After inspection my Hen has a droopy wing.

[Wonky Woods]

Went down to open the pop door at 6:15am for the girls. The sun was just starting to come up and that is my normal time to open up. Usually within two minutes of me opening the pop door the girls come out one by one to get there breakfast and water. When I opened the pop door I heard a strange noise inside the coop. I stepped backed and 5 of the girls came out into the run. I was waiting for the 6th girl who is always last. I didn't see her at the pop door so I ran around to coop main door to check on her. As I open the coop door there she was laying on the floor of the coop on her side, feet curled ridged, and just looking like she fell out of space in a crumpled mess. She was alert and lifted her head. I ran inside and got my two kids, a laundry basket filled with hay. My son picked her up and placed her in the basket and we brought her inside. She nestled right into the hay as we caressed her and checked her over from head to toe. It took her about a half an hour to really come around and start eating out of our hands. We checked all the skin under and around her wings and all looked nice and white. Her vent area is nice and clean and pink. Her feet and head where nice and warm and eyes nice and clear. (She is a black Cochin/RIR hen, she is all solid black and has a few feathers on her feet) One of her wings is nice and tight next to her and the other is very droopy and touching the floor when she stands up. She absolutely loved the fact that we brought her inside and gave her a ton of love and affection. She is a very docile girl, slow mover, hates to fly, She was born in June.

Best we can figure out is she was the last one on the end of the roost bar last night and when the girls woke up this morning they pushed her off the roost while she was still sleeping and hit the floor of the coop. The roost is only about 16 inches off the floor of the coop. After having her in the house with us for two hours she was standing on her own and moving around but still had the droopy wing. We brought her outside to the run and placed her in with the other girls. She immediately waddled over to the food and started eating and scratching. The other girls haven't bothered with her. We did move her wings and all seems fine, nothing looks broken and she didn't act as if in pain when we opened her wings.

Is it possible that she may have sprained her wing? Am I over looking something. Should I keep her separated from the other chickens?

 

[Eggcessive]

It could be an injury or a broken wing, but keep an eye on her to make sure that she isn't being bullied. It sounds like she may be the lowest in pecking order since she comes outside last. Was she vaccinated for Mareks disease? It probably is not that, but Mareks can cause weakness or paralysis of one or both wings or legs initially. Curled toes can also e a sign, but also can be a sign of vitamins deficiency. If her wing appears broken or sprained, you can use a figure 8 bandage to splint it. There is a good illustration for that here: http://www.starlingtalk.com/fractures.htm

Just in case she shows other symptoms, here is a good article about Mareks disease: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

 

[Wonky Woods]

Thanks for the reply Eggcessive. We have been keeping an eye on her since this mornings incident. We have given her a spa treatment (warm water and Epson salt soak and also gave her some feed with olive oil. She seems herself other than the droopy wing. The only damage we can visually see on her wing is a few feathers broke off, which I'm assuming happened when she fell. The other girls don't pick on her. She is eating and drinking and has normal poop. She is able to walk around the run. Been reading everything I can about chicken emergencies and what to do. I'm thinking tonight we will keep her inside in a crate so we can watch her tonight. The lady I got the girls from is currently away at a poultry show in Tenn so don't want to alarm her with a text just yet. I might try later tonight to contact her and find out what the girls have gotten as far as vaccines.

 

[Wonky Woods]

I'm happy to report that our girl seems much better today. Her wing is up and not dragging. We built a new roost shelf before dark last night that accommodates all the girls so they can huddle together like they like to do. We placed hay bales under the edge of the roost just incase our hurt girl decided she was gonna fall out of bed again. When we opened the coop this morning all the girls where perched on the new roost. We carried our hurt girl to the run this morning and her wing is up and not dragging today. Today I gave her liquid vitamin E with some pellets.

