8 year old Black Ostralorp with arthritis?

[jbkinor]

Our 8 year old black Australorp hen has been getting progressively slower and seems to be a little crooked. Her tail is up, her comb is red, she eats fine. Justs lays down a lot and moves slower. We can't see any obvious damage to her. Did notice that one side of her new feather growth didn't get groomed out as well as the other side and maybe that's why she looks crooked. Could this be arthritis or something? Anything we can do for her? Her life long companion died about a month ago too, so she could be lonely even though we have two other younger hens. Of course, that wouldn't make her crooked.

 

[sammi]

describe the droppings..color and consistency.

sometimes older hens need calcium..

try and get some poultry vitamins..or Poly-vi-sol liquid baby vitamins, Enfamil brand if possible, no iron..give 3 drops once a day on beak for 5 days, then taper off for a week.
in the meantime..get some poultry vitamins and give 2x a week in water.

make up this mix..

amounts are for 1 day..divide into 3 feeds for the day..give for 5 days.

1 cooked egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon honey or unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons plain yogurt
3-4 tablespoons water cooked oatmeal
layer feed enough to make the mix puffy, not soupy or gummy.

if she seems to be in discomfort when she walks..you can give her aspirin..1 (81mg) PLAIN aspirin in 1 quart of water..

also..do a good check of feet and legs..
legs..any heat or swelling,(hip/back area also)
raised or missing scales or crust..(Scaley Leg Mite)
feet..any sores on tops or missing toe nails

check bottoms of feet and between the toes for any sores, scab, raised area, heat or swelling..(Bumblefoot)
or any splinter, etc..

 

[jbkinor]

I'll get her some yogurt, she does like it and hasn't had any lately. Will try to get chicken vitamins tomorrow. Are vitamins okay for the other 2 hens who are both broody right now? I'll check her droppings and get back to you. Will also check her feet closer.

She does sometimes seem to be in discomfort when she walks but after I wrote the first message she got excited about a snack and ran across the yard to us just fine.

Thank you so much!

 

[MoodyChicken]

She's getting up there in years! At that age I usually let nature take its course unless there's obvious signs of illness. More often then not they are just old and age is taking its toll. You could offer extra vitamins and minerals in the feed/water, and put a heat source in her coop. Also, lower the perches and nesting boxes and/or provide a ladder for her. Deep litter will provide extra padding should she fall or jump. Like sammi said, check her droppings and check for any other off symptoms, but my guess is that she's just old.

 

[jbkinor]

Droppings are normal. Feet are fine. Guess she's just gettin' old. Sigh. Got her some yogurt which she loves and will get some vitamins too. Are vitamins okay for the other birds? (2 two year old layers and 2 chicks once they start living outside)

Thank you for your help.

 

[chickensforever]

I don't know about the vitamins, but you could put a heatlamp in the coop. Arthritis definitely affects chickens (and any other animal with joints). We have several older hens (also about 8) and they seem to like the heat lamp, even during the summer months. Unless you live somewhere really hot, you might want to consider it, especially as fall comes.

 

[sammi]

do try to make up the mix I posted..
it can really help them..
it has certain nutrients that can help..
especially if she has rickets..(calcium deficiency)
older hens are prone to this.

do her legs/back/hip areas feel warm?
any swollen joints?

can you confine her to a smallish area with her own food and water, etc?
she should have the food close and not have to compete..

vitamins will be ok for the hens..
but the chicks should have chick vitamins and shouldn't be put in right away with adults any way.

 

[MoodyChicken]

Unless you're feeding an abnormally high amount of vitamins, it won't hurt your other birds. At the right levels they'll take what they need and excrete the rest. At high levels you could potentially make them sick, but you'd have to give them a lot so I wouldn't worry about that. Just go by the label on the bottle and add it to their speciall treats. I do this once or twice a week. And if you can't find an avian specific vitamin, dog vitamins work just as well. I use Dynamite Dog vitamins.

 

[MoodyChicken]

Quote:
Ibuprofin is safe for poultry too. I use Motrin 200mg for my birds. Half a pill for a bantie, a whole pill for a large hen.

 

[jbkinor]

To Sammi - She's the top hen so she has no problem getting food, she does eat a lot of bird seed that drops out of bird feeder, we've moved it so she doesn't. She was acting very roosterish earlier this spring, trying to mount the other two hens. Chicks aren't in with the big birds yet and won't be until they can defend themselves. Don't have a way to put Audrey (the old one) by herself. She does enjoy laying in the sun and warming her poor old joints.

Thanks everyone for your help. I'm afraid she may be just old but we'll give her calcium and vitamins to try to help. Maybe even aspirin/ibuprofen.