Blisters on leg??

[Sylvia12]

Any help from the chicken Yodas would be greatly appreciated! Sarah is my six month old hen. Other than favoring her right leg (she limps, but still puts pressure on it - but you can see it pains her) she runs (hobbles) around freely during the day, eating normally, droppings look fine and she still gives me an egg daily. I've searched online and haven't seen (that I can tell) anything like this. (Try googling chicken and blisters and you'll see TONS of chicken pox blister photos) They look like blisters; they are underneath her skin, not on top. Could it be a bite of some type? She is the low hen on the totem pole of my three girls, but the sweetest. Without knowing what else to do, I've soaked her foot/leg in a small amount of Epsom salts and warm water for 20 minutes, both yesterday and today. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thank you!

 

[BantamLover21]

How long has she had these blisters? Is it cold where you are? Blisters can be caused by frostbite, or they could be because of injury or a bite of some sort. Do you have any bad poisonous spiders/other insects where you live? The Epsom salt soaking is a good idea; I'd keep doing it. If it were me, I might also try puncturing the blisters, applying antibiotic ointment to the area, and seeing what happens.

 

[Sylvia12]

Thank you for your speedy reply. I'm in Virginia Beach. We did have the Polar Plunge here here last week and record low temps (14 degrees- balmy compared to most of our northern neighbors) so I put the girls in the garage for two nights- last Tuesday and Wednesday. So, I really don't think it is frostbite.

It almost looks like she grabbed onto something with that one foot and that something kept spinning around causing the blisters. She not only has them on the back of her lower leg, but also on her toes.

Up till Sunday, she was fine which is when I noticed her favoring that leg. We do have Black Widows here, but I've not seen one around in years..She may very well have been bitten. Wouldn't she display more serious problems if bitten by a poisonous spider?

I will take your wonderful and reassuring advice and keep soaking her boo-boo and apply ointment.

I'm very appreciative I can come to this site and know I will get sound advice! Thank you, again.

 

[Eggcessive]

I would not burst the blisters, but epsom salts soaks should be fine. I have done some reading on mycoplasma synoviae which can cause bone pain, but I can't find anything about blisters on the skin of the feet. It can cause a large blister on the chest from lying down. If it were summertime, I would suspect ant bites or as you said, spiders. Hopefully others will look at this and offer help.

 

[Sylvia12]

Thank you for your reply. I'm continuing the soaks as she enjoys snuggling to my neck while soaking. This just has me stumped.

 

[Blooie]

Resurrecting an old thread here. Had a chick hatched on October 28. He's been doing great - until today. Agatha has been doing a fantastic job of caring for him - until today. I went out this morning and he was running around the run (protected with plastic all the way around) with the older chickens like he does everyday. Before when he would sound distressed from the cold Agatha would immediately cover him. (At night they went into their straw lined nest and she covered him all night long.) But I went back out again later on in the morning and he was cheeping like crazy...Agatha ignored him. He was obviously cold, but she paid him no attention - first time she's done that. So I kept an eye on things for few minutes. He was standing in the corner, cheeping furiously and huddled up. I nudged Agatha but she wasn't having any part of him. Suddenly his cheeping got fainter and fainter and then he closed his eyes and started leaning. I grabbed that little baby up, ran into the house with him, and got him into the brooder to warm. When I was carrying him the first thing I noticed was that his feet were so cold they were actually uncomfortable to hold in my hand. Cold, cold, cold! I gave him a drop of Vitamin B, some sugar water, and then gave him some Chick-Saver Electrolyte. A little while later, he was drinking on his own and even ate a little bit. But he didn't want to walk.

A couple of hours ago he started this really loud, demanding cheeping. He was laying on his belly, and when I touched him he quieted for a minute. I checked him over, encouraged him to drink some plain water, and he just kept on cheeping frantically.

A little while later I picked him up to check him again - thought maybe I'd missed an injury or something. This is what I saw on both of his feet.






The blisters had a very soft covering, sort of like a bit of onion skin, and I went ahead and drained them. I soaked a needle in alcohol while I prepped everything else, then pierced them. The fluid was a clear yellow. While I drained the one on the other foot, the first one refilled somewhat. So I had to drain each blister twice.


Then I got the top off a candle, which turned out to be perfect because the feet went in but the body stayed out! I filled it with warm Epsom Salt water and stood him in it. He could lay on the rim of the candle top suspended so just his feet were in the water. Immediately the demanding cheeping stopped. I could almost hear him go, "Ahhhhhhh"! I soaked his feet for about 10 minutes - until the water cooled off. He did NOT want to get out - he resumed the cheeping. I dried them completely and coated them with the only antibiotic ointment I had, Betadine.



I'm 99.9% sure that this is the blistering that comes after a frostbitten area is rewarmed. I don't have any kind of oral antibiotic and I'm not at all sure that's called for anyway. I'm not real big on pumping chickens full of medications that may or not be appropriate for a situation, especially when the dosage and the proper kind of antibiotic is uncertain. He's quiet right now, resting in the warmth of his brooder and it would appear that the pain from these blisters has eased tremendously.

While he rested I searched and found this thread. Now I wonder if I should have drained them, but the pressure had to be incredibly miserable. Is there anything else I should be doing for him? Even more to the point - and much more painful to ask - is if this damage will be permanent and can he lose his feet from this? If this is the case, I'd rather humanely euthanize him than have him face more pain and being unable to fend for himself.

 

[Beekissed]

Posted an answer to this on the other other forum!

 

[Saaniya]

W

Posted an answer to this on the other other forum!

What cause this type of blister ? I deal with one on my rooster