What is going on with this chicken's leg?

[ConcernedNovice]

So I was visiting the flock, which is primarily cared for by my father and brother, and noticed one of the girls was limping. Upon further investigation I noticed she had this grotesque, painful-looking growth on her leg. This is as close a picture I could get of it as the birds don't come too close to me unless I'm feeding them.

What do you suppose is wrong with her leg?

 

[Whittni]

It looks like a nasty growth with an infection. Maybe she got a gash at some point and chicken poo got in it. That, or she has some sort of cancer.

Anyway, it looks like there might be maggots in that. You should scoop her up and get that growth off of her. If it were my bird, I'd cut it off or pick it off (which ever needed), rinse with water, then with alcohol then put a gnaw on it and then a wrap around that. Then clean it off daily until she healed.

 

[nab58]

what's a gnaw?

 

[ConcernedNovice]

what's a gnaw?

I was going to ask the same question.

What's the best way to pick up a hen and keep her calm while I do what must be done?