Limping chicken - what could be wrong

[Bobinasmom]

Hi! I'm new to BYC and want to ask your advice. One of my chickens is limping and standing a lot one one leg. At first I thought it was due to a scatch on the side of her foot, but after having treated it with antibacterial cream + bandaids for 4 days the wounds seems to be healed but the chicken is still limping. I am concerned about bumblefoot, but don't see any black/brown scab. It seems to me that the underside of that foot is slightly swollen and a little warm to the touch, but that may be because it's all the time tucked into her chest. Any ideas? I have been isolating her in a guinea pig case in the coop for the last 3 days just in case it's contagious, but I see no improvement. Thanks for any suggestions you can give

 

[Judy]

The swelling and warmth are signs of infection inside. There could still be something in there, a thorn or something, or it could simply still be infected.

 

[Bobinasmom]

Thanks! But should I worry about bumblefoot at this stage and keep her isolated from the others? She clearly wants to be with the rest.

 

[Judy]

She is not contagious. You'll have to balance the threat to the foot, including that they could peck at it, with the benefits of being with the flock, as they like being. If you keep her out long, she'll have to go through that bottom of the pecking order thing, too.

It's hard to answer about the foot even with your description. Could be it needs reopening, could be she needs some penicillin. Could be she just needs some time. Chickens are pretty good at healing.

 

[johny]

Bumble foot is just a Staph. aureus abscess on the base of the foot.
It should be obvious within a day or two if it swells worse and maybe hotter than the other foot.

But I had a rooster suddenly start limping 2 months ago.
He seems perfectly healthy and examining his leg showed no obvious abnormalities. And I am an Emergency Physician used to looking at injured limbs.
There was no obvious malalignment. No clear area of tenderness. No reistance to passive range of movement.
I nurse him by putting him in front of food and water every day for a week. I did it while all the other birds were out in the run.
Eventually, it was obvious that he could get himself out to the feeder and water although he spent the rest of the day hidden under an egg box.
That went on for 3 weeks and suddenly he came out, strutted around liike nothing was wrong and became part of the flock again.

I figure he had a minor fracture or significant joint sprain that finally healed.

So don't despair.
If you do find a localized abnormality in the leg then you will hopefully be able to make a diagnosis and help it.

 

[Robo]

I hope she gets better.

 

[Bobinasmom]

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Thanks for your advice, Jonny and Dawn and thanks for your welll wishes, Robo. I haven't had a chance to check on her this morning, but yesterday when I tried to release her back into the flock one of the other hens clearly went after her. The rooster was pacing waiting for me to leave and as soon as I did he tried mating with her which obviously hurt her since that extra weight on her back was not good for her leg. Ughh, I'd hate to have to isolate her for that long, but maybe I have to? Also, since I'm a bit squeamish when it comes to these things, I'm reluctant to try to operate on her (in any case there's no scab to be found at this time). I read that someone had good luck with soaking the affected foot in a Tricide-Neo powder solution for 5 minutes a day for a week. I think I'll try that first.

 

[wing it]

this is a bad case of bumblefoot, sometimes its not so apprent but you should be able to see some mark on the foot, if it is bumblefoot. I have had some chickens that limp for a week with no obvious injurery. I think it might have been a bruise from jumping