Need help diagnosing severally swollen ankle/ top of foot pad, pics included!

[Happy_feet_farm]

Hey there friends!
I need some help with one of the girls in our flock. Yesterday, we noticed our 4 month old orpington has pretty swollen ankles/ foot pads. She is getting around ok, still eating and drinking, but more calm and docile than normal (fell asleep in my arms today! Due to the size of my flock this is not normal behavior!) We first thought we had a case of bumble foot, but since its affecting both feet and there is not a sign of scab to be found, plus the severity of swelling in the left ankle (not foot pad) I'm not so sure that diagnosis is correct. Perhaps she has gout? When reading, I discovered gout prevention includes feeding the young girls chick food till they are laying, but since we have a mixed flock (10x 1.5 year old laying girls and 15x girls purchased in march) we've been feeding them all layer feed for the last 2 months. Our girls are all free ranging in the day, in the large coop at night were we utilize deep litter method with cedar shavings. Its dry in the coop. The roost is about 2 feet off the ground (I read bumble foot could be caused by high roosts/ laying boxes) but none of my other girls look bad at all. So I'm stumped! We plan to soak her feet in epsom bath today and apply some vetericyn spray with a vet wrap bandage, changing a few times a day, to see if we have any improvement (as I read this is bumblefoot treatment). Any help, diagnosis guess, or treatment advise would be so greatly appreciated!!

 

[Painted Calls]

To me this looks like gout.

I personally would feed a Flock Raiser with oyster shell in a separate dish for the layers to eat when they need it.

Cedar is horrible for all animals. I would switch to pine. The bedding wouldn't be the cause here though.

Hopefully someone with better knowledge will be along soon.

 

[Happy_feet_farm]

Thanks for your reply and the advice on the shavings! Yes, I’m afraid it may be gout after doing more research. It seems the treatment is more preventative and includes isolation as she will need a special diet. At least she is relaxing into her epsom pedicure If anyone else has any recommendations I would be so appreciative! Thanks a bunch.