Help! Weird feet problems

[Mimi Lover]

I thought one of my chickens had bumblefoot on both feet, so put in epsom salt bath and was going to remove what was causing it. When I was doing a closer inspection I found that the foot that had a dark spot wasn't really a core, it was more like the scales on the bottom of her feet swelled and died, as they were still connected to live tissue. The other foot had one toe that was really swollen, but there's nothing marring the foot on the top or bottom. Thought it might be mites, but haven't seen any pictures that resemble what she has, as none of the scales on top of her feet appear abnormal, and the feet are different from each other, one has the swollen toe and the other has the dark spot. Any ideas?

 

[Starburst]

Hi, @Mimi Lover! I'm so sorry that your chicken is doing so well.
Because your chicken has swelling on both feet, I don't think that it's bumblefoot. I also agree with you - this doesn't look like scaly leg mites.
While I can't be certain, I suspect that your hen might be suffering from Gout. My understanding is that when a chicken has too much uric acid, uric acid crystals (urate), builds up in the chicken's joints and tissue (particularly seen in the foot and hock joints).
This causes swelling, deformity, and sores, which might be what you're seeing. I'm not one-hundred percent sure, but a little more information might help us to figure out what's going on.
If I may ask, what do you feed her? (Including normal feed, supplements, treats, etc.)
Are her feet warm to the touch?
Do you notice any other symptoms she has? (For example, is she having any respiratory issues? Limping?)
Do you know what breed she is, and how old?
Any other information would help! I know this is a lot of questions, but hopefully, this will help us to narrow down different possibilities.
Again, I'm so sorry that this is happening, and I hope we can resolve this quickly!

 

[Mimi Lover]

Hi, @Mimi Lover! I'm so sorry that your chicken is doing so well.
Because your chicken has swelling on both feet, I don't think that it's bumblefoot. I also agree with you - this doesn't look like scaly leg mites.
While I can't be certain, I suspect that your hen might be suffering from Gout. My understanding is that when a chicken has too much uric acid, uric acid crystals (urate), builds up in the chicken's joints and tissue (particularly seen in the foot and hock joints).
This causes swelling, deformity, and sores, which might be what you're seeing. I'm not one-hundred percent sure, but a little more information might help us to figure out what's going on.
If I may ask, what do you feed her? (Including normal feed, supplements, treats, etc.)
Are her feet warm to the touch?
Do you notice any other symptoms she has? (For example, is she having any respiratory issues? Limping?)
Do you know what breed she is, and how old?
Any other information would help! I know this is a lot of questions, but hopefully, this will help us to narrow down different possibilities.
Again, I'm so sorry that this is happening, and I hope we can resolve this quickly!

Hi, thanks for responding so quickly! We feed her layer pellet, and her only treats are sunflower seeds and some fruit. Her feet are warm to the touch and while she hasn't been limping she's been sitting a lot more and will stand on the foot shown with the sore over the one with the swollen toe. She's still roosting however. She's a speckled sussex, five years old. Thanks again!

 

[Starburst]

Hi, thanks for responding so quickly! We feed her layer pellet, and her only treats are sunflower seeds and some fruit. Her feet are warm to the touch and while she hasn't been limping she's been sitting a lot more and will stand on the foot shown with the sore over the one with the swollen toe. She's still roosting however. She's a speckled sussex, five years old. Thanks again!

Thank you for sharing this information! Do you know the specific type of layer pellet you give her (The brand and name of the feed?) Different feeds can have different ingredients or levels of nutrition, and things like the amount of protein could affect the cause of your hen's foot problems.
I'm glad that she's still roosting! Aside from Gout or Bumblefoot, another possibility is that your hen has Mycoplasma Synoviae, which is often an upper respiratory system that goes into the system and results in infectious synovitis, which is a serious infection in poultry. This might be what's causing the swelling.
However, I do think it's still a possibility that your chicken has Gout - it's a little hard for me to tell, as I haven't seen it in person, but I know that @TwoCrows has experience with it - perhaps she might be able to help identify what it is for certain?