Royal Palm Hen won't stand up

JJSS89

Songster
5 Years
May 14, 2014
744
154
113
E Washington
Hello,
I recently bought a Royal Palm hen who was caught and handled gently all the way to my property.

She acts as though her legs are disabled and lays there. She won't eat and wont drink except for by hand feeding her mash and water. She is alert and everything but hasn't stood since last Saturday when I got her.

What in the world?
 
Can she not stand up? I know when my Royal Palm hens go broody (which they are right now) they will not stand up at all and will not leave their nests at all.
 
She was standing and running around prior to your taking possession (had to catch her for transport)? Have you picked her up and checked her over? If she hasn't moved at all, since last Saturday, there should be droppings in one location only. If, when you approach her to pick her up, she tries to get even closer to the ground and spreads wings a bit more and if she allows you to lift her up like a football, under one arm, and makes `purring' noises I'd guess she's fixated on breeding.

Keep her on clean bedding with plenty of food and water available.

If you note any unusual swelling in leg/hip joints curling of toes/legs hanging limp and immobile when you pick her up, please post.
 
Good point Ivan3! I didn't think about that! Great way of putting it as well.
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Thanks everyone. So I'm pretty sure this isn't a broody thing. Her legs are totally limp and immobile. No swelling, just dead legs.

She was healthy and walking when we caught her.

Sometimes when I pick her up, she struggles and flaps her wings - or when I approach she spreads her wings and attempts to flap away. She attempts to use her head/neck to push herself up.

I'll try to balance her on her feet in a seated position but she just tips over.

Ivan, yes her droppings are always underneath her. I've had to clean her multiple times. One day there was flies and maggots all over her vent area so I had to bath and powder her heavily with Sevin-5. Since then she's not had bugs bothering her.
 
Poor girl! I would do a complete look over on her. Check her feet, her legs, her joints and even her thighs. Check for mobility by manually moving her legs. If they fall limp, they are broken. You can do the same for her wings if you want. I would check all over (yes, I mean all over) for any injuries. Lifting up the feathers gently may give you an easier way to look over her. If she is very flighty (as many hens are) and scared, maybe try slipping an old sock over her head to calm her down. Make sure you have a good grip on her as you look her over as well. I'm not sure how easy this would be, but feel over her spine as well. A broken spine (maybe from a male trying to mate her and something bad happened or she flew up into something) would feel like a normal spine, then suddenly, you will feel two lines then back to the regular spine again. When rabbits break their backs, they will not eat or drink and will flop around but can not move their legs (sorry about it being graphic, but looking at all possible answers is the best option without excluding the worst). Again, I don't know how easy it is to feel a turkey's spine (I do not have to ever do it), so this may not be the best way to determine that.
I'm sorry for your hen not being able t walk. There has been a few posts recently about hens not being able to walk. I tried to stay updated on them, but have since lost the links. Maybe these posts would come in handy for you. One had a bad leg or something I believe.
 
Yeah I feel bad and wonder what the *beep* happened to her.

Her legs have the normal range of motion, there is nothing that feels remotely broken. I've massged and felt all over her body. I am a turkey neophyte but I know what birds feel like and how their skeletal structures are arranged. She has a fully capable wing flap and neck movement(s). This morning she was using her tail to stabilize and had excellent movement so I think her spine is intact. I would think that after this long, a spinal injury that incapacitated her legs would have killed her by now.

I guess I will keep her in the shade and see how she does. I think that she is now drinking on her own because I haven't poured water down her throat in three days and I think she would have passed in the 95 degree weather. I have to keep her water and food within a few inches of her head.

Interestingly, this morning, I noted that she had moved about three feet from the nest I made her. She doesn't bring her feet under her but they lay out behind her like a baby quail does when napping.
 
People in the peafowl forum say that peahens can get like this if they have a stuck egg. Don't know if the same is true for turkeys, but I'd check her just in case. Just put on a glove and lube and stick your finger in her vent... shouldn't have to go more than 1.5" in.

For those that think it can't be an egg because it's been longer than 48 hours, that is *major* www misinformation and belongs on my Top 10 Misinformation list, lol.

These might help you to check for an egg .
LL









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-Kathy
 
I'll check for an egg tonight. That would be an uncomfortable several days that I've subjected her to if it does turn out to be an egg.

Thank you so much for the information, I was about to go crazy racking my brain for causes here.
 
I'll check for an egg tonight.  That would be an uncomfortable several days that I've subjected her to if it does turn out to be an egg.

Thank you so much for the information, I was about to go crazy racking my brain for causes here.


If there is an egg you'll need to get it out. What I have read, and what my vets have told me to do is hydrate them first, then give calcium at 100mg/kg, stick them in a warm room full of steam and wait. Hydrating will be the hardest part... You'll need to give fluids via a tube or subcutaneously. It's Friday, so you might want to swing by a vet office and pick up a tube and syringe just in case. Ask them for a size 18 French catheter (red rubber feeding tube) and a 35ml or 60ml catheter tip syringe.

-Kathy
 

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