"left for dead" Scaly leg question...

[fibi12]

Hi, and thanks for clicking on this post! A while back, i was going for an early morning walk. so early morning it was still pretty dark. i live in a very rural area, lots of farms with live stalk. as i was walking in the shadows a car drove past. it stopped about 20 yards in front of me. someone got out of the car and put a chicken on the side of the road, after witch she quickly got back in her car and drove away. i picked up the poor bird, (a buff orpington pullet) and took her to my house. she was in awful condition. the most horrible case of scaly leg i had ever seen, under weight, runny nose, HUGE clumps of mites surrounding the base of her feathers, and just in genaral not looking well. her scaly leg was so bad, she could just barley hobble around. this happens more often than you would think . in the spring, see some cute fluffy yellow chicks take one home, after a few weeks, it not so cute, they dont no how to care for the bird, and they take it to the country and dump it. its the awful truth. anyway, we got rid of the mites, runny nose ect. and weve been oil treating her for scaly leg for sevral weeks. all the clumps have fallen off, exposing new pink skin. to get to the point, my question is how do i know when i can let her be with my other chickens without danger of them getting the scaly leg? in the meanwhile, she is staying in a quite small cage. any info or advise would be helpful! thanks! ps her name is Gloria i can post pics if requested.

 

[Judy]

Since you're down to pink tissue I would think you'd be safe.


Perhaps someone who has actually done this will come along.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I don't know the answer to your question but I wanted to thank you for helping Gloria. That is so good of you to do.

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

Thank you for being kind and taking care of the poor chicken. You are wonderful! Hopefully someone else can give you the advice you want.

 

[yomama]

How lucky for that poor pullet, and how good of you to take her in. I would of done the exact same thing. People can be so cruel.

I know that the general rule of thumb for a new bird is at least 4 weeks of quarantine. If it were me, I would do 4 weeks of quarantine, AFTER she shows no more signs of respitory illness or mites. I adopted a roo from the neighbors, and when he came to me he had really bad scaley leg mites. I began treating him immediately, and by the time the quarantine was over, the leg mites were gone. I would say that once her legs are looking like normal again, you are probably fine. The mites live on the leg alone, according to my avian vet, so she would need to have close contact with the other birds to spread them, if she even still has them. Good luck with your new, very lucky, girl!

 

[fl_deb]

most avocates for isolation of new birds claim at least 2 weeks, some say a month, it is really up to you.

If it were me, I would treat with Ivermectin, that way I know that she was no longer a carrier for mites, lice, or worms!
Also, if she had a runny nose, how can you be sure she isn't a carrier for anyone of several URI ???

Just sayin, please take good care of you and yours before risking your flock!

 

[fibi12]

thank you all SO much for all the input! so greatful!

 

[chkn]

I hate that when people leave chickens on the side of the road.

 

[ND]

I would be concerned that she may be a carrier for any number of things given that she showed respiratory symptoms when she arrived.
I would definitely 'sacrifice' a bird to live with her in quarantine for up to a month... watching for any signs that the sacrificed bird gets ill in any way. If so, both should be culled so you don't infect your entire flock... unfortunately. That's the safest thing to do. Not foolproof, but safest. A carrier won't show any symptoms any longer but would be more than capable of infecting healthy birds.

 

[theFox]

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