Swollen toes..Ingrown feather, infection, cyst, or parasite?

[cocosandy]

Hi everyone!
Ive got a sweet hen who has ben through alot with me...she was very vocal today and pacing the perch this morning asking to be lifted down....well I went and looked at her feet, and she has feathered leggs and feet, and she had one very swollen toe on each foot. The one I was looking at had a hard raised nodule like a corn, and I peeled it back a little. It had this white stuff that was sort of like pus squirt out and I said...uh-oh!
I went and washed her feet and got the medical kit and flushed it out and squeezed it a little and got out what I could.
The hole where it was is fleshy but where the swelling still is there is white stuff that is almost as if a feather grew inside the toe.
I want to make sure that its not a parasite...and it is hard and seems fiberous. I grabbed it with tweezers but it breaks off. I flushed it and put antibiotics on it and she is in a cage....i actually soaked her feet in the tub and shampooed her.

So on to the toe on the other foot which had a rock like blockage in what seemed like it had been a pore or feather folicle. This black rock was really the same substance, which was like overgrown nail or feather, and it went straight through. When I pulled it out, it also had white gunk inside. So later I went down to put some more bactine etc...on it, and she was resting in the cage and had laid an egg.
the removal of these big plugs left holes that are fleshy, but the swollen part seems to be full of this fibrous white material that looks like pus but when you deal with it, its fibrous.
Has anyone ever seen anything like that? I have pics and I will have to see if I can post them
Im not sure if I know how to post pics here...so I will post this and figure it out.
Melina

 

[Eggs4Sale]

Okay, I've GOT to see a photo of this. I probably can't help, but MAN, it sounds interesting!

Press UPLOADS at the top in the blue bar.

It will tell you what to do then. But make sure you click the box that says "RESIZE?" and choose the size for web pages, the biggest. It takes a few minutes to upload each photo.

After you've got your photos on your upload page, left-click the bottom URL of the photo you want, it's right below the thumbnail of that photo.
Then go to your post that you want to put the photo in, and right-click. (Or was it left?) When the little menu comes up, press 'PASTE".

 

[saddina]

Look up photos of bumble foot and make sure that's not it, but without a photo it's hard to picture it.

 

[kathyinmo]

Here is a thread on Bumblefoot. Hope this helps.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=209876&p=1

 

[cocosandy]

Yes...its Bubblefoot exactly....Thankfully I immediately did most of what they said. I will figure out the picture posting for the future, but for those who want to see it look here: http://tinyurl.com/kr3vs8
with the pic on the left with the big hole being alot like it...tho I didnt get that ribbon thing out yet...I did wash hands alot...and bactine is my usual choice.
If i can get the rest out I may just do topical antibioticd and check the rest of the flock...
what is the best way to wash the run area of my yard? Is it lyme?...or can I put a little clorox in the soap holder of this hose thing I have and spray even the grass with a light cloros soultion....I am constantly spraying down the sink and everything in the kitchen with it....And I washed her in the spare bathroom tub that no one is currently using so will spray that down too...

any help with cleaning supplies....we have some sorta green algae growing out on the lawn from all the rain and Im gonna be turning alot of the soil and reseeding anyway....so if I should mix lyme in or coat it, I need to get more...which I probably will anyway.
Ugh...
I find it a fascinating thing and taking it out was pretty cool...but the fact that its staph and they talk about antibiotic resistant staph....well...it gives me pause.
This hen recovered from a virus that effected her neurologically and she sometimes walks backwards in circles when she is nervous....
So, I am unlikely to take her to the vet. she has gotten 3 extra years when she really should have been dead that first time!

Tanks so much!
You guys are the best!

Melina
www.meetup.com/chickens1
Stamford , CT

 

[robin416]

Staph is there, its every where. And until a spot is opened for it to enter its rather benign. So other than cleaning their roosts and wood floor (if you have one) with a bleach and water solution there's not much to be done outside about it.

Bactine may be your preference but it does not have the anti-bacterial properties that Betadine does. This infection can go systemic and if it does will need oral or injectable antibiotics.

Vet wrap is about the best stuff for keeping a bandage in place. Something we should all keep on hand anyway, works well on humans too.

 

[cocosandy]

Yeah...I have to get some betadine and made a list of stuff to pick up even though I have an extensive kit.
I think I can put some liquid clindomycin on it for now, and will get the vet to help with the preferred topical cream.
I ordered some injectable antibiotics to have on hand the other day and can get the pennicillin easily in the bird or pigeon world...it is, thankfully, only one toe on each foot, so I caught it early.
They free range and so its impossible to protect them from everything.
I have these two ducks and they constantly drink out of puddles!! It drives me mad! They then put their muddy beaks on everything! Im housing them separately and they have their own pool, but they freerange and they are into everything.
I dontk now if Ill do ducks again....but I was just wondering if ducks could get bumblefoot.
Its a good thing I pay attention.
She laid and egg and is sitting on paper towels in a too small cage. Im gonna soak and cut this afternoon and then put her in a dog crate which I washed this AM with vet wrap.
Shes walking fine and is a real trooper. I dont think she is systemically sick, but she did tell me, by walking back and forth and complaining on the roost shelf...she complained to me until I stopped and looked her over...and there were the swellings. the initial pulling the plugs out and even the poking around with tweezers didnt hurt her. Im gonna soak her feet in warm epson salts and then get the scabs off and get the ribbon out and antibiotic it and wrap it....im assuming that Im changing this wrap twice a day...? she hasnt even looked at them. I think its a relief to have out what she had...I will post pics because its easy to miss this before it gets huge and too far gone!!
and I am gonna do somethign with the lawn area at least....I hose it extensively every day and it rains like crazy every night...crazy weather here, because usually we would have alot of dryness by now! ...and I dont like seeing this dark green slick algae all in the grass...there is no place for the water to go....so it wells up and now there is a new thing!...its not moss, because I like moss...and its shady here so we have alot of it...but its slick algae!

 

[kathyinmo]

Clorox, bleach, does not work on the ground. There is information on this thread about it... Hope it is helpful to you.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2624714

ETA: Here is another perspective on the topic:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=14632&p=1

 

[robin416]

Doing the ground is a waste of time, staph is there period. Its always there and will always be there.

If we were talking ILT then disinfecting according to the state's guidelines would be paramount. Because it will hang out for a very long time and is not part of the living organisms in soil like staph is.