I have a five-year-old black sex link hen who has had recurring scaly legs for about two years. My only other remaining hen has never had bad scaly legs, and the hen that I had that got euthanised in August never got bad scaly legs, either. This hen is almost always energetic and a vigorous eater, though, so it is easy to miss the extent of her scaly leg issue.
This hen recently developed a dark, hard lump on one of her legs, which I suspect was caused by the scaly leg mite. What I wasn't used to, though, was seeing that some of the skin on her leg behind this lump had turned a rusty orange-brown (which isn't shown well in the photos).
After using Vaseline, wound spray (the purple stuff), and two kinds of leg sprays, I managed to break off most of the lump that was on the hen's leg, without completely skinning a section of her leg. Unfortunately, that left behind the hole that is visible in the photos. It looks as though there is almost nothing preventing a section of the hen's leg bone from being exposed. Naturally, I am now concerned about whether this will result in an infection, or fly-strike. I have applied antiseptic cream to the hen's leg once, and presumably I will also need to apply hydrogen peroxide to the hole.
I would like to reiterate that I am also concerned about the orange-brown colouration that is behind the hole. I haven't found anything on the internet about sudden changes in a chicken's leg colour. Is this colouration likely to signify an infection?
The hen is acting normally for the time being, but I'm not sure that that will last.
What should I do about both the hole and the unusual colour?
I would give here a nice long soak in epsom salt and warm water,get those legs good and clean. Then I would put triple antibiotic on her legs and wrap where the hole is.Glad she is still perky and eating well.
Hope she improves!
