Curious as to why my new hen holds herself like this.....

[char259]

She is a rescue and I have her isolated... but I just couldn't leave her there! She holds her tail to the left constantly and maybe you can see how her toes are soooo long. She is... hesitant... in the pen, moving around very cautiously.



She appears to ok, but that tail worries me. Her name is Matilda.

Thanks.

 

[CMV]

I think if you do a full body exam you will find that the reason she holds herself that way is because she has a case of chicken scoliosis, which is an abnormal curvature of the spine. It happens sometimes. I am not sure if it is a hatch defect or a genetic defect. A bird with abnormal spinal curvatures have a greater chance of producing offspring with the same issues sometimes, so you should hesitate to use her as breed stock.

Her hesitation in moving around is likely because of the visual limitations placed on her by her pouffy head feathers. An elastic around the pouf should help her to navigate a little more surely.

Good luck.

 

[char259]

Thank you! I was wondering if it might be because she was kept in a small cage. I plan to take her to the vet on Saturday for a better evaluation. I will mention what you said. Her beak is too long and her toes look 'weird' (for lack of a better term). She will not be used for breeding purposes.

I just like a big variety of chickens in my coop.