9 month old hen Limping

[KToddy]

HELP!
My sweet hen Martina is almost a year old- and started limping out of nowhere. I am so worried about her!

Normal poo, eating fine. Her thigh feels fine.. there are some blue/green spots on her leg- could be bruising?

The flock gets poultry cell, good organic food, oatmeal w/cranberries & red pepper flakes several times a week, fermented feed daily, cabbage several times a week, and organic scratch everyday as well as calcium free choice.

I clean the coop every day- use First Sat Lime once a week.. soft sand bottom coop, ladder to the roost bar.

I put a silver gel on her and gave pily-vi-sol w/o iron.

What else can I do?

video of her limping:

 

[azygous]

You made this one easy by offering the description of bruising on the favored leg. Yes, on light colored chicken legs, bruising appears as light green splotches. It may be more than just superficial bruising, however. It could indicate a closed fracture. Therefore, keeping the chicken off the leg for a few days would be therapeutic. So would daily soaks in warm Epsom salts.

Just as important though, is figuring out how she might have injured herself and correcting it. The most common way chickens injure a leg is by trying to hop onto a too-high perch. They miss and bang a leg on the perch, injuring it.

If your perches are quite high, you might need to lower them or add a perch at floor level for those chickens that are aging or getting too heavy to be nimble getting themselves up to a high perch.

 

[KToddy]

I have very low perch options- and waist high (most desirable to the chickens) we have a ladder to make it easy to access. The coop has a soft 6” sand floor. Must have been a fluke. We “acquired” a rooster about 4 months ago who was quarantined for 2 months and treated for bumble foot (that he also had when we got him).. so I am wondering if he is too clumsy while trying to “tackle” the hens… i have heard that can cause injury too.

 

[KToddy]

You made this one easy by offering the description of bruising on the favored leg. Yes, on light colored chicken legs, bruising appears as light green splotches. It may be more than just superficial bruising, however. It could indicate a closed fracture. Therefore, keeping the chicken off the leg for a few days would be therapeutic. So would daily soaks in warm Epsom salts.

Just as important though, is figuring out how she might have injured herself and correcting it. The most common way chickens injure a leg is by trying to hop onto a too-high perch. They miss and bang a leg on the perch, injuring it.

If your perches are quite high, you might need to lower them or add a perch at floor level for those chickens that are aging or getting too heavy to be nimble getting themselves up to a high perch.

So Martina’s limp got worse, her leg stiffened up despite PT and silver & arnica. She died in her sleep last night after we brought her inside. We are assuming marek’s now since last week one Serama was found dead in the morning (no identifiable reason- healthy &!happy the night before) … and the weak polish succumbed to here eye infection and swollen head with pecked feathers… she had terimycin 2x a day topically and underwent 2 rounds of antibiotics… all that after recovering the month before from weakness/near death- we tube feed her for 2 weeks and saved her. We had planned to have a necropsy done but decided against it since it is pretty obvious now- and the results (according to my research) are often inconclusive anyhow.

I would welcome prayers for our devastated hearts… any advice on how to go forward?

I wish I had known 1) not to hatch eggs from a non-closed flock, (learned they had marek’s in the past) and 2) to not rescue sick chickens from a friend- (despite 60 day quarantine), and 3) to avoid an open run where wild birds have access. 4) one polish will get picked on for being different - only get them in at least pairs- or more.

Lessons learned.

How do I rebuild my flock? Must I prepare my heart for the rest of my chicken friends dying? We have 4 unvaccinated chicks that are 4 weeks old that we purchased before losing the 3. Two of the dying chickens spent time in the infirmary room (beside the chicks) before we realized what we are dealing with. Should i expect them to die? Will getting vaccinated chicks in the spring be our best course going forward? I do not want to give them a death sentence. I clean the coop everyday, make them oatmeal/chili peppers & cranberries a few times a week, a cabbage teatherball a few times a week, ferment food + give organic soy free food constantly available- have chicken swings and organic scratch 10% of their diet, give poultry cell water, spread Saturday Lime every other week, and spend at least an hour once/twice a day socializing with them. I don’t know what to do. So devastated.

 

[azygous]

Those of us with an avian virus in our flocks understand that devastation you feel. It's oppressive and discouraging. But, no, you shouldn't expect every chicken in your flock to die. Chickens do develop resistance.

There are two main avian viruses that are extremely common. Marek's and lymphoid leucosis. My flock has the second one. While Marek's does not infect fertilized eggs, leucosis is passed to the embryo from hen to egg. Marek's and avian leucosis are both passed from chicken to chicken via dust and dander and feces and mating. Both often result in tumors on organs, and both can affect the sciatic nerve and cause paralysis, but this is much more common with Marek's. Both require a closed flock, no rehoming of chickens and unless you know which virus it is, selling chicks and hatching eggs is not ethical.

