Sores and feather damage on Brahma legs. SLM? Something else?

[Loyalsapphire]

I have a 3 year old Brahma hen, seems to be in good health overall. Is eating/drinking/laying eggs/passing stool normally. She gets a mix of Nutrena Nature Wise Feather Fixer and Nutrena Nature Wise Harvest Blend (local store was out of the Feather Fixer last time I needed feed), with a small amount (approximately 1-2 tablespoons) of scratch grain as a daily treat.

She has been experiencing broken feathers/sores on her legs off and on since last August. None of our other hens (we have 4 total, 3 with feathered feet) are showing these symptoms. In the fall I was treating as folliculitis, with Epsom soaks and spraying with Vetricyn. She had been broody for an extended period of time, plus it was humid and I was doing cool water to try and 'break' the broodiness. I pulled a few 'blood feathers' and her feet appeared improved overall, if not 100%. I figured we'd have to wait for molt and new feathers for it to completely resolve.

Fast forward to nearly 2 weeks ago I noticed she once again had sore looking legs/broken feathers. She was now also starting to walk as if she was uncomfortable (pulling each foot up high up into her body and setting it down gingerly, sometimes standing on one foot while eating or drinking, but not always the same foot; but no apparent issues for balance, still comes running for scratch and can get in/out of the coop).

We are in Iowa and in depths of winter, so I pulled her into our garage for a week, in a DIY run with another hen so she wasn't lonely. I was applying Vetricyn + triple antibiotic ointment + Vaseline every day to every other day. No sign of bumble foot, and they did seem to be improving.

Around this time I figured I'd treat for SLM, in case that was the cause all along. Given the winter conditions and not wanting to keep her separate from the flock for week at a time, I chose to try a 1x dose of Elector PSP (10 minute soak in a solution of 9ml Elector PSP/1 gallon of water). Yesterday it arrived and I treated all 4 hens and did a deep clean of the coop, spraying it with the Elector solution. Afterwards everyone went back out to the coop/run.

She was nesting when I checked on her this morning. I put her in the run and noticed she was still doing the weird walking thing. I also witnessed another hen pecking at her feet. So, I pulled her back into the garage. This time in a dog carrier, as I need to do a deep clean of the other spot in case it is indeed SLM. I had a towel in there instead of pine shavings, but I think pine shavings might be preferred for soaking up droppings.

Any other suggestions or things I could do to help her heal/be more comfortable? Hesitant to put her back out with the other hens until she is walking more normally and her legs have healed adequately to prevent the pecking. I was planning to continue the Vaseline+ as it did seem to be helping. I will attach a photo of what her legs looked like this morning.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Loyalsapphire]

Photos from a few weeks ago:

 

[GravityWaves]

I also witnessed another hen pecking at her feet.

It appears to me this is the main issue going on. Those feathers look to have been plucked, with some new, small feathers starting to grow back. Just my opinion but most of the damage on her feet seems to be from plucking the feathers as opposed to SLM.

Since you said none of your other feather footed birds look like this, is it possible she's at the bottom of the pecking order? Feathered feet along with crests and beards can be very "interesting" to chickens and might invite pecking/pulling. Unfortunately, once birds get a taste for blood or feathers it can be very difficult to stop.

I'd keep her separate until her feathers grow back because they will continue to peck at those blood feathers as they grow back. A couple other things to consider might be how much room their main enclosure has and to up the protein level of their feed for a while. With it being the middle of winter, if they're "cooped up" in close proximity it could exacerbate boredom behaviors such as feather pecking. Sometimes birds eat feathers when they need more protein also.

 

[Loyalsapphire]

The Nutrena Feather Fixer is 20% protein, which I started last fall to hopefully help her. Do you know if there are higher protein feed options? I switched to scratch grain for her 'treat' once it got cold, but can do mealworms or some such for extra protein instead.

Historically she has been the TOP of the pecking order, so I wondered about the pecking today as competition since she was out of the coop this past week.

We have a covered 10' x 13' foot run with attached coop for 4 chickens, so in theory should be enough space. This was still going on in the warmer months when we extend their run with fencing, so not sure if it's a space issue.

Thoughts on using something like Blu kote in the future? Or maybe pull the attacker to 'reset' the pecking order, once this girl is healthy and ready to return to the coop.

I appreciate your thoughts! I've been at this 5 years, but this is the first time I've encountered anything like this and it has had me puzzled!

 

[GravityWaves]

I've fed 22% meatbird feed in the winter before but at least 20% would be what I'd recommend to see if it would help resolve a situation like this. Any scratch grains will lower the protein but you said it's a small amount so it shouldn't make that big of a difference.

Historically she has been the TOP of the pecking order

I don't know how closely you've monitored her but it's totally possible she is pecking her own feathers. But it sounds like she gets better when she's separated and isolates in the coop to try and get away from the others pecking her, so .

We have a covered 10' x 13' foot run with attached coop for 4 chickens

Is all of the coop and run open and available (free of snow) all the time? As long as they can use all that space it does sound like enough room for 4 birds.

Thoughts on using something like Blu kote in the future?

I've used Blu-Kote before in several different situations. It's done fairly well for me to keep birds from noticing a slightly injured toe or comb, but it's not a guarantee to keep them from pecking depending on how ingrained it is.

I'm not an expert so hopefully anyone with better ideas might share some insight. Best of luck to you and hope you can have a peaceful flock again soon!