Desperately seeking help, my favorite hen's legs are paralyzed

[welasharon]

  When I read of someone having this problem, I always want to jump in and tell my story. I had a chicken doing what yours is doing...couldn't use her legs.  I went to the store and got a bottle of B12 complex capsules.  I put her in a cage by herself (still outside) and opened the capsules and put the powder in and on everything that went into her mouth...all water, all food.  I paid no attention to how much she was getting...I just made sure she had it all the time.
  In about 2 weeks, she suddenly started standing.  Wobbly at first, and I kept her in the cage for another 3 days or so.  Then put her out with the others.  Of course they pecked at her, and she did fight back.  Soon they ignored her, and now she has the biggest and strongest legs of any chicken I have.  Also she started crowing and I had to rename her...from Barbara to Bob.
    He has developed pads on the bottom of his feet..with dark places in the center.  Doesn't look like infection, and it doesn't seem to bother him, but I'm so afraid it is bumblefoot.  He is too big for me to handle by myself, so I'm just ignoring it and what?  Hope it goes away?   I guess I have to face it one of these days.
    Try the B12 complex capsules.  It can't hurt, and might work like it did for me.
     Good luck!

Bumble foot can eventually kill them from the infection spreading into the bones. Catch him at night to treat him...the sooner the better. The longer you let it go the harder it is to get rid of.

 

[seminolewind]

I purchased her and her sister from a farm nearby that sells chickens for food. When I got her she was about two months shy of paying her first egg. Is there anything that I can do if it is Marecks?

I hope trying vitamins helps your hen out. If she's a meat bird, is she too heavy to stand on her legs? That's how meat birds can get.

I have a bunch of Marek's articles at the bottom of my page, it will tell you everything you want to know. If it's Marek's there's nothing you can do, it will just run it's course, and may affect the other hen as well. But I think you should try other reasons first before hand.

 

[nmoo]

Thank you all so much for the awesome advice and the support. The day before yesterday she was doing so much better. She was trying to sit up and didn't look as frail. I was really thinking that she was gettin better. Unfortunately, I found her dead today. By the looks of things she either passed away because of her ailment or she fell asleep with her neck resting on the ground and somehow that cut off her air supply. Because she was still kinda weak, she had been sleeping with her head on the ground. Either way, her eyes were closed and it looked like she went peacefully. I'm turning all my attention now to the chicken I have left. Even though I quarantined my sick girl, I'm gonna watch the other and pray she doesn't fall I'll aswell. Thanks again folks. - Nick

 

[nmoo]

Seminole, I'm thinking it was mareck's. Being as the farm I got them from kept them as meat birds and slaughtered them pretty young, I don't think they kept up with vaccinating their birds. I'm having a bad week with my pets. My favorite hen passed on and the out of the 5 eggs I set, from mypetchicken.com, none seemed to develop. I had a whole set of dud eggs. Anyway, I'm sure my luck'll turn around soon

 

[soler]

I am so sorry to hear

Maybe you could send the body in for a necropsy so you know what you are dealing with for sure?

 

[NovaAman]

Sorry your hen died... What kind was it? That may be a bit of help in determining why what happened did...

 

[seminolewind]

Nmoo, sorry your hen died. It's really awful that you only had 2 hens and had to be exposed to all this. It would not be unusual for your other hen to survive. If you want some Jersey Giant eggs or Polish eggs, let me know. For shipping price only. No charge for the eggs. And they would be from exposed hens-meaning that the chicks will be born with Marek's resistance already , not Marek's.

 

[nmoo]

Thank you again for all the warm correspondents. I put her to rest in an avocado grove next to the house. It seems like a peaceful spot to rest. The other hen seems to be doing ok. She's always been a little kooky and eccentric. It's cute, she rolls around in the dirt everyday, and when I go to feed her the dirt makes her eyes look like she's wearing a zoro mask. Since she's a lone ranger, I've been leaving my great Dane outside everyday so the hen has company.
In regards to the type of chicken, I'm not really sure. She's got white feathers with little black spots all over her back. Since I purchased them from a farm that uses the chickens for food, he really wasn't able to give me much info besides " They lay eggs, but I use them for the meat." the eggs are brown with little brown spots. Speaking of eggs, Seminole, I'd really like to take you up on your offer. I really was excited to hatch baby chicks. And with your offer I'd probably be able to start building a new flock. Thanks again for the support and Seminole, I'll send you a message. Hopefully the next time everyone hears from me I'll be hatching new chicks.

 

[leadwolf1]

I'm so sorry for your loss

 

[finkies1]

Hi -it's ironic but I'm having the same issue with paralys of one of my Gold Pencilled Wyandottes. She had been sitting for a few weeks, and she hatched out a couple of chickens, but the chickens kept dying beside the nest which was very very strange, so when the next ones hatched I took them and put them under a heat lamp - all survived, the hen however, kept sitting on the eggs, it was obvious they weren't fertile and so I went out to remove her and there she was laying on her side with her legs paralysed in the chicken coop, she appears to be perfectly healty otherwise and is now locked up isolated with food and water, she eats and drinks llike normal and everything else appears to be normal except her legs, like yours she is using her wings to move around. I'm going to try the vitamin B12 like suggested and see how she goes, any help anyone can offer would be much apprciated with this issue, cheers Trish