Hi I am new to this but I was hoping someone could help me. I was given a Rhode island red hen that my daughter in law picked up off the middle of the road. She seemed OK except she could not walk and her feathers where falling out. I recently had another Rhode island red that could not walk and I fixed her with some vitamins and TLC which is why my daughter in law bought her to me. I have fed her laying mash, weet-bix with yoghurt, vitamins and small amounts of kitchen scraps. She eats and drinks fine and she does not have diarrhea. Her poos have been black in colour with a small amount of white. Not runny, but not solidish either. She has been wormed and she also had mites which I have treated also. I take her out of her pen and put her out on the grass every afternoon for a couple of hours. She cant walk and just shuffles herself backwards. I have gotten her to where she is standing, although she still keeps her chest low to the ground. When I look at her feet she is often standing with one foot on the other. Her left leg seems fine but her right leg appears to be sore to touch because if I touch it she gets upset and flaps and wings and tries to get away. Also on her right leg she has 3 orange/yellow coloured lumps. They are not overly large, about half a pea size, that's the biggest one. I have searched all over and cannot find anything about orange coloured lumps. I thought she may have scaly leg mites but it looks nothing like the pictures. She does not have bumble foot either. So if anyone had any ideas I would be really grateful as I would like to save her and not have to put her down.
It's nice that you rescued this chicken, but she could have something contagious to your other chickens, so I would keep her separated from others for a month or more. Mareks disease or mycoplasma synovitis (MS) are 2 diseases that could make her lame. Feather loss can be due to stress of not having food or water, molting, or from a disease called botulism which causes paralysis and comes from eating decayed animal or plant remains. Mareks disease can cause tumors inside and outside the body. MS can be treated with antibiotics such as Tylan (tylosin,) or chlortetracycline. Another possiblity is that she has a leg deformity or leg injury which may be why she was dumped by her previous owner. Here are some articles to read on the diseases mentioned: http://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource000791_Rep813.pdf https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/99/mycoplasma-synoviae-infection-ms-infectious-synovitis http://www.thepoultrysite.com/diseaseinfo/19/botulism
That doesn't sound like Mareks, at least not the kind I have seen. They usually lose control of one leg and then end up paralyzed. Feeling pain in the leg is different. Since she was on the road and in bad shape I would think it could be an injury. Sounds like she was not taken care of and is just in overall bad shape and weak. Maybe some TLC, rest, and good nutrition is all she needs. Might want to give her some animal protein too (eggs or meat scraps).
Thanks for the help. I am pretty sure she is too old for mareks and I have also been giving her some scrambled eggs and some tuna about once a week as well as fruit, which she does eat but mainly sticks to the layer pellets. I am guessing that is what she was used to. I am thinking that her leg is injured but I just don't know how and I am still unsure of what the lumps could be. I picked her up today to put her out on the grass and I must have gotten her legs as well and she went crazy, flapping her wings and wriggling around so I had to move my hand off her legs to get her to settle. I have also kept her apart from the others but they go near her anyway so I am guessing that if they were going to get sick they would have by now. I have had her for about 3 weeks now. Also her comb had black spots on it like mould but that has now gone but it looks like it is coated with a fine white powder. But I will keep up the TLC for a while longer and see how she goes. She is improving but I guess it is going to be a slow process. Thanks again.
With pain when you touch her leg, maybe look for a break? Maybe you can narrow down exactly where it hurts?
Its really hard to look at her legs as she is often leaning forward with her butt in the air so I can't really get a good look at her legs and how she was standing but I did have a look as she was standing just before reasonable straight and I am now thinking its the left leg not the right one. She has all her weight on her right one and the left one she keeps lifting off the ground and then putting it on top of the other foot. One of her toes looks crooked so maybe she does have a break there. Its not at such an angle to be obvious but it is definitely not straight. I ran my hand up her leg and when I got near the top just under her feathers she seemed to be uncomfortable but I am not sure if that was because she just didn't like it or it was sore. She did not make any sound that would indicate pain when I touch it. As I said earlier about when I picked her up and accidently got her leg, she was crazy. So maybe she just has a broken toe and its painful to stand on. Will see how she goes. She is moving around a lot more. I put her out on the grass and before she would still be there but now she has moved to somewhere else. So hopefully she is on the mend and its nothing too serious. I have a feeling that even if she comes good she will be like my other red one and just be a pet, no egg laying, but never mind as long as she is happy and healthy. I can always buy eggs.