Skin on hen's leg has gone deep blue!

[Thebower]

I am confused. The picture looks to be the front of the chicken as the feet appear to be facing forward - so this would be at the front of the bird, not the back end - and that looks to be near the crop. I'd say there's been some kind of injury or infection to the area and I don't think it has anything to do with the bumble foot. The bumblefoot may well be responsible for the limping, but I think the injury is separate. Can we get more pictures that better show where the injury is?

Sorry for late response! The bruising is on both sides of the right thigh, I'll attach a clearer photo. Just did the bumblefoot removal this morning and had a closer look while I was there...I'm almost thinking she was attacked by something or got her leg caught somewhere because there are a bunch of little clumps of bloody feathers, and maybe some small wounds. It's hard to tell exactly. I felt thoroughly down the leg bone and couldn't feel any breaks, tho I'm sure there could be fractures that I'm not picking up on. Would it be a good idea to splint it just incase...?

She is still eating and drinking perfectly, and seems otherwise normal. I've just got her resting up in a cage inside to keep her off her foot, and to let the bumblefoot heal up properly.

 

[Thebower]

I agree with @Shezadandy that it looks like injury or infection. The green may be bruising, it's hard to tell. If that is on the lower breast it could be related to the bumblefoot indirectly - if the bird is not able to roost properly then it may be resting on that area either on the roost or the ground causing rubbing and irritation of that area. That can result in breast blisters or bumble breast, which is like bumblefoot on the breast. So you are going to need to clean and treat both areas, the foot and that. Getting the bumblefoot taken care of will hopefully help that area to heal, sometimes you can pad a roost to help alleviate the rubbing, or if she's sleeping on the ground then getting her to roost again. I cannot tell if it's mostly superficial or if it is deeper from the pictures, it does appear that the skin is broken and torn away. I've had some that were caught early and mostly surface irritation, some can tunnel/burrow in. This link has a pretty bad breast blister:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ister-graphic-pictures.1096276/#post-16850510
Here is one link that explains how it happens more, you can google for more:
http://www.poultrydvm.com/condition/breast-blister

Thanks for that info, hadn't heard of bumblebreast before! I'll keep an eye out for it, however this girl definitely doesn't have it. The bruised blue area is on her thigh, and doesn't have any blistering. The more I think about it the more I'm convinced it's a trauma injury, now I just have to figure out what to do about it. Whether I need to splint it incase of fracturing, or just leave it to see if it gets better by itself i.e. if it is solely bruised

 

[coach723]

That picture makes it much clearer where the injury is. It does look like some pretty good bruising. Time may be all she needs for that, it could take a while. The crate will allow her to rest the leg as well as keep the foot clean. I would not splint unless you think there is a break. I will attach a manual that explains how to examine for and splint various types of fractures just in case. It may just be bruised and sprained and very sore. Does she put weight on it at all? If the skin isn't broken then warm epsom salt soaks may be helpful. Also a chicken sling might help for periods if she's having trouble staying upright or needs to have the weight off for comfort. Some birds do well in slings, some do not, she should be supervised while in it in case she freaks out. You don't want her to get hurt more. Examples:

 

[Thebower]

That picture makes it much clearer where the injury is. It does look like some pretty good bruising. Time may be all she needs for that, it could take a while. The crate will allow her to rest the leg as well as keep the foot clean. I would not splint unless you think there is a break. I will attach a manual that explains how to examine for and splint various types of fractures just in case. It may just be bruised and sprained and very sore. Does she put weight on it at all? If the skin isn't broken then warm epsom salt soaks may be helpful. Also a chicken sling might help for periods if she's having trouble staying upright or needs to have the weight off for comfort. Some birds do well in slings, some do not, she should be supervised while in it in case she freaks out. You don't want her to get hurt more. Examples:
View attachment 2404590
View attachment 2404591
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Hehe those slings are incredible. There are some well loved chooks out there! Thankyou for all of those resources, I didn't get a chance to check her leg for fractures this arvy but I'll check in again on her tomorrow morning and see how she's doing. Looks like it'll be the tibiotarsus that I have to examine

 

[Thebower]

Just thought I'd update this for completeness! I ended up taking her to the vet as I ended up feeling too intimidated to splint it. They did an x-ray which showed no breaks or fractures, and the vet agreed that it was likely a goanna bite. In Australia we have lace monitors that aren't really interested in eating chickens, but love eggs, so a broody can get in the line of fire. A few days later my dog busted a goanna near the pen, so that was definitely the problem. She is still limping around but slowly getting better as the muscles heal. Thanks everyone for all your input!!

 

[sourland]

Good update.