Chicken cannot walk! please help :(

[peeppeepbokbok]

My chicken is a 1.5 year old industrial meat hen. i know what you're thinking, they are supposed to die young but please dont make a judgement based on that, she is very strong.

she's lived through a fox attack which removed half of the skin off her back, and had accumulated a limp from what i thought was that incident. Today, she was walking fine, and running to me like she normally does, and she fell over. She cannot stand up, and her right leg is completely limp. I dont know what to do. shes freaking out that she cant stand up, but i have her in a cage and she hasnt lost her appetite.

please, I really need help. the vets are closed until the morning and i dont know what to do.

 

[Kim65]

Those industrial meat chickens get so heavy . . . she could have broken or strained her leg just running for you. Their bones aren't meant to function well with all the mutant muscle/meat on them

My BIL has a giant operation, grows them for Draper Valley. They are seven pounds at 54 days old!

It could be that she just strained it and you have already done the right thing. Bring her in, keep her warm to prevent/decrease shock. Give her warm water with molasses or a bit of sugar dissolved in it for energy. Give her a baby aspirin. I would take a baby aspirin in the very front of my mouth, let it melt and quickly suck it out with a little syringe so it was liquified. Then once a day I gave it to my chicken who is still recuperating from losing the skin from her entire back. It gave her peace from the pain.

Good luck, hope you can get her into the vet asap. Why do they get sick or hurt on the weekends???? But they always do.

 

[peeppeepbokbok]

Thankyou for your reply. She is actually is the lightest of my two meaties and dosent appear to be in any pain if i rotate the leg.
i think she might have Marek's so i'm really worried. I dont want them to put her down, as she has been through so much and has come close to dieing 8 times.

everyone says she has 9 lives. I dont want this to be her last time, she is so happy and wonderful and it would be so tragic to loose her.
I'm going to take her in the morning and hopefully he wont tell me to 'put her to sleep'.

thankyou so much for your help, she has water with some sugar and is eating well and talking to everyone when they walk past the laundry.