Rescued a frizzle cochin with really bad feet! (PICS)

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Chickenaddict

Chickenaddict

Songster
11 Years
May 19, 2008
3,691
112
223
East Bethel MN
I have seen my fair share of scaly leg mites but this case definately takes the cake!. I know how to treat it but wanted to show others how bad it can get if not taken care of right away.

This is priscilla, I just picked her up yesterday. She is blind in one eye from a pecking injury, smelled of ammonia so bad it made my eyes water. She is having respiratory issues i am guessing because of the filth she was living in. They had no bedding in the coop, no insulation, massive amounts of mold and moisture. In the coop was a dirt floor or as I like to see it POOP FLOOR! She had so much poop and mud caked to the bottom of her feet she couldn't walk! How the hell can anyone let a chicken get this bad?!?!?! I am beyond disgusted. I took home a total of 5 birds, drove almost 50 miles one way to get just the frizzle but when I saw the others I decided to bite off more then I could chew and take them too. All are and will remain far away from my birds in quarentine.

This morning I gave prissy a much needed bath and soaked her feet. I pulled off some massive chunks of poo that had been there for god knows how long. After surveying the damage after the foot soak it appears she has bad scaly leg mites, bumblefoot and a few broken toes. This poor girl needs some major TLC! Fist things first is to try and cure the scaly leg mites and do bumblefoot surgery. Her respiratory issues are being cured with vetrx and tetracycline, a high protein diet and a nice warm kennel to heal in.

This is a pic of her before the soak... Have you ever seen such a horrible case?
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Thanks guys. I am in it for the long haul. It breaks my heart to see such neglect! It will definately be a challenge but I am fully prepared for that. She was used as a brooding machine, the younger ones that I brought home with her are chicks she raised. They don't have the foot problems thank god but are suffering from respiratory problems too. Call me crazy for doing this but I just couldn't bare the thought of leaving them there! :'(
 
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You are an angel for taking in those poor, poor, chickens.
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My grandma used to say "there is a place in heaven especially for those who go out of their way in kindness to animals". I like to think she was right. She was one of the few who understood my love for all God's creatures.
How many other chickens did these people have? It is so sad to think anyone could be so neglectful, even if the chickens weren't pets and only egg producers.

Bless you for your efforts
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Thanks bantybev. I have been this way since I was a kid. Gone out of my way to give a stray a warm place to stay, feding wild critters, rescuing baby owls fallen out of the nests, placing baby birds back in their nests ect. Guess I was born to rescue
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.

The people had LOTS of birds but most were standards, alot of banty cockerels that because of my location I was unable to take (in a residential area where chickens are now illegal) These were the ones in the worst possible shape. Their standards were acting completely normal and looked surprisingly well. I preached to them to get some vents in there, scrape at least 4 inches of that sludge off the ground and replace the walls before they all die on them! I couldn't stress that enough! They had a rabbitry within the coop but in a sectioned off area, that was were the majority of the ammonia smell was coming from. They are older farm folks and had sent me an email before I was due to pick up the frizzle stating "this ain't no palace so don't go expectin anything fancy like you folks are used to over there". I have been to plenty of farms in my life but have never seen anything like this and it floored me that the guy was telling me about all the problems the "building" had but still wasn't doing a darn thing to fix it!
 
SO far at the chicken spa today priscilla has had a nice warm bath. She didn't really enjoy it too much but it really helped lots! She smells ALOT better and I managed to get off alot of the gunk stuck to the bottom of her feet. She really enjoyed the blow dry. I applied warm Vetrx to the back of her head, under her wings, just a tad on the top of her beak, and slathered both feet in it. For the next week or so I plan to soak and scrape her feet at least twice a day.

She ate some scrambled eggs this morning and had a healthy broody dump right on my lap. She hadn't pooped at all before this morning and she wasn't eating her feed before her bath. She will not willingly drink her medicated water so I have to dribble it down her beak frequently. The others are doing quite well with the exception of the buff cochin. She has major gunk coming out of her nostrils and goopy eyes. I also treatet them with Vetrx to help them breath better. They too will be getting baths at some point today. They seem to be eating/drinking like champs.
 
UPDATE-

I have been soaking her feet just about every night since I have had her now and I have pulled off an unbelievable amount of gunk from her feet/legs. I don't know what this crap is but it sure is bad nasty stuff.

This afternoon she had another soak and I removed another massive chunk from the side of her leg, it was really tender and bothered her ALOT but it had to come off! Took 1/2 hour of soaking to get it off. Now her leg is a bit bloody (I think I removed a layer of skin with the gunk) I applied neosporin to the raw flesh, wrapped sterile gauze around that and vet wrapped her entire foot/leg. She has another massive chunk of gunk on the other leg that is starting to peel up but I think she has had her fill for the day. As for the respiratory problems Tetracycline took care of that and she has made a complete recovery there. She has a healthy appetite and really enjoys being the "livingroom chicken" and has no problems being alone. The others are also doing very well. They will continue to stay on the meds until day 14 and will remain in quarentine for another month just to be on the safe side.


I am confident their illness was due to the air they were breathing and filth they had been living in, once they were in a healthy clean environment for a few days they started getting better. They are all tickled pink being on pine shavings, it was a real treat for them as if they had never been on bedding since they hatched. Prissy is very prissy when it comes to a clean box. If she see's a poo in her box she has a fit until I scoop it out of there. She loves to snuggle and seems to have potty trained herself. When she is on my lap watching tv she coo's at me. I am sooo glad I took these guys in, god knows what would have happened to them if I hadn't.

Here are some pics of her feet/legs to show the progress we have made so far.


The hunk of gunk I pulled off today...
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Her feet after her soak today, I had her on her back with her head covered so I could wrap her foot. You can see the color of her feet and legs now!
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Her leg after I pulled that hunk off
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