What is this? Two ckns dropped off on our farm they dont look good

[Addictedtothebirds]

We had two chickens dropped off on our farm yesterday. One rooster and one hen. We are not sure the breed or what is wrong with them. I took a pic of the leg that looks worse. They both have scaley legs but the hen has one leg just straight out in front of her not moving and the other under her is the pic I took. I felt her straight leg and it doesnt feel broken or warm. She doesnt try to get away when I touch it. They look like they have some kind of disease. We have them secluded together in our laundry room. We do have other chickens but have only been chicken owners for 2 years and would never let something go this far. We will nurse them back to health if that is possible or we will put them down if that is humane thing to do. Can anyone give us a idea? We have had dogs, kittens and cats dropped on our farm but never chickens.

Thanks

Wendy

 

[coltsdad]

Looks like scaly leg mites use vet rx or vaseline

 

[ChaosTheory]

Looks like a mix of scaly leg and possibly bumble foot; does she have a sore at the bottom of her foot at all?

 

[Addictedtothebirds]

Would that cause her to have a straight leg she cant move?

 

[Addictedtothebirds]

Now the bottom of her feet look normal. His are only slightly raised but look normal on bottom. Can this hurt any of us in the house. If we treat her with vaseline or rx will that help her other leg if it is this bad already? People really suck. Why have them if you cant take care of them

 

[coltsdad]

There are several articles in this thread about this , you will probably have to treat your coop too.

 

[gryeyes]

No, you're okay - you don't have scaly legs!

There are a variety of topical medications for scaly leg mites. Some folks just slather vaseline on the feet and legs all the way up into the feathers and repeat application every couple of days for a couple of weeks. Whatever will smother the mites.

I prefer medication to wipe them out fast. I was given a hen who had horrible leg mites (but not quite as bad as pictures, close though) and I put her in an isolation coop/pen while I treated her. She's all better, but some of her scales have not yet folded down all the way. All the crusty stuff is gone, though. She's a much happier hen!

 

[Miss Lydia]

heres some info. and Bless you for taking them in and trying to help them..

First, soak the bird's legs in a solution of warm water with some epsom salts in it to soften the scales. Mites are actually burrowed into the skin of the leg and are causing irritation and build up of stuff which is raising the scales and irritating the skin. The soaking softens up the stuff. You then use a toothbrush to scrub at the legs to remove whatever build up you can. Pat the legs dry.

Then you can either use ivomec 1% injectable topically on the legs, or you can use pour-on ivermectin 5% cattle wormer on the bird - IF - your birds have been wormed within 6 months with a broad spectrum wormer.

Personally, I'd recommend the scrub, worm your flock with wazine 17 (piperazine 17) in the water, and use olive oil on the legs or VetRx daily for 2 weeks then worm them with the pour-on ivermectin (generic, 250ml bottles are the most affordable option). Worming all the flock with ivermectin will kill external parasites as it's likely other birds in the flock have mites but not signs of it yet on the legs. But you have more than one option there.

 

[welasharon]

I would say start with the obvious...the scaly leg mites. Any type of oil (I used vegetable oil as there were 50 or more that I treated once) and if you have something to worm them with do that. Then see how they are after they have been wormed and fed well. You may want to search on here for nutritious meal ideas to help them. Make sure that you are very careful to keep them separated from your other chickens also. Make sure that you don't carry any germs from one set of chickens to the other!
sharon

 

[spiritdance]

As for the straightened out leg, it's possible the inflammation from the mites has effected a nerve. It's also possible that they have allowed bacteria or fungus into the leg enough to effect a nerve. If I were treating the bird, I think I would also consider some oral antibiotic and topical antifungal (possibly added to a warm water soak) just to be sure. Then just give her time to heal. If it's inflammation impinging on the nerve and it hasn't been like that for too long, she should get back the use of her leg once the inflammation goes away. Since you have to isolate her anyway, do so in a small enough space to enforce rest and reduce stress on that leg that could exacerbate any inflammation.