Chicken w/ Thickened legs, trouble walking, help!

[ChickGalSyl]

My chicken (at least 5 years old) has been noticeably slower than the rest of the flock, and is concerning me. I first started noticing it maybe 2 months ago. When the other chickens are scratching around, she’s usually lying down resting. She is older than most of the other birds, but I think a healthy chicken would be more active than her. We have had to file and cut her nails a few times because they get long from being sedentary. It could be that this unknown disease has been affecting her longer than I realize because we filed her nails several months ago, maybe a year ago. Other symptoms she has is thickened legs and looks like trouble walking. We thought maybe it was scaly leg mites but now I’m not sure. Maybe gout? Or a bone disease? We treated her a few times with Vicks vapor rub because we heard that kills leg mites. Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this with their chicken and what did you do about it?

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC.I do see some swelling and scaly leg mites. Nustock cream does a good job on leg mites since it has sulfur in it. But most thick oils will do the job to smother leg mites.

Would you mind to try and get another clear picture or two of her legs showing the whole legs and feet. Her feet are close together and it helps to see them side by side along with the ankles. Gout looks like lumpy swelling of the toes and feet, and the left foot resembles that. Joint infections, such as mycoplasma synovitis and others including viruses, usually cause swelling of the ankle joints and hock joints. When the whole leg looks large, but the feet are normal, that can be marble leg disease (osteopetrosis.)

Below is a picture of mycoplasma synovitis (MS
https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/7262775/

Here is a picture of articular gout:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...s-of-poultry/urate-deposition-gout-in-poultry

 

[ChickGalSyl]

Welcome to BYC.I do see some swelling and scaly leg mites. Nustock cream does a good job on leg mites since it has sulfur in it. But most thick oils will do the job to smother leg mites.

Would you mind to try and get another clear picture or two of her legs showing the whole legs and feet. Her feet are close together and it helps to see them side by side along with the ankles. Gout looks like lumpy swelling of the toes and feet, and the left foot resembles that. Joint infections, such as mycoplasma synovitis and others including viruses, usually cause swelling of the ankle joints and hock joints. When the whole leg looks large, but the feet are normal, that can be marble leg disease (osteopetrosis.)

Below is a picture of mycoplasma synovitis (MS
https://www.backyardchickens.com/content/type/61/id/7262775/

Here is a picture of articular gout:
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...s-of-poultry/urate-deposition-gout-in-poultry

Thank you for replying so fast and with your great advice! Just now I treated her again with the Vicks vapor rub (until I get the nustock cream you recommended). I’ve been saying and my mom also agrees after seeing her tonight that she has gotten worse. Here are some pics from before the treatment. Sorry about poor quality pic my dad was manning the camera, hopefully they’re good enough to see the problem.

 

[Eggcessive]

I am leaning toward gout. What is the protein percentage in your feed? Here is some reading:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/gout-management-in-poultry

 

[ChickGalSyl]

I am leaning toward gout. What is the protein percentage in your feed? Here is some reading:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/gout-management-in-poultry

That’s what I thought too! But I never heard of it before now so I wasn’t sure. My chickens feed is the Producers Pride 16% Layer Feed. We’ve been giving our chickens that for as long as we’ve had them, I think. On top of that, we give our chickens compost or leftover foods from our kitchen like fruits/vegetables and grains like pasta and rice. If my chicken does have gout, what steps should I be taking to cure her if there is a cure? And do you have any chicken feed suggestions ?

 

[Eggcessive]

There are no cures for gout. Some us or try tart cherry extract in capsules which humans also use for gout. As for feed, although I have use Tractor Supply’s brand of feed, I prefer either Purina or Nutrina brands. Mostly I have fed layer, but I switched to all flock/flock raiser feed when I had chicks and adults, and later when most of my hens stopped laying. All flock is a little higher protein, so I would avoid raising the protein. I would also limit some of the extras.