Chicken limping

[Oolala]

My Sussex Daisy has been limping now for a couple of months or more, I have been to the vet with her, he couldn't find any obvious injury although she did have bumblefoot (which I diagnosed, he had no idea) so following advice from here I got the infection out, I also give her a foot bath every week and clean out the dirt from the pockets where the bumble foot was which she quite enjoys, she weighs 3kg, she doesn't pull her leg away from me when I inspect it but she is still limping, if she tries to stand on it to scratch with her other leg she collapses. I have lowered her bedding area so she can get up and down easily, she never roosts so I just wonder if she injured it one time and it is something she will have to live with. She is coming up to 2 years old. She has also had a bare bottom for nearly three months.

 

[azygous]

Trying to diagnose lameness in chickens is nearly futile. I've had this problem in my flock from time to time over twelve years, including at present, and have never been able to come up with a single concrete reason for it.

The reason for this failure is that there are so many different causes of lameness. Temporary injury, leg mites, bumblefoot, viruses, petroleum distillate exposure, infection, to name a few.

The hen I have right now that is lame is ten years old and she can still hobble around and even still leap up to her roost, but it requires a lot of effort. I often help her. But I have never been able to figure out what is causing her lameness or have been able to make it better with vitamins. But you could try this treatment and see if it will work for your hen.

Give her a capsule of vitamin E 400iu each day with a sliver of selenium (25mcg) plus a tablet of B complex. Do this for a few weeks and see if it improves her leg strength.

 

[Eggcessive]

Selenium is alo found in cooked egg, sunflower seeds, and tuna. Only a small amount is needed to help with the vitamin E utilization. B complex which contain all B vitamins is a very good product for chickens, and human vitamin b complex is used. Her bare bottom may be from feather picking, which sometimes happens to lower pecking order birds. I have had a couple of birds with leg or foot injuries who limped for 6 months to several years. Some recover, while some don’t.

 

[Oolala]

Trying to diagnose lameness in chickens is nearly futile. I've had this problem in my flock from time to time over twelve years, including at present, and have never been able to come up with a single concrete reason for it.

The reason for this failure is that there are so many different causes of lameness. Temporary injury, leg mites, bumblefoot, viruses, petroleum distillate exposure, infection, to name a few.

The hen I have right now that is lame is ten years old and she can still hobble around and even still leap up to her roost, but it requires a lot of effort. I often help her. But I have never been able to figure out what is causing her lameness or have been able to make it better with vitamins. But you could try this treatment and see if it will work for your hen.

Give her a capsule of vitamin E 400iu each day with a sliver of selenium (25mcg) plus a tablet of B complex. Do this for a few weeks and see if it improves her leg strength.

Thank you, I am glad I am not on my own as I have tried everything, even bandaging up the leg for more support, some days she doesn't seem so bad but after a day of following the other little busy bodies she does look exhausted especially when its probably the hundreth time of circling a half acre garden. I will try your suggestion but what is selenium and how do I give her all this, putting things down her throat is not easy and she knows when I hide things in treats for her, she does love her weetabix yogurt mix breakfast though

 

[azygous]

Selenium is a mineral supplement, a pill. I break a tablet into quarters. It doesn't take much. I give all pills by prying open the beak and slipping the pills right into the mouth on the tongue. The chicken will automatically swallow when you close the beak. You can find all these supplements in the pharmacy where they shelve the vitamins for people. They work on animals too.

 

[Oolala]

Selenium is a mineral supplement, a pill. I break a tablet into quarters. It doesn't take much. I give all pills by prying open the beak and slipping the pills right into the mouth on the tongue. The chicken will automatically swallow when you close the beak. You can find all these supplements in the pharmacy where they shelve the vitamins for people. They work on animals too.

Thank you, I will try this