Chicken suddenly can put weight on right leg, won’t return to usual position.

[Daniel aylwin]

Hi, we live in Yorkshire England and have 7 ex commercial layer chickens. 3 of which are coming up to 4 years old. Our head chicken yesterday afternoon became very lame on her right side. Comb nice and red still eating and drinking as much as normal, pooing as per usual. She’s the largest girl we have and rules the roost so concerning she has suddenly taken a turn for the worse. We have separated her into a dog crate in the shed we keep all the girls in, given her a warm bath. Hoping she may have sprained something, but can’t put weight on her legs and stand up currently. Any ideas of anything else we can do or give her would be great. Due to the current climate our vets are shut locally and we’re slightly at a loss of what to do. Thanks in advance. Daniel and Vickie. Yorkshire, England

 

[Eggcessive]

Does she hold the leg up or try to put weight on it? Videos can sometimes help, and those have to be uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo with a link here. Mareks disease is way down the list as a possibility, but first I would rule out an injury or a vitamin deficiency. Look for any swelling, redness, or green bruising over the entire leg.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Welcome To BYC

Sorry about your hen.
Does she still lay eggs?
Feel inside the vent to see if there's an egg. Feel her abdomen for bloat/swelling or fluid.
Can she poop - what's that like?

Any joint swelling?
How long have you had them?
Did you have other chickens before you got these?

7 ex commercial layer chickens. 3 of which are coming up to 4 years old

became very lame on her right side