Could this Lameness be staph arthritis? Please help

snowinginc

In the Brooder
Jul 20, 2020
9
5
11
originally thought our wonderful 10 yo rooster had scaly leg mites, with some lameness as his scales looked raised a bit.
We initially treated the entire flock per instructions of DVM Michael Darre, head of small poultry enterprise management at UConn We soaked legs in gasoline, then slathered with A &D ointment then on day 2 just A &D ointment, then on day 3 both gasoline and A&D again.
He continued to get more lame in both feet, and the other chickens seem to have no issues, so we treated only him with eprinex pour-on applied to his neck.
His lameness is still worsening.

Last week I switched to all-flock feed instead of the Purina Layena and I’ve supplied the hens with calcium. I’ve done this in case he has gout.
He stands ok but when he walks he puts one leg at a time way up in the air behind him like he’s stretching it, and sometimes kind of falls forward. His legs don’t look horribly swollen like in some gout photos I’ve seen, but there does seem to be some swelling now.

I am familiar with bumblefoot, and there are no symptoms of it.

Could this be a staphylococcus arthritis, or some other form of infection?

We do not have a local poultry vet. Id love to treat him properly., or know if this isn’t treatable.

Thank you!
 

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He does appear to have scaly leg mites from the look of the scales. I suspect you were careful when using the gasoline on his legs, but I need to caution against this practice of using a petroleum distillate on chickens as it's stupendously toxic and can cause the very lameness you're trying to treat. It's a remedy that is very old, but there are so many other much safer things to use that are just as effective.

The thick legs and lameness could be from osteopetrosis, and it's often from avian leucosis. Only a necropsy after death can diagnose it, though.
 

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