Hen with severe limp

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caleyoh

caleyoh

In the Brooder
6 Years
Nov 15, 2013
19
0
22
San Diego, CA
I've been scouring the internet and haven't found anything solid. My approx five month old EE has a horrible limp. I noticed a small limp 2-3 days ago and it has gotten to the point where she refuses to put weight on her foot at all and is walking along on her whole left leg. I assumed she flew out of the coop and landed badly. Her limp is just so severe that it freaked me out. The others aren't picking on her and she is eating and drinking. Stool looks normal.

A little background: this is my first flock. We recently bought the three EEs to add to our sweet Australorps. The guy we bought them from didn't handle them at all (no biggie) so the injured girl Ginger is nearly impossible to catch without stressing her out. She doesn't have bumble foot, no scratches of any kind that I can see, her eyes are clear, and she doesn't seem too lethargic, as she'll wobble over to get water or food. I'm a newbie, so I'm sorry if this all sounds silly. Someone I know with backyard chickens said that she had something similar and dosed her flock with antibiotics, which saved her EE... Would that make any sense?
 
Also worth mentioning, I switched the girls from medicated chick starter to organic layer feed last week now that the older hens have started laying.
 
caleyoh said:
I've been scouring the internet and haven't found anything solid. My approx five month old EE has a horrible limp. I noticed a small limp 2-3 days ago and it has gotten to the point where she refuses to put weight on her foot at all and is walking along on her whole left leg. I assumed she flew out of the coop and landed badly. Her limp is just so severe that it freaked me out. The others aren't picking on her and she is eating and drinking. Stool looks normal.

A little background: this is my first flock. We recently bought the three EEs to add to our sweet Australorps. The guy we bought them from didn't handle them at all (no biggie) so the injured girl Ginger is nearly impossible to catch without stressing her out. She doesn't have bumble foot, no scratches of any kind that I can see, her eyes are clear, and she doesn't seem too lethargic, as she'll wobble over to get water or food. I'm a newbie, so I'm sorry if this all sounds silly. Someone I know with backyard chickens said that she had something similar and dosed her flock with antibiotics, which saved her EE... Would that make any sense?
Click to expand...

i don't see how antibiotics can fix a broken leg...
 
Antibiotics might have helped your friend's chicken if it were mycoplasma synoviae, but if she has a bad sprain, she needs to be confined within the coop and run for a week or two of rest. Take her out and if she is still limping she needs more. Place her on poultry vitamins in her water. I had a hen who limped for 6 weeks from a sprain. I lowered the roosts, and after it healed she was fine.
 
I only threw out the antibiotics as I'm not entirely positive it's a sprain. After officially scaring myself by reading about Marek's, I'm going to add vitamins and keep her in the coop today.
 
Give her an exam comparing the one leg to the other to find the problem. Gently check movement on bad leg in all joints starting at upper thigh feeling the bones for break, feel for anything odd around joint popped ligaments, tendons that may have slipped. Check to see if on bad leg if she has a grip in the foot seeing if will grasp your finger. Use the good leg to compare, will take patience to feel for anything and a possible uncooperative hen.

Check under feathers for bruising, if the leg feels hotter than the other leg at a certain spot which will be the site of injury. Can use bamboo skewers, popsicle sticks and vet wrap to make a splint. Keep the hen confined to a smaller area to prevent too much movement, easy access to feed and water.
 
quote name="Sarevan" url="/t/881607/hen-with-severe-limp#post_13409243"]Give her an exam comparing the one leg to the other to find the problem. Gently check movement on bad leg in all joints starting at upper thigh feeling the bones for break, feel for anything odd around joint popped ligaments, tendons that may have slipped. Check to see if on bad leg if she has a grip in the foot seeing if will grasp your finger. Use the good leg to compare, will take patience to feel for anything and a possible uncooperative hen.

Check under feathers for bruising, if the leg feels hotter than the other leg at a certain spot which will be the site of injury. Can use bamboo skewers, popsicle sticks and vet wrap to make a splint. Keep the hen confined to a smaller area to prevent too much movement, easy access to feed and water.[/quote]

I don't think this is good. She doesn't grip at all with the injured leg, and it isn't any hotter than the leg she's been using. No bruising as far as I can tell either. The leg is stiff and doesn't have the ability to be gently moved in the socket. She's separated during the day because the Australorps have picked up on her weakened condition. I wish I could set her up in the garage, but the temps here have been in the 100s all week :(
 

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