I have a severe problem with one of my chickens !

[mhoward92]

So one of my white leghorns has been acting very weird. She has been sitting in the corner of the coop for a few days now. and since my chickens just started laying eggs (about 6 months old) i figured it was probably just pains from starting to lay. But i have noticed now that is NOT the problem. She can't even get up to eat and when she tries to she cant walk well at all. she stands straight up and curls her toes in, she walks very goofy and her legs shake very bad. so today i picked her up and took her outside to a bench with some food and water. She showed much pain when i was holding her. I tried to comfort her by rubbing her belly and talking to her but it didn't help. once i got food in front of her she just started gobbling it down. The poor thing probably has not eaten for 3 days. but she didn't touch the water. I would of rather her drink the water then eat. I'm afraid she might start to get dehydrated now. But if any of you have ideas of what this problem may be please post. Separating her from the others won't really help because they are in the run all day and she sits in the corner of the coop so she is separated all day. please post with some ideas of what this is or if you have seen anything like this before. I don't think she's going to make it much longer. Oh yeah, and if it helps you imagine what it looks like. It almost looks like a cow when it has mad cow disease. she acts a lot like that.

Thanks Mitch

 

[arlee453]

Even though she is staying away from the other chickens, I'd pull her out of the coop and put her in a dog crate or similar sized enclosure with her food and water right in front of her.

There are a lot of things that can cause weakness in the legs - it may be a lack of vitamins causing rickets, or a number of other things. What are you feeding your birds??

What I'd do...

1) Isolate her in a crate with food and water right in front of her where she doesn't have to get up to get fed

2) Put vitamins like aviacharge2000 or similar (you can get this a tractor supply/feed store) to help boost her nutritionally in case it is a vitimin deficiency causing the problem

3) Post more details here and see if you can get more information Pictures of her legs might help...what are you feeding her? Has she had access to grit/calcium since she is at the point of lay, etc. Check out the sticky thread at the top of the category for more questions that may help figure out what's gong on.

 

[mhoward92]

I have been feeding her the same thing i have been feeding my other chickens. a farmer i live by is mixing the food for me. It has worked awesome. it has pre-crushed oyster shells in it for calcium. i don't know why she out of 25 other chickens would have a vitamin problem. But ill pick some up and try them. I can take some pictures of her legs today but they really look no different then the others. she just seems very weak and brittle. but this could also be from not drinking anything for days too. Do you think it is possible that all of this started as laying pains then due to not eating she's dehydrated and low on vitamins?

 

[arlee453]

It could very well be that she has a congenital weakness or is more suceptable to deficiencies, etc that is just now showing up at the point of lay. It seems if they get through the first few weeks, the next time you have issues with birds that isn't disease related is at the point of lay.

I thought you said her feet were curled up... that's why I thought pics may help.

True, that 3 days without food/water can definately cause lethargy and weakness.

I'd still separate her so you can keep an eye on her intake/output and watch for any other symptoms... Just my 2c.

I'm just one person though and not the illness expert here by a LONG shot. Hopefully someone else can chime in with their thoughts...

 

[mhoward92]

yeah it makes sense to separate her. And yes her toes do curl when she gets up sometimes. If i can get her to stand up and curl her toes ill take a pic. Well my main concern is just the fact of her living. I think if she keeps eating and i can get some water in her it will at least keep her some strength. have you ever tried giving chickens orange juice or oranges? can/will they eat the peels? im just trying to think of things with hight vitamins in them to hold off until i go and get some vitamins for her.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Curled toes are usually a B vitamin deficiency..try the Poly-Vi-Sol

 

[SuperChicken007]

A leghorn? hmmmmmmmm i really dont know the problem....

If she were a Broiler, on the other hand, then this problem would be normal. I hear that broilers are bred to grow so fast their legs can barely hold the weight because they are bred as meat birds.

 

[virgilini]

Use an eye dropper to get some water into her. Just hold it by her beak and let it dribble in. Usually this will get them to open their beak and drink some. Good luck with her.

Kim

 

[kinnip]

I have to agree with oldtimegator, give her the Poly-vi-sol. It's in the baby/pharmacy area of the Wal-Mart. She really needs water too, just drip it (or anything else you want her to take) on her beak. She'll drink, at least, some of it.