Should I put my Chicken to sleep?

[Ekblueie]

About 3 weeks ago my White Leghorn (named Hop) hurt her leg, I've been trying to let it heal but its not, I have to get her out of the coop every morning and put her back in every evening, she used to be like the leader of the hens I have but now they've all excluded her. When she tries to walk her right foot(up to the end of the yellow) just stays limp and doesn't move, its also really cold compared to the other foot. she's only 4 months old so I don't want to put her to sleep but I don't want her to suffer. I let my chickens out of the pen about a hour before they go to bed, because I can't have free range chickens where I live, I bring out Hop and make sure she eats and I give her plenty of mealworms for protein, but nothing helping. I only have 6 hens and no roosters so I'd hate to loose one, what should I do?

 

[coach723]

Can you post some pictures of her and her foot and leg? Clear in focus pictures will maybe help getting some suggestions. Also, any idea how it happened? Any other signs of illness in the bird, how do droppings look, what you are feeding, and if she's eating drinking normally?

 

[Ekblueie]

Yes, I will post photos ASAP. I’m not sure what happened but my dad believes she may have got her foot caught on the run? I’m not sure how she would and I don’t think it was caused by the other chickens.Beside the foot she looks great, hadn’t lost many feathers eats and drinks normally and droppings look good. She is still eating chick food seeing as she’s 16 weeks old plus some fresh veggies from my garden. I’ve also seen a bump forming where the yellow foot ends(I don’t know chicken terms) and meets the start of feathers on the leg, I think it could be a callous from her trying to walk on it

 

[rebrascora]

Hi and welcome to BYC.

Unfortunately this sounds like yet another case of Marek's disease. The emergency forum seems to be flooded with lame adolescent chickens at the moment and by far the commonest cause of lameness in birds of that age is Marek's. I had one that was nest bound for a 6-8 weeks with it and eventually got back to free ranging with the flock, so if you feel inclined to you could persevere, she might improve but she will always carry the disease and if I am right the rest of your flock have been exposed and some will probably already be infected. It is an odd disease because it has long dormant phases like cold sores in humans and outbreaks are usually triggered by stress. Surge of hormones at point of lay is a common trigger, but what stresses one bird may not stress another, so birds can become randomly debilitated with it rather than all of them exhibiting symptoms at the same time.
There is no recognised treatment for Marek's but keeping the bird as happy and stress free as you can and giving a good quality poultry vitamin supplement and probiotic can help (I like to use fermented feed to keep the gut healthy) and access to grass when possible. The flock can often turn on Marek's birds and really injure them but worse still stress them to the point that the Marek's gets significantly worse, so keeping them in a safe environment where they are still in contact with the flock but safe from harassment, with their own food and water supply is helpful.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

. I’ve also seen a bump forming where the yellow foot ends(I don’t know chicken terms) and meets the start of feathers on the leg, I think it could be a callous from her trying to walk on it

Can you post some photos of the legs or a video of her actions?

IF she does have suspected Marek's as posted previously, then consider culling her and sending the body to your State Lab for necropsy this will give you answers. Since Marek's is not curable, it would be good to know if that is what you are dealing with.