Hurt feet on d’uccle

[cleoandtheflock]

Speckles our Mille fleur d’uccle pullet has nasty feet and she won’t use her left foot and when I touch it she pulls it back
It looks like their is a blister or something on the top of her foot and her legs and feet don’t have scales?
We got her with feet like that
She doesn’t seem well and I want to help her
What should I do?


Also we got her from a very experienced d’uccle breeder and shower and she is meant to show next season but I don’t know if those feet are good

Help!!!

 

[coach723]

It looks to me like she has had a bad case of scaly leg mites for a while, there is a lot of scale loss on the legs, feet and toes. A couple of the toes look like they may ultimately be lost, time will tell. When the debris builds up it can cut off circulation leading to lost toes. Soak the legs and feet in warm water with a mild soap (like dawn dish soap) or epsom salts. Dry them off with a towel which will gently remove some of the debris, I would be very careful doing that, don't rub too hard and cause more damage. Oil the legs up well with a vegetable oil, castor oil works well as it's thick, but any vegetable oil will work, then cover with vaseline. You can use a soft toothbrush to work it in around the feathers, again be gentle and careful not to damage the skin. You are trying to smother the mites. You will need to reapply several times a week until the legs start to look normal. Complete healing may take months. Doing this on feathered legs and feet can be messy, don't worry about dirt sticking to the oil, it will look bad, but will do the job. Some people use nu-stock cream, A&D ointment, or some suggest mixing some poultry dust (with permethrin) into the vaseline to help kill the mites. There is also a product called Elector PSP (available on amazon - expensive) that some have said they dip the legs/feet in and it works quickly. Most people do the soaking/oil/vaseline method. This link has some more info, I personally would not use the gasoline method on a bird that has sore, raw feet:
https://the-chicken-chick.com/scaly-leg-mites-in-chickens/
You can also do a search here for scaly leg mites and find lots of threads.

 

[cleoandtheflock]

coach723 she has a sister with feet like that but walks normal should we soak her also?

 

[cleoandtheflock]

can she be showed next season?

 

[coach723]

I would treat any birds that are showing signs. The mites are microscopic and burrow into the skin, so you won't see them. I would check all birds kept together, some may not be as advanced and obvious. Usually the first sign is some dry looking slightly raised scales. As it progresses without treatment the gunk builds up into hard, crusty lumps and then scales start to be lost. The earlier you catch and treat, the faster they will recover and heal. As to whether they can be shown or not, it will depend on how they are looking by then.

 

[cleoandtheflock]

so you think they still have scaly leg mites?

 

[cleoandtheflock]

the 2 pullets with the bad legs live with 4 other d'uccles with normal legs but i need to check

 

[coach723]

I do think they need to be treated. It can affect one bird, a few birds, or all of them. I would treat those showing symptoms and keep an eye on the others so that if it does spread to them you catch it early. It may not go beyond those affected already. In the future when you purchase birds it's a good idea to check them over for lice/mites and check their legs and feet well, especially if you plan to show.

 

[cleoandtheflock]

thank you! i will do all your suggestions and help them
do you think that one blister part will make the toe fall off?

 

[coach723]

For some reason my computer won't open these files so I can circle the toes I'm talking about.
In your pictures picture 5 and 7 show a toe that is narrowed/constricted near the tip, that is one I was talking about. It appears to still have circulation so may be fine, but time will tell. One of the back toes, you can see it on the bottom foot in picture 6 also appears to have a lot of stuff built up, so that toe may be a concern also. I wouldn't do anything other than treat same as the rest of the foot. Hopefully they will be fine, but if they start to darken then they may eventually fall off, that would mean they lost circulation. For right now they seem to still be getting blood flow.