Chicken limping

[Jmazurick]

Our poor Shelly girl has been limping recently. We examined her and found that her right ankle is swollen. No lesions or cuts anywhere. So I don't think it's bumble foot. She is eating and drinking fine and acting otherwise normal. She has been the runt of the flock and doesn't seem to be growing at a fast rate or not at all. She does seem to lay/roost around a lot more than the others. Any thoughts? Please be kind with comments or advice.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

Can you post photos of Shelly and her foot?

How old is she?
What do you feed?

If there's swelling, she may have sprained it. Is there any oozing/wound, bruising, etc.?

 

[Jmazurick]

Welcome To BYC

Can you post photos of Shelly and her foot?

How old is she?
What do you feed?

If there's swelling, she may have sprained it. Is there any oozing/wound, bruising, etc.?

Thank you for your comment! 19 weeks old, she is on layer pellet feed now. We ha e examined her pretty good no wounds, cuts or bruising. Last night we did soak her in Epsom salt as this is the only remedy I could find to help her. The pictures are hard to tell but this is the best we could do. It's definitely her ankle that is swollen.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It does look enlarged.

Not sure if wrapping or splinting would be beneficial, so use your best judgement on that.
Giving epsom salts soaks won't hurt and may help with inflammation.

If she's really restricting activity on her own that's good. If she's moving about a lot, then caging her so she can rest is an option. Some birds don't tolerate being caged and the stress and pacing can cause more damage - again, that's a judgement call, you'd have to try and access her.

If you have vet care, an Xray would be a good idea, but that can be $$$ and often finding a vet that sees poultry is, well, sometimes they don't seem to exist.

 

[Jmazurick]

Thank you again for your advice. Yeah she is good about "restricting" her activity. She usually is the one in our flock that is pretty inactive and lays around a lot. I've noticed when I do let her out to free range she takes breaks.

I don't want to cage her or separate her because I've heard it is sometimes hard to integrate them back into the flock. It's funny because she may be the littlest but she is definitely the leader of the pack and they don't seem to pick on her.

I may try to wrap it but what do you advise to use? Medical tape?

The only real beneficial thing that I read is to do the soaks which I am trying to do and husband already said no way to the vet if something is really wrong I just hope that we are making her comfortable and pacifying it as much as we can. Hoping that it will get better. (Pictured is our "Black Beauty" with her. Always buds)

 

[Wyorp Rock]

When I wrap a foot or leg, I use vet wrap (sports wrap/coban).

I'd consider getting her on vitamin therapy as well. Give her 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily.

Limiting activity is good. If you notice that she's starting to get sores (especially on the joints) from laying down a lot, then she may benefit from being placed in a sling or chair for short monitored periods of time. As with anything, some tolerate being in a sling/chair, others will try to get out and flip.

I've linked a splinting manual below that you may find useful, also a thread that contains photos of slings/chairs - some are for chicks, but photos can give you an idea so you can run with it - people are very creative.

https://theiwrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Duerr_Splinting_Manual_2010.pdf

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

 

[Jmazurick]

Thank you again where do I purchase the vitamin b complex and how do I give it to her?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

You can find B-Complex in the vitamin aisle of stores like Walmart, CVS, etc.

Cut the pill in 1/4-1/3. Pull down on her wattles, pop the pill portion into her beak and let her swallow.
If you're having to syringe of tube her, you can dissolve her portion in a small amount of water and just syringe it into her.

 

[Jmazurick]

Hello all update on our Shelly:
Unfortunately her swelling has gotten a lot bigger. Upon reading up on swelling, bumblefoot (even though there is no wound to her foot) and infections.

My husband and I "performed" a small surgery making an incision squeezing out the infection, puss. We got a lot of it out, if not all of it. We have soaked her foot, sprayed Vetericyn on the incision areas and put triple antibacterial ointment on them. Then wrapped the area.

I just want to make sure there is nothing else that we could be doing for her?

She is still acting the same as posted before, eating and drinking, limping, hopping, favoring one foot and limits her activity to laying when she has walked to stay with the other girls.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for the update.

You removed pus from the joint?