pecking at her feet

[claudiabruckert]

One of my bantams is ripping her feet bloody. She seems to be ill. She's slow, wings hanging, doesn't eat. And, worst of all, she's constantly chewing on her legs and toes.
My assumption is she lost sensation in her legs. Has anybody observed something like this?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

What are the scales like on her legs and toes? Rather than assuming a loss of sensation I would first suspect an unpleasant sensation prompting the picking, such as that caused by parasites such as leg mites, etc.

 

[claudiabruckert]

Thanks for your reply. The scales are fine. She's pecking most of the time at the same spots, trying to pull her back toes off. Maybe because they are already bloody. And she's week, listless, and droopy. She seems quite sick.
Any ideas?

 

[azygous]

Here's a suggestion. Get some Poultry Nutri-drench. For whatever reason, this hen may be suffering from a nutritional deficiency. This supplement will give her an immediate boost.

Chickens pick at their feet when the feet are causing discomfort. You may not recognize what scales infested with mites look like, but that is what I suspect some of her problem may be. The treatment is very simple and need not even cost you anything. If you have castor oil, Vaseline, coconut oil, even Crisco, you have the treatment for scaly leg mite. Just smear on the oil over all the scales, including bottoms of feet, between toes, and legs all the way up the shanks.

While you are handling her, inspect the bare skin around her vent area and see if there may be some creepy-crawlies. Lice are common tenants on chickens and can make them feel miserable. The treatment is cheap and simple by picking up some permetrin poultry dusting powder.

Lastly, check your coop after dark with a flashlight. Look to see if there are mites on the roosting perches crawling up the legs of your chickens. You may need to treat the premises for mites.

 

[azygous]

One other thing - she could have a load of worms in her gut. One of the symptoms is goopy poop crusting around the vent plus the other symptoms you mention. A worm load can make a chicken sick and can even kill if it overwhelms. You can buy a wormer at feed stores and at Walmart. It will be for horses but just use about a quarter inch squeeze from the tube.

 

[claudiabruckert]

Thank you for your support.
I took her to the vet yesterday. He thought, it could be a reproductive problem, as those happen a lot with all our laying hens. And sometimes they cause itchy feet. He gave her a shot of progesterone to interrupt the hormone cycle. In his experience this treatment often eliminates the problem. My hen also got a shot of anti-inflamatories. I've started feeding her some sort of liquid with power food. But she seems to be getting weaker. We'll see.

 

[gallinas9]

Hi! Any updates on this? Going through something similar with my hen who keeps pecking at her feet