Swollen foot cannot walk- hit by car/bumblefoot/mites?

[Amberb123]

Hi all one of my hens went missing for 3 months and by a miracle we found her on the side of the road this afternoon!

She is unable to walk and we are unsure if she was hit by a car or if it is an infection.

She is eating, drinking and purring. I’ve attached images below also!

I look forward to everyone’s advice and I’m wishing a speedy recovery for my sweet Matilda

 

[Debbie292d]

Hiya, and welcome to BYC!! Sorry it's on such sad circumstances though. Poor thing! Three months? Wow! Do you think she was living on her own all this time or that someone was feeding her?

It does appear her right ankle is swollen and that might be bumblefoot on the same foot.

I would give her a long soak in warm Epsom salt water. Inspect her for any other injuries and/or mites/lice. See if that swollen ankle feels like just swelling or if you can feel a broken bone. Maybe soaking will help you identify anything else wrong with her feet too. Then I'd make a sling to put her in.

I would also put her on vitamins (Poultry Cell or Nutra Drench) and probiotics (Hydro Hen, unsweetened Greek yogurt, water additives) as she's probably got a weakened immune system from not having a nutritious diet.

I'd give it a couple of days of you feeding her and treating her before diving into the bumblefoot possibility but for now, you could put some drawing salve ie. PRID on it. I would also slather her feet/legs with Vaseline. I don't think she's got scaly leg mites as her scales aren't raised but don't know what else those black marks are unless bruising. Vaseline won't hurt either way. If you think it's scaly leg mites, you'd need to do that every other day for three times.

How's her poop look by the way?

So happy for you that you got Matilda back! That's quite a story!

 

[Amberb123]

Hiya, and welcome to BYC!! Sorry it's on such sad circumstances though. Poor thing! Three months? Wow! Do you think she was living on her own all this time or that someone was feeding her?

It does appear her right ankle is swollen and that might be bumblefoot on the same foot.

I would give her a long soak in warm Epsom salt water. Inspect her for any other injuries and/or mites/lice. See if that swollen ankle feels like just swelling or if you can feel a broken bone. Maybe soaking will help you identify anything else wrong with her feet too. Then I'd make a sling to put her in.

I would also put her on vitamins (Poultry Cell or Nutra Drench) and probiotics (Hydro Hen, unsweetened Greek yogurt, water additives) as she's probably got a weakened immune system from not having a nutritious diet.

I'd give it a couple of days of you feeding her and treating her before diving into the bumblefoot possibility but for now, you could put some drawing salve ie. PRID on it. I would also slather her feet/legs with Vaseline. I don't think she's got scaly leg mites as her scales aren't raised but don't know what else those black marks are unless bruising. Vaseline won't hurt either way. If you think it's scaly leg mites, you'd need to do that every other day for three times.

How's her poop look by the way?

So happy for you that you got Matilda back! That's quite a story!

Thank you so much for taking the time to write back to me!

So the full story goes that my husband and I moved countries and my in laws were looking after our spoilt hens. The care taker of the yard was then given the hens as he wanted the eggs and they didn’t want to care for them anymore. Then 1 week before we come back to visit, the hens escaped the care takers coupe and found their way back home (his house is 5 miles away at least) that’s a big trek for the hens!! 3 of them made it back but the one we found on the side of the road was missing - my thought is someone took her when they were trying to find their way back home and were feeding her because she’s of healthy weight and was found a 35min drive from the property!! (We’ll never know the full sorry though)

We made the sling for her but she didn’t like it and tried to get out of it - at least that means she has a bit of spunk. I have a feeling it’s a fractured foot as she’s trying to walk on it this morning, we’re just waiting for the store to open to purchase everything else.

Her poop was brown and liquidy when we first picked her up, then it turned to green and a little bit of white semi liquid, and this morning the same - I think she’s malnourished/rundown (poor little love)

I’ve made an egg yolk, yogurt, honey mix with a pre/probiotic and oregano powder mixed in her water!

So glad to have her home!

 

[Eggcessive]

I would isolate her in an area where you can care for her, but not bring in something infectious or any parasites. Look her over for lice and mites. Thirty days is about right, plus your other chickens might attack her since she cannot walk. I would soak her legs in warm Epsom salts water daily for a bit, and when dry, apply some antibiotic ointment to her scabs. A chicken sling chair would work well to get her upright and in front of food and water to eat, for periods throughout the day. Offer her chicken feed and water, perhaps give some human B complex 1/4 tablet daily crushed into food, or chicken vitamins. Do you have neighbors nearby who may have been feeding her? Is your lot fenced in, and could she have jumped the fence and not able to return? I wonder if she was sitting on eggs nearby, or maybe chased by a predator? Let us know how she gets along. Here are some examples of chicken slings:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/