Limping Chicken With a Weak Middle Toe - PLEASE HELP!

[Anna W]

Hello all!

I am new to this forum, but have followed it for about a year now. Many of the posts were so helpful in treating my chickens--thank you! Unfortunately, I am in need of your help once again with my one year old chicken who is limping. That said, this is not her first time limping, she did have bumble foot (right) once and I did the surgery (passing out in the middle of it, but I did finish when I came to). She is limping on her left foot, just started yesterday. What is strange is that her middle toe is so weak that she does not curl it up when I put my finger to it. The foot does not seem to be super swollen or hot either, but it does hurt her to step on it. I have given her foot bath last night and treated with Vetericyn and bandaged her up just incase it is a beginning stage of bumblefoot (but the toe is odd). She is otherwise a healthy eater, nothing is drooping or any other symptoms are present. I heard somewhere that a particular disease attacks mostly left foot and that antibiotic treatment is needed? Any suggestions, please? Thank you!

 

[Eggcessive]

A simple thing you can do is to soak her feet and legs in warm Epsom salts for 20 minutes each day to soothe her foot. Holding the foot up sounds like she has spained it or she may have a tiny cut in her footpad. I would keep an eye on that in case it turns into bumblefoot.

 

[Eggcessive]

If her foot is sprained, I don’t think antibiotics would help. In early bumblefoot, they usually are not necessary. Most antibiotics are not approved for egglaying poultry anyway, so if you use one, there would need to be a proper egg withdrawal time. Fish Mox (amoxicillin) which is found online would be an appropriate one to use if there is a need. Most people don’t use antibiotics for bumblefoot, but try to treat it with soaks or surgery. Some people have had luck using a gauze pad with betadine and sugar as a dressing to help draw out infection.

 

[Anna W]

A simple thing you can do is to soak her feet and legs in warm Epsom salts for 20 minutes each day to soothe her foot.

I started doing just that last night, as soon as I saw she is having a limp--soaked her feet in warm Epsom salt water, then applied Vetericyn and bandaged. I also put her away from the coop onto our screened in porch in a large cage--so she slept separately last night. She seems worse off this morning, though. I have soaked her feet again today, applied Neosporin (regular kind) to soften her feet, put Vetericyn with gauze and wrapped it in a bandage again. I have released her into our large coop area that is fenced in, so she will not be roaming around all over the yard. How long should I do the baths before I need to try antibiotics?

 

[nightowl223]

I noticed that she also has pink eyes unlike the others. Is that normal?

We aren't sure what you mean by that. Are the whites of her eyes pink, or the irises (colored parts) are pink? Are there pink spots, or lines of pink, or what? Pics would definitely help.

As for her foot, I agree with the advice you've gotten here. If she is trying to develop bumblefoot, it's much too early to tell. It's possible she just got a stone bruise there.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Do you have any pictures of the top and bottom of the chicken’s foot that you can post here? Do both legs appear the same size and are there any swollen joints?

 

[Eggcessive]

Do you mean her irises are pink or does she have pinkey (conjunctivitis?) Do you have pictures?

 

[nightowl223]

I have a small hen that's limping a bit also with no sign of bumblefoot, and I think it may be from my largest roo breeding. I've been epsom salt soaking, but don't know anything else to recommend. I do have a hen with a toe broken 2 yr. ago that does fine. It's just crooked. I tried splinting it, but I couldn't get her to quit taking it off. Another one broke a toe and it just hung limp. Unfortunately, she died.

I'm sorry for the loss of your hen. Was the death due to a complication of the broken toe, like a case of gangrene or something? Or completely unrelated?

 

[Anna W]

Hello! No swollen joints. She prefers to stand on the other leg and keep this one up. I can take the pictures, but there seem nothing different as far as color going on. Both legs appear to be the same.

 

[Anna W]

I have examined her again and see that now her left foot is a bit swollen on the outside side. I also noticed that the bottoms of her feet are rougher than usual and kind of scaly (?). Here are pics of the bottom of her left foot.