Legs turned green!!!

[ladyrsanti]

Okay, here's a strange one.

One of my wheaten marans pullets, age: 7 weeks, her legs just turned this strange green-blue color. I had sprayed blu-kote on her right leg a couple of weeks ago when one of her leg feathers had been pulled or broken. She was bleeding everywhere and getting pecked at so blu-kote did the trick. I was wondering if perhaps that somehow did this? Her skin is otherwise normal, on her body. She's acting fine, walking fine. It's just bizarre. Her claws aren't colored. I have EE that have green legs but their claws are green too.

ANYONE SEEN THIS BEFORE???

Here's a picture of her feet and a picture of her sister's for comparison. Her legs were a nice yellowish-pink before. You can still see a trace of the blu-kote on her middle toe. I should note that the blu-kote was only sprayed on that one leg and not the other.

 

[chooks4life]

The only time I've seen a chook change color of iris/leg/beak/feather/skin is when it was raised on a deficient diet and it's suddenly started receiving a good spectrum, usually kelp. But I've only seen it happen to adult chickens I've bought in. I always reared all my bubs on kelp, so nothing new there. I dare say you're doing something right with the diet, supplying some need that wasn't being met before.

 

[ladyrsanti]

They did get some sav-a-chick electrolytes yesterday after another chick mysteriously died.

 

[chooks4life]

Did you breed and hatch them or buy them in already hatched? Maybe whatever they're being kept on now is more complete in the nutrient profile than whatever they might have been on, if that's the case?

My chooks of the same colors as her, that particular soft pastel apricot color, and bantam genetics or at least fluffy-legged type (I noticed with some of my random productions) often had pale blue legs and skin but white claws. (Not sure what the official terminology for the coloration is). It looks natural enough.

I did once get in two 2-year-old 'purebred' (aren't they all) pure white leghorn hens who after about a year on kelp-enriched feed changed white beaks and legs to intense yellow, one got creamy pinkish orange feathers whereas the other got red and black flecking and spotting and went greyish off-white, Their pale yellow eyes went dark red/orange and one of them started laying brownish eggs. That was an eye opener for me, I didn't know adults could do that at such an age. They'd been pure white, with white eggs, but kelp showed that wasn't their natural inclination.

 

[Wrightsx4]

Hi there!
just saw this post and imagine my surprise to see it was yours!!! my wheaten female's legs have turned blue too... I think we can be sure now it's inherited

 

[ladyrsanti]

Indeed! Yeah, they haven't changed since they turned color. Such a shame. The other wheaten that I have is not a good feathering pattern so it's a lose-lose with the pullets. The roo seems to be pretty good but I dunno the finer points about the breed's roos so who knows. He could have some comparable flaw. But still, it's the eggs I want and hopefully within a couple of weeks! I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for dark eggs.

 

[Wrightsx4]

My little wheaten pair couldn't be more sweet, looking forward to the eggs for sure. Not sure which marans roo/roos I'll be keeping but he has a great personality. I ended up with 5 boys and two girls from my marans assortment. All different types of roos, and a wheaten pair and a beautiful golden cuckoo pair. With only the two females I'll want to keep around a roo to get a few more. Trouble is...the four I have left are all on my "good" list so far.

 

[chooks4life]

The answer to chicken maths is always: more.

Let no good male die unbred for want of a few more hens, say I.

lol. Anyway, all the best with whatever your choice is.

 

[ladyrsanti]

Beware the "good list", lol! So far our wheaten roo is a good boy but I think they're a bit young to tell their adult temperament. Our last roo didn't get "mean" until he was much more mature. I've already warned ours that if he turns, he's going (but not before he fertilizes some EE eggs!!! I want some olive-eggers). So how are the golden cuckoo pair for feathering? Not sure I've seen those before.

Anyway, here's a picture of my green/blue-footed wheaten marans, Terra. Her "sister" is named Cotta. So unusual, those feet. I wish I knew how they got them (genetically speaking) and hope it doesn't affect the egg color. I think she's sixteen weeks old so several weeks to wait.

 

[Wrightsx4]

The golden cuckoo female doesn't look much different than the wheaten (except no blue/green legs!)- the cuckoo pattern isn't seen. I've seen others like her online - evidently used for getting the lighter coloring while the next generation would have barring. Not sure on all that yet! The male looks like a regular cuckoo marans male but the gold is starting to come in on his head, neck, and saddle feathers. Very nice size and stature, but he's still growing into his bone structure, lol. If you look on Cedar Creek's site they have pics of their adults. Hoping my male will look like him So pretty.
My wheaten girl's legs ditto yours.

Yes I have problems with chicken math. It's the multipliers that get me in trouble.