Sores on my chicken's legs- what are they and how to treat?

[lindseyg]

I have a 4 week old RIR chick that has developed small sores on her feet. They started as small scabby areas around the knuckles of her toes, and more began appearing, on both feet. Now some areas actually have skin peeling off. She walks fine, pecks and keeps up with the other birds. She still eats and drinks well, and is even competitive for treats. I also haven't noticed any of the others pecking her feet or bothering the areas. The birds have the same pine bedding I've always used, and none of the other birds have any lesions. I have looked at pictures of bumble foot and scaly leg mite, and that is not what these look like. I began treatment putting neosporin on the areas. That didn't seem to help, and so after reading about mites I tried coating her legs in vegetable oil. Also no help. I've just gotten VetRX oil to put on her legs (recommended by the people at my farmer's co-op). If anyone can tell me what this is, a better way to treat it, or any advice at all, I would appreciate. The link below should direct you to a photo- I hope.


http://www.shutterfly.com/lightbox/view.sfly?fid=8659731ad1af85103315f89dbf2f35f7

 

[kezabel]

I don't know what you should do, but someone will. You should take a picture and put it with your post so people can see exactly what your dealing with. Good luck with this problem.

 

[chicks4kids]

I used vaseline. Gobbing it on so thick it was disgusting. 3 days later...voila!! Beautiful looking legs. I used the vaseline because I had read on here it was best, and that the oil was more for the roosts.

Hope this helps!!

 

[threehorses]

Can you try posting the picture in the forums?

I don't know how to do it with shutterfly ( just signed up and tried). but if you make a free account at photobucket.com and upload the photo, you can just right click on it. It'll bring up a menu with an IMG code at the bottom of the list. If you copy and paste that IMG code into the typing window here, the picture appears. (When you're sending, it looks only like text but it really does come through as a picture).

There are a number of things that can cause this sort of problem, but it would be nice to see the picture to see if we can better help.

I'd pick the scabs off and dab the area with diluted iodine (betadine or tridine - dilute to the color of tea with water). That's how you treat pox scabs, though those are on the face.

And yes - VetRx is awesome. But usually scaly mites also effect some of the scales of the leg.

Also check the birds thoroughly for mites and lice on their bodies (particularly on their heads and backs, vents, etc). Those can cause this type of problem.