Chicken has swollen feet.

[Tatuana]

One of the ladies I dog walk for has this sad girl. Her feet are swollen. She wasn't walking, making sad noises, and kind of hiding. I only got to look for a moment before her dog broke through the gate. The chicken is clearly in distress though. Any idea what it is/how to help?

 

[Eggcessive]

Could you possibly get a few more pictures of her feet straight on, and of her standing? It might be articular gout, but with the very swollen ankle joints, it could also be a bacterial joint infection, such as mycoplasma synovitis. There are viruses as well that can cause joint infections. How do the upper leg joints look—any swelling there?

Gout (articular gout) is more rare in chickens, and causes both the toes and ankles to appear lumpy and swollen. Here is some reading about both gout and MS:
https://thepoultrysite.com/articles/gout-management-in-poultry

http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/infectious-synovitis

 

[Tatuana]

Ohh, if it's either of those I don't like the outlook for chicken. Non of her other chickens have it. Does she need to be worried about them catching it? I don't THINK I felt any swelling in her other joints? But I'm not familiar with chicken anatomy.

A few more things I learned while up taking pictures:

- Chicken is about two years old.
- She's had the feet problem for about a month.
- It began raring up horribly about a week ago.
- When I went to leave the chicken took a very liquid poo. Solid liquid I think. It may have been yellow, but it was dark out and I was in a hurry so I didn't check.
- I checked and didn't see any black spots that I could tell.

These are the best pictures I could get. That was a VERY grumpy chicken. She walks okay, just slow. Sorry they're not super clear. She was cranky.

Bottom of the worst foot.

Top of not so bad foot. I didn't get a clear one of the bottom.

Her standing. It's not a great picture showing full chicken. If you need a better one I can get it. She's supporting her full weight, I'm just holding her still.

Full legs.