. What came out when you lanced it? I think I read that tea tree oil helps but I'm not sure why I haven't tried it yet. Is it safe for chickens? If you experiment with it please keep me posted on the results. I was debating on antibiotics and was about to buy some, but I had 2nd thoughts. If it is a form of got it wouldnt do anything to help, it would stress her renal system plus the chance of diareah. I didn't want to go that route just yet. Toots really likes the epsom baths. I put on rubber gloves and rub her foot in the water, she usually falls asleep. But as soon as she gets out she is right back to limping, and not putting much pressure on it.

I mixed cherry juice in with her food, to make a wet mash with fruit, vegs, yogurt and done of her pellets. She wasn't too excited about it surprisingly. She was more interested in her plain layer pellets which I was trying to avoid giving her too much of. My other chickens loved the mash - go figure.

Goodluck and keep me posted on Mildreds progress.

 

[BirdsOfAnarchy]

**note: the foot in question is actually the one on the right of the photo, though this morning I noticed her inflammation on her OTHER foot! She has a small nub of a toenail (also due to her frozen injury) which is in the process of falling off. I now see that is yet one more thing to deal with now. Ugh, poor little hen perhaps antibiotics IS NECESSARY? I'm at a complete loss, my hens were always healthy so I never had to deal with something like this before.


Im wondering if there is a solidified "bumble" puss mass from Tootsies injuries in her foot. Though the swelling is mostly squishy, perhaps the squishiness inflammation is surrounding a solid mass? She wasn't our bird when it happened, if I find the online ad Ill contact her previous owners and inquire more about what happened and how things progressed. Though Im almost positive that they won't have a clue due to their obvious negligence. But I guess it's worth a shot. I may contact the bird sanctuary again and inquire about a minor surgery to get to the bottom of this mystery.

I'm hoping to reintegrate her with the rest of the flock soon as her feathers are growing back beautifully. She is in a caged off section in the coop so everyone sees & smells eachother & they have supervised integration throughout the day and for the most part no one bothers her but she is submissive and definitely last to eat and drink.

 

[Crazie Eddie]

I'm trying the sugar and iodine poultice, another recommendation I found on line. However, if you get good results before I do, I'll switch to your mixture.

Don't know if you've seen it, but I found this thread yesterday:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/876103/whats-going-on-and-how-can-i-treat-it

And I'm going to modify things in the coup as much as I can. Good luck - please keep me posted...

 

[Crazie Eddie]

The iodine and sugar poultice seems to be doing "something" - when I unwrapped Mildred's foot after the first go, the pad was full of pus/gunk, and the swelling seems to have gone down a bit. Her appetite is still good and she's back up on her roost. Progress!?!

 

[BirdsOfAnarchy]

Hey thats Great news! Glad to see it's working! What do you think it was that caused it? I was doing iodine too but I ran out. Do you have before & after pics?


I'm going to do Tootsies foot within the hour, though we havent had any big changes unfortunately. I'm thinking she might have a solidified bumble that needs taking out (but I can't do it!) OR she has articular gout where the swelling might never go away. She is pretty small in size and drinks more than any other bird. And since there is no obvious scab wound Im leaning towards gout, but since she had injuries to her feet before we got her, bumble is still not off the table. Or a combination of both I guess?

She has been standing on it more often, but I reckon she will be in her own pen for quite some time still, if not forever. Which totally sucks

Her feathers are growing in nice but not fully in yet, so her sweet little submissive self is still a target.

 

[BirdsOfAnarchy]

Well I just gave Toots her bath. She lost an old frostbitten toenail nubb the other day but the swelling went away with a hot epsom bath and neosporin. And today I saw she lost her 2 other frostbitten toenails. Seen in photo below (pic was from 10days ago). Those long gangly toenails are now gone. Clean, no scab or anything! Did they fall off because they were long? Or because her foot is healing and rejecting the old nasty injuries? Or is it something else?

Now she only has her toenails on her back toes, which are healthy looking and not frist bitten.

Her swelling.might even look a little better today.

Fingers crossed she will keep chugging along.
Pic from 10days ago those long nails and
that nub on her middle toe are gone:

 

[Crazie Eddie]

Poor baby! Can she do her scratching OK or is she going to need false nails?

I've had some progress with Mildred. The sugar and iodine poultice has worked - when I rinsed off the seepage, two chunks of gunk popped out of her foot and when last I looked, the swelling was gone in the foot, although the ankle is still puffy. Left a hole as big as the tip of my index finger though, which I packed with neosporine and wrapped. She's being such a brave little soldier...

 

[BirdsOfAnarchy]

Whoa!! Was there an incision where the gunk popped out of our did it just burst through her foot unopened? Thats great it's out!
Good job! I think her ankle may reduce in swelling over time, it might just be inflamed at the moment.

Or perhaps tissue collected there and it may always appear larger?
can you send me the ratio & products you used?

Tootsies foot seems to be doing ok, she stands on it more often but we keep at her warm foot baths every day or every other day. She seems to like them less, perhaps because it's getting much warmer outside.

She now lost one of her back toenails! So she is down to only 1 toenail and it's her back left (the injured foot).

So strange. I'm thinking they had damage from her frost bite episode and they are now falling off. Otherwise I'm clueless as to whats causing it. They seal right up too. No scab, blood infection etc.

They are just not there anymore. she is not on any wire but her last home she lived in a wire cage.

She seems in good spirit, healthy appetite, and no worms in her poo and no creepy crawlers on her legs or feet. I checked her for lice. I don't see any. She has some dry skin which I attribute to lack of nails to scratch and she doesn't dust bathe like the other birds. Not sure how I can encourage that-perhaps put mulchy soft soil in a corner of her coop?

She does groom with her beak and she does use her toes to "scratch".

I didn't know they make fake toenails for birds. Lol thats kind of funny.