Finally taking my limping hen to an Avian specialist

[Country4ever]

I have a 10 and 1/2 year old easter-egger who hasn't been able to put any weight on her one leg. This happened 3 weeks ago. I've tried splinting various parts of her, given her antibiotics (her foot/ankle was swollen so I thought bumblefoot), changed her feed (to give her less calcium in case it was a kidney stone), etc., etc., etc. I'm crying Uncle. I'm taken her to an Avian specialist tomorrow.

I don't intend to put her through any surgery......but the vet may be able to figure out what's wrong and come up with some non-surgical suggestions. Also, the aspirin I'm giving her doesn't seem to help that much and it has to be hard on her GI tract.......so maybe a different pain med could be offered.

She's so old, but in good shape other than this bum leg. Hopefully, there will be something I can do to make her more comfortable, or be able to walk normally again.

Do you know.........do they have to sedate them to take xrays? I'm concerned about her age and how she might handle something like that. I think its her "knee"......so maybe the vet can just tell by feeling??

Wish me luck!

 

[Eggcessive]

In dealing with sprains in my chickens, I find it sometimes takes over a month to recover. Personally I wouldn't let them put her to sleep for an xray, but I would try splinting again, or just leave her in a small pen to rest.

 

[Country4ever]

Thanks Eggcessive.
She's been in a small crate for those 3 weeks. I'm hoping the vet can help me splint her in the right way.
This vet is a well-known Avian specialist.......so I'm hoping she won't do unnecessary things. I've been to her before for a couple chicken problems.
Thanks for your input.

 

[Country4ever]

Well, back from the Avian specialist and $330.00 dollars poorer. They needed to take 2 sets of xrays, since my hen was bigger than most of the smaller things they xray. The vet thought that it was a good possibility that her leg problem was from a kidney problem, so we had blood work done too. This was alot of money, but I've had this bird for over 10 years, and she is in pain and I thought it was something I could fix.....like a broken leg somewhere.

Turns out, the labs were normal. No breaks anywhere. What did show was a calcification on the end of her tendons, and also a possible mass in the area of the ovary that's on the side of the bad leg.
She has a bit of bumblefoot on the good foot..........no doubt in reaction to over-using it, when trying to not use her bad leg.
She has muscle atrophy on the bad leg.

So........they gave me a type of NSAID to give her and some pain med.
She said the foot was swollen, most likely from not draining properly.......maybe from the mass.
She said we couldn't know anymore without a scope. I'm not going to have a scope done.
At this point, I'm just hoping the pain meds work.

And for the first time ever...........I got to see the opening to the trachea. I asked if I could just put the med in her mouth, instead of down into her throat..........and they pulled the tongue back and showed me where the opening of the trachea was. I had no idea it was there! they showed me, so I would understand why its not good to just put it in the front of the mouth.

So..........that's what we found. If its a tumor, I'm not sure she'll be able to ever walk on that leg, but hopefully we can keep her pain down.
Sure wish I could make her some sort of prosthesis so she could still walk...............

 

[Eggcessive]

Thanks for the update. Too bad they weren't able to help her mend, but it seems like you learned a lot. I have read about people making body slings out of stretchy material or T-shirts and suspending the chicken in a laundry basket to stand. Wishing you good luck with her.