HELP! Lame Chicken - sore feet?

[antheat]

HELP!

I have separated two young chickens. The lady I got them from is having no problems with the ones she has, I have 3 other siblings and they are all zipping around just fine.

But these two can't walk. And I can't figure out what I'm looking at. And I'm new to chickens, nothing like a steep learning curve.

Give us the following information. The more you tell us, the better we will be able to help you.

1) What type of bird , age and weight. - 3 months old, easter egger, not sure of the weight
2) What is the behavior, exactly. - birds don't want to stand, feet are swollen
3) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma. - can't see any wounds but I think there is a bruise (look at pics)
4) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation. - brought them home in a wire cage 2 weeks ago, spent one week in a yard that is mostly concrete before being let out onto grass area
5) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all. - made a mistake and put onto crumbles, switched back to Start and Grow with amprollium. Dosed with Sulmet because of possible cocci.
6) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc. - green and solid
7) What has been the treatment you have administered so far? - Rescue Remedy and a pinch of terramycin in their water. chick feed with amprollium. Initially dosed with Sulmet.
8 ) What is your intent as far as treatment? For example, do you want to treat completely yourself, or do you need help in stabilizing the bird til you can get to a vet? - I'd like to treat myself, there is no vet locally that I can get help from
9) If you have a picture of the wound or condition, please post it. It may help. - I don't know how to post pics so I included links to pictures

Pics are here :

http://picasaweb.google.com/chyldeoflight/Feet

http://picasaweb.google.com/chyldeoflight/Feet/photo#5160923197577618434

I'm not sure how to post pics so I gave links instead.

thanks

Anthea

 

[DoctorGoose]

I do believe what you have there is bumblefoot--do a search on it for treatment methods. It's quite nasty

 

[dlhunicorn]

It may indeed be a staph infection going on , however it may be due to something else (gout would also cause such....
altho there are other things too...( there is for instance a viral "arthritis" that often causes swelling and gout can also look like this).... keep everything clean and dry and clean their feet in a disinfectant and then oil up with some baby oil or aloe vera and limit their movement for a while....
sometimes a cage bottom floor (wire) will be enough to cause staph by bruising and such if not sufficiently padded. If you have them in a cage with such a bottom then do line it with cardboard underneath the shavings.

 

[pips&peeps]

If these chickens have bumble foot, there will be a sore on the pad of the feet. Usually not both feet are affected.


This is gout, swollen "ankles" and toes in both feet is gout. This would be because you maybe switched their food to something with more protein and their systems cannot handle it. Check with the previous owner to see what kind of feed they were on.

Jean

 

[antheat]

pips,

would gout show up with nasty streaks, like a blood infection type of look?

many thanks

Anthea

 

[dlhunicorn]

I am personally not going to diagnose anything as I am not a vet ... any info you get here on this board is just a guess (and I suspect a vet would even want to see the bird and examine it before venturing such)
however here is some more detailed info to help you... I am truly unsure of what it may be ... a staph infection (often called bumblefoot when it is advanced and with a plug/abscess on the foot pad or toes) as well as gout (and there are a couple other candidates but my guess would be one of these two) could look like what I am seeing in your photos...it is not at all so cut and dried to me to the point I would be comfortable making a blk and white statement as to what it is...
if it is gout , sometimes you get a white crystalline substance out instead of a cheesy substance which is present in an advanced abscess (however a staph infection may not be advanced to that state of having formed an abscess).... If it is staph infection then antibiotics will be need...if gout not (however dietary adjustment may be helpful)
Gout is very serious as well as staph.... I can provide you info to help you perhaps but if it were me I would get the opinion of a vet.
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/204200.htm
"....All avian species appear to be susceptible to staphylococcosis, which is common worldwide wherever poultry are reared. Staphylococcus aureus is usually the causative agent, but there is increasing evidence that other Staphylococcus species may also be involved. The disease condition can vary depending on where and how the bacteria enter the host; infections have been reported in the bones, joints, tendon sheaths, skin, sternal bursa, navel, yolk sac, liver, lungs, and eyelids. Septicemic infection has also been seen in laying chickens, with death occurring very quickly. .....................
...S aureus and other Staphylococcus species are part of the normal flora on the skin and mucous membranes and are not thought to produce disease unless there is some breakdown in an environmental or immune system barrier. Most infections occur because of a wound, damage to the mucous membranes, or both.................
.......... Once in the host, S aureus usually travels to the metaphyseal area of a nearby joint and causes osteomyelitis with subsequent spread to the joint. S aureus can produce disease locally at the site of entry, but the tendency to spread to the bones and joints is probably the most important feature of this disease. ............
............Staphylococcosis can be successfully treated with antibiotics, but a sensitivity test should be performed because antibiotic resistance is common. Antibiotics used to treat Staphylococcus infections include penicillin, erythromycin, lincomycin, and spectinomycin. Because wounds are a major cause of infection, it is important to reduce all potential sources of injury (eg, sharp objects) to the bird. Splinters in litter, sharp rocks, wire from cages, sharp edges or nails on floor slats, and fighting have been associated with the disease, as well as beak and toe trimming procedures in young chickens and turkeys. Good litter management is important in controlling foot- pad erosions to prevent infection. "

Gout:
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=linksgeneralinfo&action=display&num=1186334568
(I have many articles on it at the above link)

 

[greyfields]

Looks like a bumblefoot to me too. 1 cc penecillin IM into the thigh. If it's not bumble, it's likely some kind of infection that's causing the swelling. The penecillin should clear that up as well. There are also some forms of arthritic bacterial infections that cause lameness and swelling in the joints. Again, penecillin can clear these up.

 

[antheat]

dlhunicorn,

a vet isn't an option, unfortunately. I asked my vet and he said he'd have no clue and there is no-one in the area. They consider anything but dogs and cats exotic, go figure. So its pretty much up to me to try to figure it out.

thanks for the info.

Anthea

 

[antheat]

I'm taking more pics tonight.

last night I had both Brownie and Splashy soak in epson salts, then I gently washed their feet in a mild non-medicated dog shampoo (didn't have any dawn), then rinsed and soaked again. Wrapped up in towels and put in front of the heater.

They both ate and drank well last night and this morning.

This morning, Splashy was standing up and looking quite rambunctious.

His feet are nowhere near as bad as Brownie's though - she looks almost like she has blood poisoning and LOT of brown area - he only has a few small areas and the area between his toes is clear.

I could see nothing underneath the feet, only on top of the feet. Brownie's feet looked to be less swollen then the previous day.

Tonight I plan on soaking her feet again, and then pouring some hydrogen peroxide over her feet so I can see where it fizzles, in hopes of finding any punctures or scratches or wounds. I'll do the same with him, only I'll wash his feet instead of soaking him in a bath.

I have iodine (7%) which I can swab on and neosporin.

After bathing last night, they spent the night wrapped in towels - this morning I moved Splashy as he was far more active, back to the crate with clean shavings. I left Brownie on a clean dry towel as she didn't want to move much. Both ate and drank well and were peeping and chirping at me.

I'm very worried about Brownie's feet though.

thanks

Anthea

 

[dlhunicorn]

I have a thread saved in my case studies of a somewhat similar case as yours (in that it was not sure if staph or not) ... in that thread treatment from vet was described... have a look :
http://dlhunicorn.conforums.com/index.cgi?board=diseasecasestudies&action=display&num=1159620742