Dark Spots On Legs.

[Gifa]

So, I've done the search on google and here, and there are so many old and dead end threads and threads with vague descriptions but no photos that I feel like I have to start another thread.

I have a 23 week old SL Wyandotte who I noticed today has a few dark spots on her legs.





(the color difference is an iPhone thing... it likes to make things pinker in the center of the images... the second image is cropped but you can see how it makes the one leg look more orange than the other. In reality, they are the same color... stupid iPhone.)

At first I thought, "oh, she's just dirty"... but upon closer inspection, I am not sure whether these are just bruises or something else I need to be tending to. Everything else about her is normal. She's eating and moving around like normal, and none of the other hens seem to have the same issue... So, I don't think we're in a life or death crisis. I didn't see any evidence of this anywhere else on this hen... but you know... she only lets me ruffle around in her feathers for so long. Her vent looked fine...

These are my first hens... so, I have no idea what I am looking at and as stated, searching for "spots on legs" or "bruised legs" got me no where.

Talk to me like I'm an idiot, because for all intents and purposes, I am.

Thanks in advance for any advice and feedback those of you with more than 23 weeks of experience can offer.

 

[janinepeters]

Gosh, I don't know, but if the hen is completely healthy in terms of behavior, eating, pooping, breathing, etc., I would have assumed it's just weird pigmentation and would not have thought any more about it.

 

[Gifa]

I would have thought that as well, but I don't recall the spots being there before... now I have to go look at all of the pictures I've taken of her.

 

[Gifa]

Looks like they were there on Oct 16... but not Sept 16.

 

[janinepeters]

Well, she is young. People develop freckles and other types of skin pigmentation as they mature, so maybe chickens do, too.

 

[Gifa]

Ok, so there's nothing to worry about then. Yay!

 

[delisha]

I doubt it is anything to worry about. As a precaution put a little NuStock on her legs. It looks like pigmentation with maturity. Her legs will probably get a bit darker with age. It will not hurt, and it will help with conditioning too.

 

[carlilucy]

I just noticed similar spots on my 21 week old silver laced wyandotte and was wondering if this was normal or something to worry about. Sounds like nothing to worry about - thank goodness!

Thanks so much for posting these pictures - really helped!