Old hen with a lot of problems

[Cyprus]

I'll detail the meds tonight, but they were all by prescription and quite expensive. How bad is her bumblefoot? Can you send photos?

Regarding the mites, those are Northern Fowl. They can get out of control really fast. You have to kill the adults, the juveniles and the eggs, otherwise, you'll just keep finding them. they'll just keep coming back. Frontline really is the best product for getting rid of the creepy crawlies fast. Trim her feathers and spray it on and rub it in, but don't soak her with the stuff.

Is that frontline spray for dogs?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Her list of issues:
Chronic Bumblefoot, already operated on unsuccessfully
Massive mite infestation, treated more times than I can remember
Obese Lethargy Overactive Preen Gland. Her whole backside and area around her preen gland is SOAKED in oil and smells lightly like urine. Preen gland is cone shaped, veryprominent.
Missing feathers down front of neck -not from a molt
Constantly loose stools
Anything I can do for her? I don't want to kill her.
I've tried:Baths
Permethrin dust and spray
Bumblefoot surgery
Deworming
Restricting food/dieting
Epsom foot soaks

She is a (suspected) Red Ranger hen, almost 6 years old.
If I had to guess her weight, I'd say 15lbs. She is very, very difficult to lift high.

She is getting a bath indoors tomorrow. I am going to pluck as many feathers as possible that are coated in mites.

The mites are tiny black dots. They are a literal mass 2-3 inches deep all on her vent, fluff and underbelly.
They almost killed her once. Sprayed her asap with dish soap, oil, and water that time and she was fine the next day.

Pictures of her, the preening gland, her legs/feet (tops and bottoms), her vent, etc.

The bathing may help to initial kill the mites, but it sounds like she keeps getting re-infested? You may want to try Ivermectin to see if that helps, but eliminating the mites/lice from the housing is going to be crucial in controlling re-infestation.
Use your Permethrin to treat the housing/nesting boxes and roosting bars. You 'll have to clean out all the bedding. Re-treat everything 2 more times in 10 days intervals, hopefully that will eliminate most of them. Do any of the other birds she's housed with have mites too? It would be a good idea to look.

Her age is not helping and neither is the weight, but at 6 years old and being a suspected Red Ranger she's lived quite a while
The slight smell of urine is a bit concerning, is her vent area staying soiled?

You mention that she likes to roost high, with her size and weight, how does she get up high - do you place her there or is she able to get their on her own? How does she get down - jump or you take her down?

 

[Cyprus]

Pictures of her, the preening gland, her legs/feet (tops and bottoms), her vent, etc.

The bathing may help to initial kill the mites, but it sounds like she keeps getting re-infested? You may want to try Ivermectin to see if that helps, but eliminating the mites/lice from the housing is going to be crucial in controlling re-infestation.
Use your Permethrin to treat the housing/nesting boxes and roosting bars. You 'll have to clean out all the bedding. Re-treat everything 2 more times in 10 days intervals, hopefully that will eliminate most of them. Do any of the other birds she's housed with have mites too? It would be a good idea to look.

Her age is not helping and neither is the weight, but at 6 years old and being a suspected Red Ranger she's lived quite a while
The slight smell of urine is a bit concerning, is her vent area staying soiled?

You mention that she likes to roost high, with her size and weight, how does she get up high - do you place her there or is she able to get their on her own? How does she get down - jump or you take her down?

All birds have mites.
She jumps to the highest roost from the lower ones. Sometimes she jumps down, but often I take her down.

She is a suspected Red Ranger b/c she came from TSC as a RIR but didn't look like one and grew to be bigger than our Brahma cockerel by 6mo.

She also had an abscess on her hock joint that my dad drained.

Hen in question is the large, light brown one

Spoiler: Disgusting pictures

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She is loaded up isn't she. I would get some Ivermectin Pour On and treat her for the mites. Dosage is 0.09 ml per pound of weight. Apply that to the back of the neck along the spine, it does need to make contact with the skin. Repeat in 10 days. See if they clear up. I would still give her a good washing up too, with her being big and fluffy, the poop is sticking to her, that may be your source of smelling ammonia.

The one foot, it looks like she has some hardened debris stuck in the crevices, see if you can get that out, they get dirt packed in there sometimes.
The other foot, I don't think I would cut into it. Can you get some Tricide Neo and begin daily soakings in that to see if it will go down? It can take several weeks of soakings to see improvement.

 

[Rose Quartz]

I've only read your first post. Came here from the chat thread, normally I'd read the whole thread first... I didn't this time.

(keep in mind I haven't got any chickens of my own so take my advice as you see fit)

All my sisters chickens that were over run with mites, had some other medical problem, the mites were just because the chicken was unable to care for itself because of other issues. (I know this because she chose to kill the sick hens that were over run with mites and every time something was found internally that was horribly wrong.)

I'm not saying your girl has an internal problem, but it is a possibility.

I imagine age, or weight might be the cause of the oil gland problem, and those might be the only reason she isn't dust bathing enough to keep the mites under control.

 

[Cyprus]

I've only read your first post. Came here from the chat thread, normally I'd read the whole thread first... I didn't this time.

(keep in mind I haven't got any chickens of my own so take my advice as you see fit)

All my sisters chickens that were over run with mites, had some other medical problem, the mites were just because the chicken was unable to care for itself because of other issues. (I know this because she chose to kill the sick hens that were over run with mites and every time something was found internally that was horribly wrong.)

I'm not saying your girl has an internal problem, but it is a possibility.

I imagine age, or weight might be the cause of the oil gland problem, and those might be the only reason she isn't dust bathing enough to keep the mites under control.

Thank you! I was wondering, because she is my only chicken who is overrun with mites.

 

[Cyprus]

This morning she got a bath with baby shampoo to remove mites and general gunk. Then she got a 10% Permethrin dip to kill off any remaining mites. On Sunday, she will get another dip to kill off the next generation.
Tomorrow I will assess her bumblefoot.

 

[Cragg Klefor]

This morning she got a bath with baby shampoo to remove mites and general gunk. Then she got a 10% Permethrin dip to kill off any remaining mites. On Sunday, she will get another dip to kill off the next generation.
Tomorrow I will assess her bumblefoot.

The poor girl, she's lucky she's got you.
Suggestion for the preen gland, dab it daily with warm water. I have a little one has this issue, she can't reach her's either due to disability. I do know her gland only got like this when she also had bumblefoot, really bad, and an infection in one of her wings. Once these things got managed, her preen gland returned pretty much to normal. It just gets a little sticky once in a while and I dab it again for a few days. Best of luck with her!

 

[Cyprus]

@Wyorp Rock Do you think this would work? I believe her bumblefoot is inoperable on her right leg, and spreading up her leg.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

@Wyorp Rock Do you think this would work? I believe her bumblefoot is inoperable on her right leg, and spreading up her leg.

Will what work?