Hen's foot with white plaques and toes turning black.

[Eglanterina]

There are pus-swollen abscesses on both her feet with no visible wounds or indication that is is bumblefoot. She's perky, happy to eat and drinking, laying eggs, and pooping normally. I have her separated from the flock in a "hospital" kennel in my house. I was away over Christmas so symptoms went unnoticed by the person feeding them and things festered. The rest of my flock are symptom-free.

I think she did have scaly leg mites and I treated her with Ivermectin. I started her on a course of first tetracycline and then penicillin to see if it could fix the "infection". I'm unsure if this has helped and since these pictures were taken, a few of her toes have turned black. I tried to excise one of the white, and what I assumed was pus, areas and there was almost no blood and the white material was quite solid. I was bathing her feet but have stopped since it seemed to be drying her skin and further irritating her.

I really don't know what to do for her. Does anyone have experience with this?

 

[N Sully]

Awe the poor thing. Watching to learn what could cause this. Wish you luck treating her.

 

[The Phantom]

Where do you live? It kinda sounds like frostbite.

 

[Eglanterina]

Where do you live? It kinda sounds like frostbite.

I live in central Alberta. It really was quite cold over the holidays while I was away but I had lights on in the coop to heat it. BUT she does roost on the floor of the coop (the floor plywood, insulated underneath and covered with straw.

 

[The Phantom]

Could have stepped in their water?

 

[Eglanterina]

Could have stepped in their water?

No, I don't think so. I use a waterer that has a moat and is raised up off the ground with cement blocks.

 

[lazy gardener]

If your coop was closed up too tight, or if the litter was frozen, this could have caused it. Did you do any treatment other than IVermectin for the scaly leg mites? Was it the pour on, how much did you use? It almost looks like she has lymphedema. I don't know if this can be an issue in bird's feet or not.

 

[Eglanterina]

I live in central Alberta. It really was quite cold over the holidays while I was away but I had lights on in the coop to heat it. BUT she does roost on the floor of the coop (the floor plywood, insulated underneath and covered with straw.

 

[Eglanterina]

Thanks for the suggestions. I do believe that she suffered frost bite. This diagnosis makes sense in light of the lack of other symptoms, her perky, happy henself and where she chose to bed down in the coop. Poor thing, she’s a good little bird. I’ll keep her inside to keep a close eye on her progression. Has anyone had a hen lose all her toes?

 

[XanderWiFi]

While not a vet, I did not see anything that jumped out at me looking like an abscess. They simply appear extremely swollen from a mechanism of injury.

Given the extreme cold, and the sudden color change, my educated ballpark guess would be frostbite as well. The black seems to be throughout the whole foot, so hopefully she does not lose all of it.