Hen has a large growth on her leg that seems to be affecting how she walks

TheAmazingBailey

Hatching
Nov 17, 2020
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Hello! I’m hoping this is the right place to post this..

My aunt recently got two new hens (silver Laced Wyandottes I think, unsure of their age), however recently we noticed that one of them has a growth type thing on her leg and it has grown quickly. It appears to be affecting how she’s walking as she lifts her legs up really high when walking unlike our other three and none of them have any symptoms. She appears to be the same weight as the others and from what I’ve seen she’s eating and drinking normally.

We’ve cleaned their coop and haven’t found any mites, I don’t know if it matters but she uses wood wool as their bedding. I believe my aunt may have put vegetable oil on her legs once after googling it but I don’t think she does it regularly.

The vets near us aren’t great with animals other than ‘usual’ pets and covid has made it a bit hard to get in to see our usual one up the coast unfortunately, so in the meantime we were wondering if anyone has any ideas what it may be and possibly how to treat it? Sorry if I haven’t given enough information - I’m pretty new to this

thanks!

Here are the photos, first few are today and the last one is when we first noticed it. I did wonder if it may be scaly leg mite but as I said I didn’t see anything when I cleaned out the coop.

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I would contact the person who sold you them. Anyone selling a chicken like that shouldn’t really own them, her legs are in awful condition even without that growth.

It looks like it could be similar to a spur, but it’s definitely not normal, maybe just the same material I think it needs to be removed. Though I am not sure how. Sorry I can’t help you with that.

She does have bad scaly mite damage, though it is unlikely to have been caused by that - another thing to bring up to the sellers. You could soak her legs in some warm water and epsom salts, this will give you the opportunity for better pictures too, then apply coconut oil all over her legs as it’s thick and moisturising. Usually you would scrub the scales with a toothbrush but the damage to her legs is bad as the scales have fallen off and left the legs raw, which is extremely uncomfortable and painful (and could have been avoided had the previous owners taken action). Her legs need slathering in either coconut or olive oil once a day. Are the others legs like that?
 
Hello! I’m hoping this is the right place to post this..

My aunt recently got two new hens (silver Laced Wyandottes I think, unsure of their age), however recently we noticed that one of them has a growth type thing on her leg and it has grown quickly. It appears to be affecting how she’s walking as she lifts her legs up really high when walking unlike our other three and none of them have any symptoms. She appears to be the same weight as the others and from what I’ve seen she’s eating and drinking normally.

We’ve cleaned their coop and haven’t found any mites, I don’t know if it matters but she uses wood wool as their bedding. I believe my aunt may have put vegetable oil on her legs once after googling it but I don’t think she does it regularly.

The vets near us aren’t great with animals other than ‘usual’ pets and covid has made it a bit hard to get in to see our usual one up the coast unfortunately, so in the meantime we were wondering if anyone has any ideas what it may be and possibly how to treat it? Sorry if I haven’t given enough information - I’m pretty new to this

thanks!

Here are the photos, first few are today and the last one is when we first noticed it. I did wonder if it may be scaly leg mite but as I said I didn’t see anything when I cleaned out the coop.

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I don't think I've ever seen anything like that even in photos.

I agree, I would treat for Scaly Leg Mites. I would be inclined to treat with Ivermectin Pour On to get on top of them in addition to applying oil/ointment to the legs. Ivermectin Pour On dose is 0.09ml per pound of weight applied to the base of the neck (in contact with the skin). Repeat in 14 days.
Personally, I like to use Vaseline on the legs since it's thicker and doesn't seem to be quite as drying as coconut oil (ime).

The Ivermectin should take care of lice/mites on the body too (look under wings, around the vent, head/neck, etc.) but I would still check.

If you aren't able to get the Ivermectin, then I would still apply vaseline/oil to the legs a couple of times a week.
 
Never ever have I seen chicken legs in such a horrible and neglected condition!

In addition to the suggestions already made, you could use previously warmed coconut oil (liquid) in a bowl and let the hen stand in it (up to the hocks where the feathers start) for some minutes, so you do not have to rub or manipulate the very sensitive legs as they might even start to bleed.

This chicken must be already quite old, probably stopped laying some time ago.

It seems that somebody got rid of their horribly neglected, no longer laying chicken.

ETA: Her overgrown claws need to be trimmed as well, but carefully and just a bit every week so not to cut the quick.
 
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Thank you everybody for your help! We’ve bought the ivermectin, Vaseline and coconut oil to try out. Upon closer look, the other hens have a bit of scaly leg too so we’re going to treat the whole flock. We’re hoping that if we can get the mites under control we can see exactly what’s happening with the growth.

Oddly enough, they’re all still laying so we don’t think they’re too old, but again we’re not sure.
Thanks again everybody!
 

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