 

[Wonky Woods]

It's been a week and our girl was doing better then this weekend started to decline. Her wing is hanging down, This morning her one eye is closed and she was found in the coop this morning on her side again. She's been inside in a crate all day with food and water. She did eat a little of her pellets, and just now had a few grapes. We are off to the vet at 5:30 tonight. Hope our girl will be ok, she is a sweetheart. All the other girls seem to be just fine.

 

[Eggcessive]

I hope that she doesn't have Mareks disease. Is she taking enough water and food? Give us an update after seeing the vet.

 

[Wonky Woods]

The vet was only able to find an area on her wing that was sensitive and her closed eye has an area of slight swelling which he believed is from trauma. She is an extremely docile girl. She was able to move her wing and open her eye. He found nothing wrong with the eye itself and no broken bones in the wing. He did give her a cortisone shot and said it should help her and the shot should last about three weeks. She has no signs of infection and looked healthy. The vet is not ruling out a neurological disorder. After coming home last night she was put in the coop with the other girls and she seemed relieved to be with them. We might just have a special needs girl on our hands and will continue to monitor her, make sure she gets food and water and do what we can to adapt her coop and run for her.

 

[Wonky Woods]

Update on our girl ( she is 4 mos old, a cochin/RIR mix).... She had the cortisone shot from the vet the other day. ( We have decided to keep her with the other girls because they are so good to her and she follows and tries to do what they do) The next day she was still pretty wobbly and her one eye was still closed. Day two her eye opened and the wing less droopy but she still wobbled around and layed around most of the day. Day three I started feeding her Hemp hearts, chia seeds and flax seeds along with Kicken Chicken over her feed which she gets in the morning. She's eating, drinking and pooping normally. She gets a varied diet of greens, fresh fruit, scratch, meal worms, and BOSS daily as a treat. Yesterday she had a seizure in the run area which I caught shortly after she had it. I righted her and she got right to her business of eating and drinking with the other girls. Today she actually walked out of the coop on the ramp (with supervision) and spent the day with the other girls all huddled under the coop with an occasional run out to the run in the rain. Today she was very alert and even walked up the ramp on her own with a little gimp. She made it into the coop and up on the roost shelf to huddle and sleep with the others. (She does not roost on the bar and prefers the shelf) I'm crossing my fingers she gets better with the added nutrition she is being fed. Seizures is a scary thing and I'm reading non stop about everything I can possibly do for her. I will continue the Hemp, Chia and Flax seeds daily.
My biggest fear is to find her dead in the coop in the morning when I open it up before I go to work. This girl is such a sweetheart and loves all the attention she can get.

 

[Eggcessive]

Chickens occasionally have seizures, but I have never heard that they can be a symptom of Mareks disease. It could be some sort of brain affliction. She sounds like she is really well thought of, and I'm glad that she is back with her friends in the coop.

 

[Wonky Woods]

Today was not a good day for our girl.. Let her out into the run this morning with the other girls. It was a much cooler day and the run was wet from yesterdays rain. When I got home from work today her legs where spread out under her. I stood her up and she immediately dove in for there afternoon treat of fruit, veggie scrap and feed. Shortly after eating she had a seizure which I was able to control once I picked her up. Her feet are just not cooperating today. She feels nice and warm when I picked her up.. Around 3:30 I feed the girls a nice treat of BOSS, scratch, feed pellets, meal worms, chia seeds, hemp and flax seeds before bedtime. 4:30 to 4:45 the girls head off to the coop for the night. I was getting ready for my company christmas party so didn't go down to the girls til almost 4:50 . The other girls had already gone into the coop and I found my sick girl in the run on her side having a seizure just below the ramp to the coop. I scooped her up and she immediately calmed down. I carried her into the coop and placed her on the roost shelf. She seemed relieved to be going to bed and with the other girls. 9:47 and just checked on my girl and she is roosting with the other girls and ok.I'm thinking I'm gonna have to bring her inside when it's too cold out for her and keep her dry and warm.