Foot question

[Country4ever]

Hi,
My buff orp is sick and I'm trying to troubleshoot why. She has intermittant black spots on comb, loose stools and her respirations are somewhat labored. She's been showing these signs off and on for a couple months, but yesterday, her comb got very dark and she's loosing ground.
A couple weeks ago, I noticed her standing on one foot. I could see that she had a slightly enlarged bulbous thing between 2 toes. I picked her up and felt it, and it was soft, with no breaks in the skin, and it didn't seem to bother her.
Her legs have seemed extra red to me lately too.
The bulb thing might just be a variation on normal.......I just don't know. If its not infected, its not bumblefoot, right?
Do sick chickens ever have ankle/foot edema??
Thanks for any insights you might have.

 

[Buster]

I'm sorry I don't have a good answer for you, but it does sound a little like bumblefoot. I am not sure, maybe someone else knows.

 

[tiki244]

I think she may have a seriouse infection. How is she now??

 

[Country4ever]

Thanks Jared and Tiki,
She's not good. fortunately, she drank some powdered drink that the vet gave me for another sick hen awhile back. But after I gave her her antibiotic tonight, she could hardly breath, just from my holding her.
Its supposed to get to about 7 F tonight, but my coop is very secure and I have a heat lamp over her crate, so hopefully, she's comfortable. That bulb thing on her foot doesn't appear to be the problem. It appears to be some respiratory infection. Hopefully, the antibiotic will help. I can't stand to see them suffer. She's such a sweetheart. Thanks for asking about her.

 

[tiki244]

On top of the medicine cut up at least three cloves of garlic and feed that to her-make sure she drinks enough

 

[Country4ever]

Thanks Tiki.

 

[sammi]

what is the antibiotic you used?
what dose?
what was wrong with the hen that the med was for?

sick hens should be kept warm.
they need energy to fight the illness instead of using energy to keep warm.

please describe her breathing when you are NOT holding her.
does she have any wheezing/rattling/gurgling?
any swelling around the eyes/head/wattles?
is she eating or drinking?

does the foot thing feel hot?
is her comb hot?
under the wings?

 

[Country4ever]

I'm using Baytril.
Her comb and wattles are purple and dehydrated looking.
Yes, she feels warm.
She breathes very shallowly. Sometimes there's a little bit of a sound, but it doesn't sound wet.
She ate and drank a little yesterday, but not today.
She's very lethargic and not moving. It became very cold out last night. Its too hard for her to keep warm, even with the heat lamp, so I brought her into the house.
I'm wondering if she has a tumor in her chest. She has no swelling anywhere else. I think I've given up on thinking her foot is the problem.
As I said earlier (or in another post), her respiratory rate has been high ( 20/min) at night, for a long time. I think whatever is getting to her now, has been coming a long time. That's what makes me think it might be something like lung cancer.
I know I need to force fluids down her, but just handling her causes such deterioration.

 

[jdypat]

speaking of FEET. Yesterday while catching the roos out of the penn in order to find them a new home... i noticed one of my young hens had feet that were crooked. Then i noticed another hen had no toes on her right foot. no toe nails and man did it look strange.
I would have noticed this had they been hatched like that. they were in the house for two weeks before i put them in a "intermediate" house.. one that is covered with plastic and has a heat bulb in it..surely the heat bulb did not get so hot as to burn off her toes? they are as rounded on the tips as they can be. strange!
the one with the crooked feet cannot get on a perch.. the other hangs on hardly.

 

[tiki244]

How is she doing? You can force feed her the garlic. Just dont "force" it too hard! I did that with a rooster that had a really hot comb (temp) and I gave him a whole bunch of garlic the next day he seemed a lot better, I kept feeding him garlic, boy did he stink, hes ok now though