Hello! So I had my 3 poults (about 6 weeks) out playing today and the one starts hopping around acting freaked out.. we were under a pine tree, dust bathing as usual and foraging in the grass. Nothing out of the ordinary. He was acting like he stepped on something or almost like he was afraid of his own feet following him around!! So I picked him up and checked out his feet and legs - nothing. I inspected REALLY thorough and could see nothing.. ran my hands up and down, brushed off any pieces of dirt, etc. So I took the other ones into their coop and brought him to the kitchen sink! I rinsed his legs off real good and rubbed them down.. still didn't help! I checked for any abnormal look to tendons/bones.. made sure his joints were all working and he didn't have anything out of place/sensitive. I scrubbed with soap and water, palpated everywhere.. nothing. Inside his coop, he kept hopping around acting freaked out by his own feet.. and then he started randomly pecking his legs and feet, particularly one leg but in different spots. I go away for ten minutes, come back, and he's pecked a bloody wound into his foot. I rinsed it real good and turned off their light so it was dim, hoping to stop him from further pecking. I had to leave again and when I came back the wound was worse. But he's still acting the same strange way!! Like he's afraid of his own feet. I've rinsed the wound a bunch and checked and rechecked for any splinters, glass, etc - but I can see every detail of his legs so clearly and I could swear there's nothing in there! My brother thought maybe he got stung/bit by something.. so I tried distracting him but even when he's standing and eating, he's periodically hopping and looking scared. I tried having him take a nap under a dark blanket, thinking he'd forget when he woke up. He slept for 20 min and did not forget or feel better. Any ideas on what this is or what I can do to figure it out?? No limp or awkward gait.. just ocassionally hopping like there's something in there. If noone has any ideas - is there a safe way to get him from pecking his own foot off?? Thanks for any help!
Im so worried. I brought him up to the water dish and after a while of holding him steady, he relaxed and drank.
