Cochin Hen With Injured Leg - What To Do ?

[mrszlopez]

I got two cochins - a boy & a girl, last week. They are both about 10 weeks old. We have had them in our spare room (the baby chick room) seperated from the flock until we are sure they are okay to add. They are pretty small & fit spaciously in a medium/large dog crate with their Silkie Rooster buddy. I noticed when i first brought them home that the female was walking a little funny. Being a first time cochin owner, i figured she was walking like that because of her very very long feet feathers. It has been the same way up until today. When i let them out of the crate to take them outside to run around & scratch a little, i noticed she refused to come out of the crate & just layed there. I picked her up & tried to influence her out of the crate. After i saw her walkng, i realized her leg (seems to be her right one) has something severely wrong with it. It is turned/rotated twords the right. She has lots of trouble moving around & i seperated her from the two roosters. I also realized that her crop was empty. Which is not normal to me. But it is okay now, as she is eating & drinking. I just want to know what i should do about it. Or if theres anything i CAN do. I tried to put a bit of pressure on her leg to see if she was in pain, but she didnt show any discomfort. Please, Can someone lead me in the right direction ?? Soon !?

 

[mrszlopez]

nothing ?!

 

[mrszlopez]

Please someone give me something.. its getting worse.

 

[mrszlopez]

great..

 

[keljonma]

If you have one female with two boys, they could have injured her. Or she could have been born with a leg deformity. That is why I think it is important to handle chicks daily so you can tell how they are doing.

Does she seem to be in pain? Is she limping? Does anything feel broken? Is she bleeding?

When you say her pouch is empty - do you mean her crop? If her crop is empty, she has not eaten for a while - maybe 12 hours.

Some might suggest you cull the bird, but that depends on why you got the birds in the first place.

Isolate her in a draft free area where you can keep an eye on her. Give her some water and feed. See if you can get her to take some Polyvisol (without iron) by putting it in an eye dropper along the side of her beak. IMO you are going to need to spend some time with her, talk to her, observe her behavior and determine what her health state really is.

If you don't get her to eat and drink, she won't make it.

 

[mrszlopez]

She is eating & drinking. She isnt bleeding & i cannot feel anything broken. I gave her a tomatoe & she is picking at it & standing up but she just doesnt look right to me. Her one side is kind of flat looking. I thought maybe she had a stroke or something. Shes starting to look almost puffed up. & yes i did mean her crop. she is definately eating & drinking now.

 

[keljonma]

When you examined her, did both legs look the same or does one look deformed? Also how did the bottom of both feet look? Clean or dirty? Smooth or blistered?

It could be she was born with a twisted leg or injured.

If she's eating anything except commercial feed, make sure she has grit. I would still try to give her some vitamins/electrolytes, especially if she isn't eating regularly. Don't give her sugar water, as that can cause diarrhea, especially if you are feeding her the veggies/fruits.

Keep watching her and let us know what you see....

 

[chick_love99]

if it gets worse take her to a doctor. Poor girl. do all the things suggested before taking her to a doctor. try soothing it with ice.

hope she gets better soon.

P.S. you can NOT have more than one rooster with in one flock (especially if cooped). It goes completely against the nature of chickens.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Sounds like you did the right thing in quarantining her...sounds a bit like Marek's to me...

 

[ajablu]

I was going to suggest mareks too. Coccidiosis can make them go down too but they have bloody poop and with coccidiosis they usually are weak on both legs instead of one. Is she dropping her wing on one side? If its one sided its usually mareks. Mareks paralyzes and does look like a stroke.