Vaseline on Feet: Roost, Barn, or House?

[Anon112]

Hope he does well.

Thank you!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Photos of the legs?

For winter, I'd be hesitant to apply any type of ointment on exposed body parts. If he has SLM then I'd just use Ivermectin to treat those.
Once the weather warms up, apply some oil or vaseline to the legs to help with scales sloughing off and soothing the skin.

Ivermectin dosing can be found here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/mites-lice-now-hen-growling.1242981/post-19965544

 

[Anon112]

Here are two photos I took Sunday night.

Here is the timeline:
I noticed that he was shaking his right foot/leg. I gave it a few days to see if it would resolve. When it didn't and there was visible swelling, I started monitoring more closely. After about two weeks, I was able to get him to the vet.

She couldn't find any place that was infected, but said it could be infected inside and healed over. He has been on antibiotics and anti-inflammatories for two weeks (final doses were last night). No signs of improvement. I think he actually looks a bit worse. The middle toe on the right foot cannot bend and is very dark in color, almost necrotic looking.

The only thing I've ever seen that looks anything like this is when years ago we had a hen with scaly leg mites. I'm really open to any other ideas about what this might be. It feels like he's moving in the wrong direction. We did have a terrible cold snap back when this all started. I put up a tarp to block the wind, and while my other rooster got some frostbite on his comb, I hadn't noticed any other signs of trouble in the other chickens.

 

[Anon112]

Photos of the legs?

See above, and thanks for the information about Ivermectin.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I noticed that he was shaking his right foot/leg.

The middle toe on the right foot cannot bend and is very dark in color, almost necrotic looking.

How long is his right spur, is it curving into his leg, hard to tell.

I agree with you, it does look like he has SLM.

The middle right toe, looks to have suffered Frostbite and is turning necrotic. The body is walling it off. It will eventually auto amputate. Possible, the toe is dying from SLM, that can happen, but with your mention of the cold and the way it looks, I lean toward Frostbite.

What's going on with his Right Back Toe?

The leg shaking is a concern. I don't know about infection, but it's good that your vet gave you medication. Do you know which antibiotic?

Leg shaking can be from so many things, possible it just may be a bit painful for him or something else.
I'd try vitamin therapy to see if that makes any difference. You don't have a photo of all of him so I can't see how big he is, but for a grown rooster, I'd give 1/2 tablet B-Complex and 400IU Vitamin E daily. Give him a treat of egg daily to help with the uptake of E.

What do you feed? If it's layer feed, consider providing him with chick starter or an all flock feed. The hens can eat these feeds too, just provide oyster shell free choice.

 

[Anon112]

How long is his right spur, is it curving into his leg, hard to tell.

I agree with you, it does look like he has SLM.

The middle right toe, looks to have suffered Frostbite and is turning necrotic. The body is walling it off. It will eventually auto amputate. Possible, the toe is dying from SLM, that can happen, but with your mention of the cold and the way it looks, I lean toward Frostbite.

What's going on with his Right Back Toe?

The leg shaking is a concern. I don't know about infection, but it's good that your vet gave you medication. Do you know which antibiotic?

Leg shaking can be from so many things, possible it just may be a bit painful for him or something else.
I'd try vitamin therapy to see if that makes any difference. You don't have a photo of all of him so I can't see how big he is, but for a grown rooster, I'd give 1/2 tablet B-Complex and 400IU Vitamin E daily. Give him a treat of egg daily to help with the uptake of E.

What do you feed? If it's layer feed, consider providing him with chick starter or an all flock feed. The hens can eat these feeds too, just provide oyster shell free choice.


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First, just thank you so much for taking the time to write this detailed response.

I double checked both spurs this morning, and neither seems to be curving into the leg.

His right back toe is swollen but otherwise normal (structurally, I mean). I took pictures of the top and bottom of both feet yesterday.

The medications I gave for the last two weeks were SMZ tablets 480 milligrams, fourth of a tablet twice a day; and Meloxicam tabs 7.5mg, half a tablet twice a day.

I will start vitamins tomorrow. It's been easiest to medicate him by crushing things and making a suspension, as I leave in the morning while they are still roosting and get back home after dark most days.

My feed has been a whole flock (non-layer) feed for about the last year, as I read about how the calcium in layer feeds can be bad for roosters over time. I also started doing fermented feed about a week or two before this all started, but I think that's a coincidence.

Thank you again for the advice. I will follow up in the thread as things change (for better or worse).

 

[Anon112]

And here's a follow up question if anyone wants to chime in: if it is SLM, I'll want to scrub down the roosting bars and surfaces. But it is SO COLD right now. If I get anything wet, I'm scared it will get icy.

How do you do such a cleaning in this kind of weather? Just wait until the weekend when I'm here during the day and scrub stuff down first thing in the morning so it has more time to dry?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

And here's a follow up question if anyone wants to chime in: if it is SLM, I'll want to scrub down the roosting bars and surfaces. But it is SO COLD right now. If I get anything wet, I'm scared it will get icy.

How do you do such a cleaning in this kind of weather? Just wait until the weekend when I'm here during the day and scrub stuff down first thing in the morning so it has more time to dry?

SLM can sometimes travel on the roosting bars.

If you wish to scrub the bars, then waiting for the weekend like you mentioned, doing it early so it can dry is a good idea.

You could also rub some Permethrin dust onto/into the bars, this may help some if it's just too cold to use anything liquid. Get the dust into any crevices/joints of the roosting bars (and nesting boxes) where mites may hide, etc.

I hope he starts to improve. Your feed sounds fine to me. Please do keep us posted on how he's doing.

 

[Anon112]

Update:
His foot seems neither better nor worse. Another of my chickens (a hen who tends to roost right next to the rooster) is showing a few scales that don't look quite right. (I'll try to get a picture tomorrow). The vet prescribed me Ivermectin. I do want to follow up, because the directions are three drops under the wings of the affected birds. But that would be the same dose for my hen who is like half the size of the rooster. After I hear back from the vet, I'll treat them both tomorrow.

She also said to do pyrethrin powder on their legs and also recommended vaseline. It's supposed to get up to the 40s here in a few days, so I'm going to hold off until then to do the vaseline. That's also when I'll scrub down the roost.

 

[Anon112]

A quick Poppy update:
Today I scrubbed down the roost. I was able to soak Poppy's leg in warm water with Epsom salts and a little dishsoap for about 5 minutes. Interestingly, he was walking so much better after the soak.

After some back-and-forth with the vet clarifying dosage instructions, Poppy got 0.06mL of a 1% Ivermectin solution under his wings. It's supposed to be in the 40s (and maybe low 50s!) tomorrow, so I'll put some vaseline on his legs before I leave for work.

And because it's supposed to be warmer for the next week, I took down the tarp that was up around the chicken run. While the tarp helped shield them from the wind, it also blocked some sunlight. Hopefully more light and air movement will be a good thing.