My rooster's leg is green! Infection?

[azygous]

I posted yesterday a thread about my rooster having a hurt leg, not knowing what was causing it. Today, I took him out into the sunlight and examined his feet closely. He has been tapping the top of the right foot repeatedly with his beak, probably signaling something is wrong with it.

Well, it's turning green! The other foot is not green, so I think it's probably safe to conclude that this signifies an infection. I took a photo of the foot so you can see what it looks like.

I keep amoxycillin 250 mg on hand and I broke one open and gave it to him in a teaspoon of peanut butter.

Is this the right thing to do? What do you suppose caused this infection, if that's what this is?

 

[azygous]

This is a very old thread. It was made a long time ago before I gained a lot more experience with chickens. Knowing now what I didn't know at the time I made this thread, my rooster had lymphoid leucosis, an avian leukemia that causes tumors on the organs and joints and can cause debilitating paralysis. Penrod's son Izzy also succumbed to this virus at age eleven months. A necropsy showed he had tumors and a two pound liver. Since then, more chickens came down with symptoms, but the majority of my flock has developed resistance and are fine, living long, healthy lives.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

http://www.canadianpoultry.ca/cms_pdfs/AviaTech_Staph.pdf
see the bottom of page 3...don't know if this pertains to your boy or not

 

[Haunted55]

Penrod is not getting better. Whether his leg is fractured is beginning to be a moot point. He now has what appears to be infections on other parts of his body. His rump is bright read, and it's bordered by white skin, so it's apparent it's an infection. Also, the skin is red at the base of most of his feather shafts where pin feathers are erupting. He's also starting to have trouble breathing.

I think it's time to put an end to his suffering.

And I just noticed his foot is much thicker, swollen, than the left foot.

I'm totally mystified as to what's wrong, and what to do, and if he has any chance of getting better. What a hard decision. If I only knew if he had a chance, I wouldn't euthanize him, but if he isn't going to recover and be a normal roo again, I'd much rather put an end to his suffering.

What ever you decide, please have a necropsy done on this bird. I haven't had a lot of time to research this for you and I'm sorry. A lot of things come to mind with the symptoms, but you will need to have results from a necropsy to see if your other birds are at risk. Please get one done. Most of the time they are not expensive at all. Contact your State Vet's office if you do not have a Vet you normally go to. My first thoughts are that something has gone septic and maybe it was caused by a bite from something. I could be totally off the wall with this, but symptoms and the pictures tell a story that is not boding well for this bird. Whether or not it was a bite from something or a disease....I cannot tell you now. The only thing I can think of is switch antibiotics to something stronger like Tylan injectable and inject it. So not try to do it orally, this is too serious.

 

[azygous]

The green on my rooster's leg is spreading. He doesn't seem any better, and may be worse. He isn't interested in eating, let alone standing up and walking around. The foot seems to hurt him a great deal. I sure wish I knew why it's green. Has anyone experienced their chicken's leg turning green like this?

 

[ernie85017]

You're gonna think I'm crazy, but take an eyedropper and put one drop of bleach on the greenest area, away from the skin and see what happens.
It looks like the green that grows under fake fingernails.
THis is a better picture than yesterday. The green looks like it is inside the scales.

 

[BantamLover21]

Your rooster could certainly have an infection, but be advised that chicken bruises are green. It could be that something slammed into your rooster's leg, which irritated the skin (causing him to peck at it), and bruised the tissue. However, because your rooster is acting ill, I think that infection is more likely than bruising. The amoxycillin should help, but if not, injecting the leg with Penicillin might be more effective.

Encourage your rooster to eat by giving him scrambled eggs and moistened feed. If he still won't eat, pry open his beak, insert some food, and then get him to swallow it. Tube feeding is another possibility. Fluids are also important; drip water on the side of his beak or dip his beak into water often to get him to drink. Keep him in a clean, warm place, bedded on a good layer of wood shavings. Minimize external stresses (animals walking around nearby, loud noises, etc.).

 

[azygous]

Thanks for the advice. I did the drop of bleach on the greenest area, and it didn't change anything.

I moved him inside to the pet crate with water with electrolytes and ACV, and a container of two kinds of feed, one moistened with water and Poutry nutri-drench. He seems comfortable, and he ate a little bit.

I was keeping him in the run with just two hens to keep him company, but I don't think he really benefitted from being with them. At least this will make it easier to take care of him.

 

[ernie85017]

I think you need to hear from dawg or beekissed.

 

[azygous]

I know Dawg and Beekissed give terrific advice, maybe we'll be gifted by an appearance!

Penrod, my poor boy, is settled down in his crate in the garage. I got him out a couple of times to poop outdoors, since he doesn't like pooping in the crate. Even still, he can't stand up to do it and the result is an awful mess, and giving a twelve pound rooster a butt bath is a real job when he can't stand.

I hope, hope, hope to see a bit of improvement in the morning since he will have been on amoxycillin for three days.