 

[KToddy]

Those of us with an avian virus in our flocks understand that devastation you feel. It's oppressive and discouraging. But, no, you shouldn't expect every chicken in your flock to die. Chickens do develop resistance.

There are two main avian viruses that are extremely common. Marek's and lymphoid leucosis. My flock has the second one. While Marek's does not infect fertilized eggs, leucosis is passed to the embryo from hen to egg. Marek's and avian leucosis are both passed from chicken to chicken via dust and dander and feces and mating. Both often result in tumors on organs, and both can affect the sciatic nerve and cause paralysis, but this is much more common with Marek's. Both require a closed flock, no rehoming of chickens and unless you know which virus it is, selling chicks and hatching eggs is not ethical.

Thank you for the encouragement, I hadn’t ever planned to sell or rehome any of my chickens… but I did give two healthy roosters away about 6 months ago- now I am worried if it is marek’s it could be dormant in them and hurt their flock. OH MY GOSH- I never want anyone to go through this- I will just hate myself!

 

[KRack]

I have Marek’s in my flock. It hasn’t meant a death sentence for all, and I’m not vaccinating. I had a hen hatch out a roo, and he was unvaccinated and perfectly healthy! I had to cull him when he was about a year old because he was too aggressive with the hens (his dad was a jerk too). But I was pleased to see he was strong and was encouraged to keep trying to build my flock this way.

I’ll also add chickens to my flock from the Amish down the street, because they’ve likely been exposed to the same kind of Marek’s and also breed for resistance and don’t vaccinate.

Everyone’s journey forward will look different, but this definitely doesn’t have to be the end of the road. I remember how hard it was to process in the beginning, and I’m sorry. Just give it time and you’ll come up with a plan forward you’re comfortable with.

You may also want to consider a necropsy to know for sure what you’re dealing with! That may help your planning.

 

[KToddy]

I have Marek’s in my flock. It hasn’t meant a death sentence for all, and I’m not vaccinating. I had a hen hatch out a roo, and he was unvaccinated and perfectly healthy! I had to cull him when he was about a year old because he was too aggressive with the hens (his dad was a jerk too). But I was pleased to see he was strong and was encouraged to keep trying to build my flock this way.

I’ll also add chickens to my flock from the Amish down the street, because they’ve likely been exposed to the same kind of Marek’s and also breed for resistance and don’t vaccinate.

Everyone’s journey forward will look different, but this definitely doesn’t have to be the end of the road. I remember how hard it was to process in the beginning, and I’m sorry. Just give it time and you’ll come up with a plan forward you’re comfortable with.

You may also want to consider a necropsy to know for sure what you’re dealing with! That may help your planning.

Thank you for your response and encouragement.. I was under the impression if I get more chicks from TS I should try to get ones that had been vaccinated? Should i just take my chances? Is trying to hatching my own a better way to go? What do you think will happen with these 4 young chicks?

 

[azygous]

Without knowing which avian virus you are dealing with, if you assume incorrectly you are dealing with Marek's when it's in fact the leucosis virus, trying to hatch eggs in your flock can result in agonizing heartbreak when your embryos die in the egg before hatch or even worse, they die within the first year.

Your best bet would be to get Marek's vaxed chicks, keep them quarantined for two weeks while they develop resistance to Marek's, then allow them to join the flock. This strategy will also work if your flock has the leucosis virus. Baby chicks raised in the flock have an excellent chance to develop resistance to the virus and lead normal lives.

But hatching eggs within your flock without knowing which virus is present is very risky, mostly for your emotional well being.

 

[KToddy]

Without knowing which avian virus you are dealing with, if you assume incorrectly you are dealing with Marek's when it's in fact the leucosis virus, trying to hatch eggs in your flock can result in agonizing heartbreak when your embryos die in the egg before hatch or even worse, they die within the first year.

Your best bet would be to get Marek's vaxed chicks, keep them quarantined for two weeks while they develop resistance to Marek's, then allow them to join the flock. This strategy will also work if your flock has the leucosis virus. Baby chicks raised in the flock have an excellent chance to develop resistance to the virus and lead normal lives.

But hatching eggs within your flock without knowing which virus is present is very risky, mostly for your emotional well being.

Thank you- I will do this. What do you think will happen to these 4 week old unvaccinated chicks that we have in the brooder .. we got them before this mess started.