Leg/foot injury

[GingerGremlin]

One of my Easter Eggers started limping about a week ago, we checked out her foot and leg and didn't see anything so we assumed she pulled something and would recover after some rest.

We kept checking on her and still saw nothing wrong with the foot, then about 3 days ago we had some kind of cold or flu move through the house so we weren't as vigilant about it but her limp had gotten a little better and she was still foraging with the flock, until yesterday.

She posted up under a bench on the porch and stayed there all day she wouldn't leave for kitchen scraps so my sister and I picked her up to check out her foot, she has one swollen toe that's white and cold to the touch. We reached out to a homesteader close to us we know and she said it sounds like something got wrapped around the toe, we were going to do an Epsom salt soak today and see if we could get anything to come off. My sister doesn't get home until around 6 so I was gonna start the soak around 5:30 so we could teamwork it.

Today she was on the roost when I let everyone out which I was hoping was a good sign until I helped her down and realized she can't stand, I've moved her around the yard a couple times to try and get her to eat and drink but she won't. Everytime she tries to stand her wings go out like she can't get her balance and she falls, she just lays there with her head down and her eyes closed. I'm worried it's not what our friend thought and that it's much worse, has anyone seen something like this?

Tomorrow I'm even considering calling every vet in the area to see if anyone will see a chicken.... I'm beating myself up for not trying to do something sooner but her foot and leg all looked normal until a couple days ago. I'm just at a loss here...

 

[coach723]

It does appear that something may have wrapped around that toe. It could be something as small as a hair. It appears that circulation was cut off and that the tip of the toe is dead or dying, and will eventually fall off. Chickens lose toes sometimes, accident, injury, frostbite, etc. Once it falls off they usually do just fine. I don't see any major signs of infection, but I would keep an eye on it.
Being sore and painful, I wonder if she's not been eating and drinking well, so may be weak and vitamins could be deficient.
I would crate her for a while, and try using a sling (examples below) to keep her more comfortable and try to get her eating and drinking.
When not in the sling you can put rolled up bath towels around her to help her stay more upright. I would give some vitamins also, a super B complex tablet or capsule once a day (human ones from any pharmacy) and some poultry nutridrench once a day for a couple of days to give her a boost and maybe help with appetite. Try giving her a mash made with her feed mixed with a little water, scrambled or cooked chopped egg, canned tuna, see if anything gets her interested.

 

[GingerGremlin]

It does appear that something may have wrapped around that toe. It could be something as small as a hair. It appears that circulation was cut off and that the tip of the toe is dead or dying, and will eventually fall off. Chickens lose toes sometimes, accident, injury, frostbite, etc. Once it falls off they usually do just fine. I don't see any major signs of infection, but I would keep an eye on it.
Being sore and painful, I wonder if she's not been eating and drinking well, so may be weak and vitamins could be deficient.
I would crate her for a while, and try using a sling (examples below) to keep her more comfortable and try to get her eating and drinking.
When not in the sling you can put rolled up bath towels around her to help her stay more upright. I would give some vitamins also, a super B complex tablet or capsule once a day (human ones from any pharmacy) and some poultry nutridrench once a day for a couple of days to give her a boost and maybe help with appetite. Try giving her a mash made with her feed mixed with a little water, scrambled or cooked chopped egg, canned tuna, see if anything gets her interested.
View attachment 3794478View attachment 3794479
View attachment 3794480
View attachment 3794481

I'm glad that you're thinking lines up with what my friend was saying, I was worried about infection that had spread while I missed it but since it's cold to the touch that didn't make sense to me. It really freaked me out when I saw she couldn't stand, I didn't think one toe could throw her balance off that bad... she did eat treats last night and limped to the run herself so she's not starving but I put food right next to her this morning on the ground and she just looked at it and closed her eyes again. She's such a sweetie I've been on the verge of tears all morning. Thank you!!!

 

[coach723]

I would give her a thorough going over, make sure there isn't anything else going on that's been missed. Look for wounds hiding in feathers, lice or mites anywhere on her especially around the vent and under wings, make sure her crop is functioning normally, (it should have food in it periodically during the day, and be empty first thing in the morning before she's had food or water), feel her abdomen for any bloat below the vent, between the legs. How old is she? Do you know when she last laid? How is her weight? Is her keel well muscled, or is the keel bone very prominent? EE's tend to be leaner than some other breeds, but you can compare with others if you aren't sure.

 

[GingerGremlin]

She does have what looks like lice, I found some bugs with round butts on my shirt yesterday after holding her for around 10-15 minutes checking out the toe. She also has some missing and ruffled back feathers, I don't think she's been able to dust bathe like she needs too so I planned on dusting her with some DE after we soak her legs. She has a couple raised scales on the same leg with the injured toe but nothing crazy, originally we thought she got her foot caught in something and twisted it a little. We had scaly leg mites last year and it doesn't look like they're back I've been compulsive about checking. She has looked skinnier recently and I thought she was lighter when I picked her up... We just got her last spring so she's still young. I found her in the nesting box two days ago but I couldn't guarantee she was laying, I kind of thought she was sleeping in there so she wouldn't have to roost since it was as I was shutting everything up for the night. I've only had chickens for about two years, what's a keel bone? I've never heard that before

 

[GingerGremlin]

I would give her a thorough going over, make sure there isn't anything else going on that's been missed. Look for wounds hiding in feathers, lice or mites anywhere on her especially around the vent and under wings, make sure her crop is functioning normally, (it should have food in it periodically during the day, and be empty first thing in the morning before she's had food or water), feel her abdomen for any bloat below the vent, between the legs. How old is she? Do you know when she last laid? How is her weight? Is her keel well muscled, or is the keel bone very prominent? EE's tend to be leaner than some other breeds, but you can compare with others if you aren't sure.

This is the extent of her "missing" or ruffled back feathers, nothing I've been too worried about, I was thinking maybe she was starting to molt but now after seeing the bugs I'm not so sure.

 

[coach723]

The keel bone is the bone that separates the breast, runs down the middle, you can feel it low on the breast, and if they are thin it feels quite obvious.

If she has lice then you are better off getting a permethrin product and treating her with that. Either a spray, or a poultry dust. You can also use Elector PSP, it's quite a bit more expensive. Lice can weaken them substantially, cause them to be anemic. Sometimes lice will find a bird that is sick with something else, but they are a huge problem all on their own. If one has them, you need to check them all. Lice don't spread as badly as mites, but they do spread. You need to treat all the birds you find them on, and treat the coop as well.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/

 

[GingerGremlin]

I do have elector psp we spray down the coop every spring after a deep clean, I'll use that on her today. I see! I always just called it their chest bone, I haven't noticed any difference in the feel of it picking her up since she's been injured, she's our friendliest girl so we're used to handling her. The only difference I've noticed is she's felt lighter recently. Can I spray the elector psp on her safely?

 

[coach723]

Yes you can use the elector on her. There are instructions and a video in the link I gave above.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/
And the label should have the correct dilution for using it on animals/birds. Many like the elector better since it works with one treatment, rather than having to repeat.

 

[GingerGremlin]

Yes you can use the elector on her. There are instructions and a video in the link I gave above.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/poultry-lice-and-mites-identification/
And the label should have the correct dilution for using it on animals/birds. Many like the elector better since it works with one treatment, rather than having to repeat.

I didn't realize that, thank you so much!! I feel a lot better about the whole situation now, I was spiraling a little bit...