what is causing this?

chicknmania

Free Ranging
17 Years
Jan 26, 2007
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Peaches is our one year old hen. She recently recovered from a bad infestation of capillary worms, but she did seem to make a full recovery. The rooster that she ran with recently died from what I am very sure was Mycoplasma Synoviae. He was severely lame, with swollen joints, heat in his legs, and respiratory issues, that turned into severe airsaculitis, and he had diarrhea. He became worse despite our treating him with Denagard and Baytril. He died about two weeks ago and spent his last week in the house with us. Peaches developed a slight limp about three weeks ago. There was nothing to see, and she seemed otherwise ok, so we didn't pay much attention to it. About a week ago, she became weak and a little lethargic, so we hospitalized her. About three days after being in the hospital pen, her leg ballooned into this hideous swelling you see below, with the blackened skin. She has never had any respiratory symptoms, and her droppings are normal. She was ill but was still eating. I started her on Denagard treatment strength, and also Baytril, 1/4 of a 22.7mg tablet twice a day. This is the fourth day of both antibiotics, and she seems to be improving a little. The swelling seems to be reducing slightly, the black area seems to be fading, she was very bright this evening at dinner and ate all her food, and she can now walk and even run a little on her sore foot. From what I have read, MS can manifest itself in many ways, like most chicken ailments. Others in the flock were sneezing around the same time Peaches and her rooster got sick, but they recovered uneventfully after being on Denagard, which they are still on and will be for another week. The picture that you see here is from two days ago. I will take another picture and post it as soon as I can, to show the difference if there is any. so here are my questions.

Could this swelling and blackened skin be from MS.? Could restriction of circulation of a severely swollen joint cause the skin to be affected in this way?

Someone suggested Bumblefoot, but I don't see how it could be, on top of the foot as it is, and it doesn't seem like there is actually a buildup of fluid underneath.

Should I try soaking the foot? Originally she was in a lot of pain, but the pain seems to be diminishing. Normally for an injury I would soak the foot in warm water and Epsom salts, but I am not sure in this case.

Should I try Cephalexin too, or would the combination of the three antibiotics cancel out each other?

Unfortunately, at this time I don't have a couple hundred extra $$ to throw at an avian vet in the hopes they might solve this for us....

My husband got cellulitis when he was in Vietnam, and the skin of his leg turned black, similar to what she has. Years later, the skin on part of his leg still looks like that, but it really doesn't bother him. So I just wonder if this is some kind of cellulitis too...
 
I also wondered about gangrene, but there are no open wounds, or evidence of shriveling skin really....and so it doesn't seem to match up.
 
That does not look like bumblefoot to me. Generally bumblefoot refers to an infection in the pad of the foot. This looks more like an infection in the leg.

Now from what I have experienced in my own flock that contracted MS, and from all my research on it, MS seems effect the left leg only. Your bird is having issues in her right leg. I am certainly no expert on MS so I can't be sure about this last statement.

From the looks of what appears to be blood pooling under the skin and scales, I would think this all is a result of injury. With my flock, my birds had clear liquid, (the synovial fluid) that leaked out of the tendon sheaths and it pooled in the pads of the birds feet. It gave the impression of simple bumblefoot until I had the MS diagnosed.

If she were mine, I would towel her up and lay her in my lap. Splint this up just in case it is broken or fractured, and I would watch for infection. Use an antibiotic that works on soft tissue like Pennicillin or Doxycycline.

Keep her confined so she has limited movement for a month or so as well.

Good luck with her!! Leg issues can take quite long to heal since birds need to use their legs for everything they do in life. So give this time.

Keep us posted! :). Oh and I sent you a PM as well. :)
 
Thank you. We are now thinking maybe a bone infection of some kind. I don't know if soaking in Epsom salts would help? I have Oxine and it was suggested to me to make a solution with that to wash her leg, where the skin has turned black, so I will do that. I am going to drop the Denagard and increase the dose of Baytril to the maximum amount that we dare to. I also heard that a lot of these antibiotics that livestock owners can commonly get, such as Baytril, Tylan, Penicillin, etc, are going to become prescription only. Soon. That is very bad news for us. :(
 
Never use Epsom Salt soaks when using any of the tetracyclines. Too much magnesium and it can diminish the antibiotics ability to kill off the infection. Somewhere I heard this about Baytril too. So I would avoid the Epsom Salts right now just in case.

Good luck with her and keep us posted as time goes on! I hope she makes a full recovery!! :)
 

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