Urgent - extreme foot swelling & no local vets available

[Paigee423]

Hey all,

Just posting an update. It’s almost been one week since junes initial swelling/foot issue. Here’s a pic of a time lapse of the last few days. I gave her a 5 day treatment of antibiotics in water & clean her foot daily with iodine, antiseptic spray , and neosporin.

She’s eating and drinking normal, chatty, in good spirits. She walks on the foot (not well but she does walk )

I still don’t see any area that started this injury. The area where the bumble foot was removed between her toes is perfectly fine and always was

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Still no available vets. I may try to seek an online option as a last resort

 

[Wyorp Rock]

It does look like the inflammation has gone down.

I'd be inclined to let the foot dry out for a few days and only swab it once daily with Chlorhexidine instead of soaking. See if that makes a difference.

A Scaly Leg Mite infestation and infection can take a good while to resolve.

If vet care is an option, that's always a good idea.

 

[Paigee423]

I'm sorry about you hen.

Do you have photos of what the legs looked like before today?

Any changes to the products you have been using on her?

Even in CA you likely can mail order meds. Baytril may be a good choice to use for this, but let's get the input of @Eggcessive and @coach723 on this.

In the meantime, you need to get rid of the bugs. As you have found, DE is not an effective treatment.
Go to your local feed store and get a Permethrin based poultry spray or dust for your chickens and their housing. Treat them.

Could she have been stung by bees?

No changes to products at all- and I have started treating the coop and flock with the permethrin dust for a few days and also sprayed some Spinosad in the coop as well

I did order some antibiotics online. Hopefully they come sooner than later I’ve called every vet no one will see her.

It’s possible , I was curious of the same thing with a bee, or wasp/yellow jacket there is always a lot of those by the coop. Maybe spider ?? She was laying on the floor day before last sun bathing next to the fence where there could be spiders

Thanks for your reply

 

[Paigee423]

If it's stings or bites then within a couple of days I would think you would see the spots where it happened, blistering or scabbing. How old is she? The only thing I can think of that covers both foot swelling and facial swelling is MS (mycoplasma sinoviae). I don't know if that's the case here, the only way to find out is testing.
Info on MS:
https://waddl.vetmed.wsu.edu/animal-disease-faq/mycoplasma-synoviae
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poultry/mycoplasmosis/mycoplasma-synoviae-infection-in-poultry
Found this old thread, pictures don't work anymore:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-face-and-feet-what-is-wrong-with-her.693626/

She’s a little over 2 years old. I will keep my eye out for any signs of bites or stings if the swelling ever goes down Thank you

 

[Paigee423]

Here’s current pics of June after a foot soak and changing her dressings. Foot is now turning purple :/ she is eating and drinking like normal - she won’t lay down , she just stands and tries to sleep standing unfortunately. Her other foot/leg seems to be doing okay aside from some irritation from the mites

 

[Paigee423]

I don't have experience with this, but if the foot is turning purple it would seem there is a circulation issue and I wonder if there would be any way to treat inflamation. But if it's due to an infection not sure that would make a difference. I see the open wound there so I wonder if that might have been the entry point for all this.

The mites sure won't help and so try to stay up on treating them. I wonder if she could be allergic to mites as well?

I’m thinking she is allergic to mites, especially if they’re on her face while she’s sleeping :/ she’s had similar face swelling before but she also had fowlpox while that was going on. The open sore you see happened last night from her foot swelling so much , her “scales” started to peel off and was oozing. Oozing is doing a lot better today but overall this whole foot is still bad.

Thanks for the info

 

[AGeese]

No problem, there's far better experienced people than me who I hope can also advise, and hope it works out. That foot though gives me pause.

 

[Paigee423]

Hey all, wanted to give an update on June.

Her facial/ear swelling is completely gone, she seems upbeat and more like her normal self. She is sleeping laying down now instead of standing. I assume these are all positive.

I started giving her the antibiotics last night , here is her foot today. Her other foot is completely fine and healing from the leg mites. I don’t see any more mites cramping around either so thags good.

I’m worried her foot is dying ? She had started pulling pin feathers from her feet (that did look extremely irritated) they bled a little but not much. Her foot smells not great. At this point I’ve been trying to keep it dry , I stopped the foot soaks about 2 days ago cause her feet were too wet. I’ve been cleaning with antiseptic spray and patting dry few times a day.

Any thoughts?? What do you do if a foot is dying? I feel so sad for her. I don’t know if I should have someone come and put her down or not

 

[ChickyCh00k]

So sorry about your chicken's foot! I don't know if this might be helpful, or how much it costs (it says "join for $1, cancel anytime"), but when I was Googling it popped up:

Ask A Poultry Vet

 

[AGeese]

Good as far mites, I'd hate to say amputation as I am unsure of any alternatives, but I can't advise on how or if you should even consider it.