7 Month Old Chicken Walking on Knees

[princess2185]

Hi all,
I have a 7 month old barred rock who all of a sudden 3 weeks ago started walking on her knees. She no longer runs, and can only walk a few feet before laying down. She can’t climb up the ladder to the coop- I physically need to pick her up and place her in her box. She has a large appetite and roams the yard occasionally (mainly walking to some grass, laying down, and pecking at it). I stretched out her legs and she has range of motion. She just does not extend her legs when she walks. Her toes slightly curl as well. I feel no broken bones. She doesn’t use her wings much either. I’m slightly lost on what’s going on. At first, I believed it was Mareks. However, it’s been over three weeks and all the other hens seem perfectly healthy. With 20+ other chickens, I would expect to see at least one other chicken showing symptoms of Mareks with how contagious it is. Is this a vitamin deficiency or maybe pain problem? Any thoughts about what to do are appreciated.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Hi all,
I have a 7 month old barred rock who all of a sudden 3 weeks ago started walking on her knees. She no longer runs, and can only walk a few feet before laying down. She can’t climb up the ladder to the coop- I physically need to pick her up and place her in her box. She has a large appetite and roams the yard occasionally (mainly walking to some grass, laying down, and pecking at it). I stretched out her legs and she has range of motion. She just does not extend her legs when she walks. Her toes slightly curl as well. I feel no broken bones. She doesn’t use her wings much either. I’m slightly lost on what’s going on. At first, I believed it was Mareks. However, it’s been over three weeks and all the other hens seem perfectly healthy. With 20+ other chickens, I would expect to see at least one other chicken showing symptoms of Mareks with how contagious it is. Is this a vitamin deficiency or maybe pain problem? Any thoughts about what to do are appreciated.

Welcome To BYC

Can you post some photos of her, her legs/feet (bottom of feet too) and her poop or get a video of her actions? (upload video to Youtube and provide a link)

Is she laying eggs?
What do you feed including treats?

Feel her abdomen for bloat or fluid, look her over for lice/mites and see that her crop is emptying overnight.

It's still possible that she has Marek's, but you can try vitamin therapy to see if that make a difference. I would start her with 1/4-1/2 tablet B-Complex for 7 days. She may benefit from being placed in a sling for short monitored periods of time as well to help give her some relief from laying down so much and creating sores on her legs.