Chicken With Limp

puirasville

In the Brooder
5 Years
Aug 6, 2014
23
3
24
Hi there!
We brought home our month-old chicks in August and our little Peggy had a limp when we got her home. I am not sure if she slipped in her box on the way home in the car, or what happened. It slowed her down and she had trouble walking around for a few days when we first got her, but in a couple days she eventually seemed to be not too bad. She's now full grown and is over 5 months old. We have noticed that she is the slowest of the flock and walks with a subtle limp (you wouldn't notice unless I pointed it out). In the really cold weather she seems stiff and limps more obviously than usual. When it comes to running, she flaps her wings to try and go faster to keep up with her sisters, and she's never been able to get up to the roost at night which I think is causing the other hens to stay down off the roost and cuddle with her in the wood shavings for warmth (it's well below freezing now) Overall though, she doesn't seem to be bothered or in pain and she isn't being picked on. She scratches and pecks around the yard with her sisters and besides being a bit smaller than the others, she appears healthy.. She's also laying fine from what I can tell. Should I just count it as an endearing quality or do you think I need to find some way to treat her limp?
 
When she stands, do her legs both look symmetrical and face forward? A picture may help. Have you noticed any swelling of the joints or any signs of bumblefoot (swelling, redness, or a dark spot on the footpad?) There are several types of leg bone deformities in chickens that may worsen with age and growth. There are also vitamin and mineral deficiencies that may have originated in the parent stock, or because of something lacking in the diet. I would suggest using a poultry vitamin with minerals in the feed, such as Poultry Booster by Rooster Booster, and make sure she gets her calcium in layer feed and crushed oyster shell. Here are some links to read (in the first link, click on pages to enlarge pictures):
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1790586/
http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/content/79/7/982.full.pdf
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/pou..._poultry/mineral_deficiencies_in_poultry.html
 
Thank you so much for your help. I have been keeping an eye on their feet and I don't think bumblefoot is the problem.. and it's not seeming to be a foot problem, as she stands and can side step/move around to peck at the ground quite comfortably. It's when she is traveling from one place to another and has to walk that she's limping.. I do notice that she steps on her own feet quite a bit.. So I will take your advice and grab some vitamin and mineral booster. :)
 

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