Please help!!! any info much appreciated! Thinking cellulitis?

[Emilysclukscluks]

Hello everyone Im very new to this forum and chickens alike! I recently found my self in an unfortunate situation where i rescued a chicken with a menagerie of ailments and the latest has me stumped and worried! Her name is Rosie and she is a bantam Cochin or Pekin and came to me with scaly leg mites and northern mites and diarrhea etc. This past weekend I thought she jumped off a 1 1/2 foot ledge and hurt her leg but it has gotten ridiculously swollen hot and the skin is yellow, she is not using it to walk at all. I will post some pics! Thanks for any help!!

 

[Emilysclukscluks]

 

[Emilysclukscluks]

First three pics is the skin around her swollen hot leg. This picture is her other leg. I know it’s kinda hard to decipher she is so fluffy!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC!

Can you take her to a vet?
Were you able to treat the SLM and Northern Mites?
Photos of the legs and poop may be helpful too.
What does that feel like - is it like fat, fluid, hard?
I'm not that familiar with Cellulitis, but from what I understand, you would need antibiotic treatment.
@Eggcessive @casportpony or @dawg53 may be able to give you better suggestions.

 

[Emilysclukscluks]

Thanks @Wyorp Rock ! The yellow skin feels very fatty kinda mushy her actual leg is extremely hard and swollen. I can post some more pics tomorrow of her poop and legs etc. I think I’ve got the mites under control I used sevin dust and don’t see any present at this point. And I have been applying Vaseline on her feet for the SLM she has suffered from them terribly and is missing toes Her poop is a watery mess, she still seems quite alert considering her misfortunes and she is still food crazy!

 

[dawg53]

Your hen possibly has a sprained tendon or ligament, maybe even a small fracture. It would be best to put her in a cage to limit her movement giving time for the leg to heal. You dont want her up running around causing further injury and you dont want to give her pain meds. Leg injuries can take weeks or a few months to heal. You can buy vitamin B complex at a pharmacy and crush a few tablets into powder and sprinkle it in her food to eat. It might help speed up recovery.
Do this for about a week, then remove her from the cage and see if there's improvement. If not, recage her for 10 days repeating the vitamin B complex in her feed. Then remove her from the cage and check for improvement.
If she is still limping, recage her and stop the vitamin B complex.
While she's caged, ensure she's provided food and water as well as cleaning the cage.
Like I mentioned, leg injuries take time to heal. You'll have to make a decision in the long run whether to continue caging her or cull her.
I had one Black Star caged for 3 months, and others only for 2 or 3 weeks due to these types of injuries. I've had very good success with hens, not so good with roosters.
BTW: I recommend that you worm her with safeguard or valbazen. Then wait 4 hours
before feeding her. Then give her buttermilk mixed with boiled plain white rice mixed in her layer feed for a couple of days. This should clear up the watery diarrhea.

 

[Eggcessive]

It would probably take a vet visit to confirm cellulitis.That can occur from an insect bite, an animal bite, or she could have a baterial bone infection, such as mycoplasma synovitis. Usually with MS there is swelling at the joints with a yellow exudate under the skin. An xray by a vet, which could diagnose a broken bone, would be at least $100, so not always an option for a chicken.

Dawg53 may be right about a leg or hip injury, and it may take rest and confinement to heal. I would confine her where she still can be with the other chickens, such as a dog crate in the coop. If there is cellulitis or mycoplasma, antibiotics would be needed, ones not usually easy to obtain from feed stores. A vet might be able to point you in the right direction, but you might want to place a limit on cost first.

 

[Emilysclukscluks]

Wow thank you guys so much @Eggcessive @dawg53 @Wyorp Rock . So awesome to have group of people here to support each other! So coincidentally I have a vet appointment on Saturday for my dog, so I will call and see if they will let me bring her in. If nothing else maybe I can bring a stool sample. I will keep her quiet she is already inside my house in a dog crate. I will also post a couple more picture or videos tonight. She is lovely and I would like to do my very best to get her back to health. She came from a very upsetting environment. If you dont mind I have a another question, there are so many conflicting opinions online, do you recommend routinely worming or medicating your chickens in any way as a preventative measure?

 

[dawg53]

You should worm your birds according to your environment, especially your soil conditions. Warm moist or wet soil will require frequent wormings. Cool/cold soil or mountainous rocky soil or desertlike sand/soil will require less frequent wormings. Birds kept on the same soil should be wormed frequently.
If you rescue chickens, worming and taking care of external parasites is a must.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Wow thank you guys so much @Eggcessive @dawg53 @Wyorp Rock . So awesome to have group of people here to support each other! So coincidentally I have a vet appointment on Saturday for my dog, so I will call and see if they will let me bring her in. If nothing else maybe I can bring a stool sample. I will keep her quiet she is already inside my house in a dog crate. I will also post a couple more picture or videos tonight. She is lovely and I would like to do my very best to get her back to health. She came from a very upsetting environment. If you dont mind I have a another question, there are so many conflicting opinions online, do you recommend routinely worming or medicating your chickens in any way as a preventative measure?

You've received some good answers.
If you do end up taking her to the vet appt, please let us know what you find out