Can someone tell me what this bump is on my chicken's leg?

[Obsessed With Silkies]

My brother noticed this bump on one of our chickens and I'm not sure what it is and how to treat it. Bumblefoot can't be on their legs right? If anyone knows what this is and how to treat it, it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[azygous]

Bumblefoot is just a silly name for a wound infected with staph bacteria. It can occur on the shank and top of the foot as well as the foot pad.

When it appears on the front of the leg, often it is a result of a chicken that is heavy and is having trouble jumping up onto a too-high perch. You treat it as you do an infected injury to the foot pad. And you need to watch the chicken in the evening to see if it's experiencing trouble when roosting. Lowering the perch is the solution.

However, squamous cancer tumors in the early stage closely resemble such injures. There is usually raised tissue with a black ulceration in the center. Over time, this can grow to twice and three times the size of the original. These are not uncommon in chickens. They can be quite painful, though. While there is no cure, you can use hydrocortisone cream on them to lessen the pain. They do reach the point eventually where they metastacize, but by then the chicken has likely reached old age.

 

[Obsessed With Silkies]

Thank you for your reply, this chicken is only a few months old and isn't laying yet. I have observed that she doesn't have any trouble with roosting as she and her siblings are usually in the highest roost. I will see if I have any Hydrocortisone cream to treat it. Could I also use triple antibiotic ointment or coconut oil as well and see if those work too? Thank you!

 

[Fwoof]

I'd recommend giving her an Epsom salt soak.

 

[azygous]

First treat it as an infected wound. Soak in warm Epsom salts with a healthy dash of Dawn dish detergent to soften the scab. Pull the scab off and see if there is any solid pus under it. If so, remove it. If there is no pus, just a thin soft scab, then it's likely a cancer tumor.

Finish with antibiotic ointment to prevent reinfection. If you find it's a tumor, the hydrocortisone cream relieves pain, and you will need to use it every day for as long as the chicken has it. If it grows rather than heals and disappears, then that confirms it's a cancer.