Sick chicken.... Newbie needs some help please

[weka]

I think I've got a sick chicken. Some quick background, this chicken literally wandered into my backyard, in urban auckland a year ago and didn't leave. I don't know what type she is but I think maybe a brown shaver as she looks like some but not all photos of that breed, and I obviously have no idea how old she is. She has been giving us an egg each day and has been sleeping in a chicken coop with a small run which we bought her. She has a friend now, a Rhode Island Red, and they have been cohabitating for just under a year. I've been feeding her poultry pellets from pack n save. I've no idea where else to get food from.
The problem....
I haven't had any eggs from her the last few days, then today I noticed she was limping and holding one leg up. Tonight I went out and had a good look. No sign of red mites. She is missing all feathers around her comb (the red sticky uppy bit at the top of her head, yes I'm a newbie) on her tummy the skin is all red looking and the feathers are broken off, the quill is still attached. I think she has scaly leg mite as well, I've tried to treat this in the past with dipping in canola oil for days in a row with no success. I noticed on the sore foot that on the top, outer, of the foot are a red area, like a spot. The skin is not broken, and there is one spot each side.

Obviously it's not a healthy chicky, where do I start? I really haven't a clue what I'm doing here when it comes to sickness. Please help.

 

[weka]

Does anyone have any ideas of where to start?
I really don't want to loose my first chicken.

 

[StephieSky]

I treated my hens with vaseline coated legs ( still going ) for a tenacious and awful scaly mite problem. They are healing up nicely.
Vaseline every night, warm water soaks daily,followed by a gentle rub with a clean wash cloth and more vaseline - you could do this less, I'm sure but mine was bad. Once a week a good leg and foot wash with soapy water to be sure their legs got aired out and had no signs of rot or surface infection. You have to keep this up until the next round of mite eggs have hatched and suffocated out also.

Noticing chickens with broken, chewed-looking feathers and reddened skin patches is one of the signs of lice or mites. This would have been my first assumption but as you say, she doesn't have either. Just thought you might want to try the vaseline for the scaly leg.

 

[ten chicks]

Does anyone have any ideas of where to start?
I really don't want to loose my first chicken.

Have you treated her for red mites or lice? Scaly leg mites,wash and gently scrub scales,do not pull or pick scales,smother legs with vaseline. For her foot,have you looked at bumblefoot?

 

[ChickenCrazy8]

Could you post a picture of her?

 

[weka]

Thank you so much. I'll have to start right away on the legs, I've got Vaseline luckily.

How do you know lice? It sounds a logical assumption. And how do I treat for that? I really am a real newbie at this. I've learnt a lot over the last year from this site, and was surprised to discover last night that I didn't have a login, but this condition had me perplexed, as it didn't look like when she did a partial mould earlier this year.

I'll try and get some photos soon and work out how to post them.

 

[weka]

What is the easiest way to do a warm water soak? I'm thinking either I have to hold her somehow in the water, or I've got a cat cage I could possibly fill with warm water and put her in there, or am I way off track?

How do I tell bumble foot? I looked at a link on here on another thread but I couldn't see anything obvious, tbh the scaly leg and the mud from the rain did make it hard to see. Maybe I will have more luck after she's had her bath.

 

[weka]

Here are some pics

Top of her head

Some black spots on her chin. Could be dirt? Ignore the crusty looking build up around her beak, that's the pallets she was literally just eating that have gone soggy in the rain

Bare belly with blotchy skin

Leg with the darkened claw. This is pre bath though. The camera ran out of battery after the bath.