Help! Blister and swollen leg joint on chick!

[Katty671]

Hello,
I found a baby chick in my driveway a couple weeks ago. Other than the fact that she couldn’t walk, she was doing pretty okay until just a few days ago. She’s been “getting around” by using her leg joints. She formed scabs on her joints and now They are COMPLETELY swollen and she has a yellowish-blister bubble on the back of one of one. I believe it’s full of pus
WHAT DO I DO?? How do I clean it? Should I try to (carefully) drain the blister??
Please help. I’m new to chick care and was not prepared for her to come into my life. It breaks my heart to see her like this though

In the picture, the left joint is the blister, the right is still a scab.

 

[LaFleche]

Could you make a video of how she walks/moves and post the link here?

When you found her, did she already have these swollen heels/hocks or did these swellings showed up quite recently?

How does her poop look, could you post some pictures?

At first glance I thought that this might be gout, but we will wait and see what the other experienced members have to say.

 

[Katty671]

Thank you for responding! She hasn’t been walking much the past couple of days, I imagine due to this blister/ scab that formed. Im trying to share a video of her walking before the blisters but I only have the option to share pictures the best I can share is this picture of her “standing” when I first took her in. I’ve noticed that she favors (leans on) the leg that has the blister. I don’t believe her heels were swollen when I found her. I believe she has splayed legs though. I was going to try to correct it via what I read on google but I want to get this blister under control first. She won’t even try to “stand” right now unless I her on an extremely soft blanket. Her poop is sometimes firmish and other times more on the liquidy side. She has yet to poop today which is also worrying me. Her vent is clean (no pasty butt). I have been feeding her dry plain oats and sweet corn.

Sorry it’s blurry, these are screenshots from the video I was trying to share. This was 4days ago:

 

[Eggcessive]

She looks like she has a leg bone deformity possibly or a slipped tendon. Valgus deformity might be possible:
https://thepoultrysite.com/articles/leg-health-in-large-broilers

Either condition does not usually have a good outcome. Can she get around to get food? She needs to have a better diet. Can you purchase a small bag of chick starter at your feed store, and feed only that? It has all the nurients, vitamins and minerals that are needed for development. She might be disabled all her life, so I would consider if you have the time to care for her.

The blister is probably a small abscess from walking on the scabs. You could try to drain it and apply some betadine or chlorhexidene to it. A chick chair for periods throughout the day might be good to get it up and in front of food and water. Here is a thread with pages of examples:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

 

[Katty671]

I feed her by hand daily and when I’m not feeding her by hand, she is usually able to “hop” around to get to her food except for recently due her joints/heels.
Ive been feeding her what I have available at home but will certainly go out to look around for chick starter if that is better!
I will definitely invest in a chick chair if that is better as well.
Thank you so much for your responses! This really helps!

 

[LaFleche]

I don’t believe her heels were swollen when I found her. I believe she has splayed legs though. I was going to try to correct it via what I read on google but I want to get this blister under control first. She won’t even try to “stand” right now unless I her on an extremely soft blanket. Her poop is sometimes firmish and other times more on the liquidy side. She has yet to poop today which is also worrying me. Her vent is clean (no pasty butt). I have been feeding her dry plain oats and sweet corn

That would rule out gout and would explain the swellings and scabs.

Liquidy poop every now and then is normal caecal matter and nothing to worry about if the other excretions look normal.
What you are feeding her lacks the much needed proteins. But until you will be able to purchase proper chick starter feed like @Eggcessive suggested, you might give her some scramblesd egg with oatmeal.
And she needs grit ( rough sand) to be able to digest anything other than chick starter crumbles/pellets.

 

[Mk_lanch]

hi, do you have any updates on this chick?