- Jul 7, 2014
- 76
- 1
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Hi there,
My sweet girl who is a Buff Orpington of eight years named Daisy has recently been suffering from a limp leg since the beginning of June. She experienced this same symptom of a paralyzed leg this past March for about two weeks. I gave her antibiotics for about a week and then a few days later she recovered back to normal 100%!
However, on June 17th, I went to give her a bath (to wash the poop off of her feathers from sitting around all day due to the limp foot) and as I gently began washing, a chunk of feathers fell to the bottom of the sink. A few flies flew out of her feathers and so I turned her over to see better and there was her cloaca which had pushed through the skin and was hanging outside of her body. There were TONS of maggots eating at the diseased tissue. I was absolutely freaking out. The next day I took her to the vet. He cleaned out her wound untill it was 100% maggot-free. He also prescribed her some meloxicam/metacam that I have been giving her twice a day since then. Also, a silvadene/silver sulfadiazine cream to apply to the wound.
Then on June 20th, the vet prescribed her antibiotics. I just stopped those yesterday (after about 15 days) and her foot is still limp but she is able to move her toes more and have a little more control over her foot. Her foot is sort of twisted and turned in toward the center which I find odd too. As with her prolapsed cloaca, it is shrinking and healing pretty well. However, she does like to peck at the sides of it since it is healing and I can only imagine how itchy it is. I bought her a cone to wear but she freaked out when I attempted to put it on.
I took her to the vet but he didn't know what it could be exactly. He said some possibilities could be Marek's or ovarian cancer or protein buildup from her leftover eggs. I thought no way could it be Marek's since she is already 8 years old. I was reading a lot of other forums about chickens with limp legs but none like this where she had already recovered from it and then got it back three months later but this time with a prolapse.
Does anyone have any ideas?? Any experience with this? I would REALLY, REALLY appreciate it. She is the sweetest chicken ever and I am going to do everything that I can in order to save her. I was thinking about giving her acyclovir in case it is Marek's but I am not sure on the dosing or the effects of it on chickens. (I didn't think it was Marek's because my other chicken a month ago was pecking at Daisy's comb until it was bleeding but she is completely healthy still and is ten years old.)
Thank you so much to everyone in advance!!! I really appreciate it! <3 <3
My sweet girl who is a Buff Orpington of eight years named Daisy has recently been suffering from a limp leg since the beginning of June. She experienced this same symptom of a paralyzed leg this past March for about two weeks. I gave her antibiotics for about a week and then a few days later she recovered back to normal 100%!
However, on June 17th, I went to give her a bath (to wash the poop off of her feathers from sitting around all day due to the limp foot) and as I gently began washing, a chunk of feathers fell to the bottom of the sink. A few flies flew out of her feathers and so I turned her over to see better and there was her cloaca which had pushed through the skin and was hanging outside of her body. There were TONS of maggots eating at the diseased tissue. I was absolutely freaking out. The next day I took her to the vet. He cleaned out her wound untill it was 100% maggot-free. He also prescribed her some meloxicam/metacam that I have been giving her twice a day since then. Also, a silvadene/silver sulfadiazine cream to apply to the wound.
Then on June 20th, the vet prescribed her antibiotics. I just stopped those yesterday (after about 15 days) and her foot is still limp but she is able to move her toes more and have a little more control over her foot. Her foot is sort of twisted and turned in toward the center which I find odd too. As with her prolapsed cloaca, it is shrinking and healing pretty well. However, she does like to peck at the sides of it since it is healing and I can only imagine how itchy it is. I bought her a cone to wear but she freaked out when I attempted to put it on.
I took her to the vet but he didn't know what it could be exactly. He said some possibilities could be Marek's or ovarian cancer or protein buildup from her leftover eggs. I thought no way could it be Marek's since she is already 8 years old. I was reading a lot of other forums about chickens with limp legs but none like this where she had already recovered from it and then got it back three months later but this time with a prolapse.
Does anyone have any ideas?? Any experience with this? I would REALLY, REALLY appreciate it. She is the sweetest chicken ever and I am going to do everything that I can in order to save her. I was thinking about giving her acyclovir in case it is Marek's but I am not sure on the dosing or the effects of it on chickens. (I didn't think it was Marek's because my other chicken a month ago was pecking at Daisy's comb until it was bleeding but she is completely healthy still and is ten years old.)
Thank you so much to everyone in advance!!! I really appreciate it! <3 <3
