Haven't Needed Help In Awhile - Baffled Over Hen

[Reyvaughn]

I read on down about another hen with these same symptoms with no clear answers.

Bridgette - 1.5yr old bantam Cochin hen.

On Saturday I noticed Bridgette was laying under the coop ramp and she looked dead at first. When I looked in, she moved, gave me half a stink eye and I thought she was just dust bathing. My son came in 30 minutes later saying she wasn't walking like the others. I told him to go get her, I'd set up the carrier in the house, knowing now she wasn't just dust bathing earlier.

She was 'crawling' using her wings to support herself until she could get on her feet and then she could walk normally. I kept her inside anyways. I gave her scrambled eggs and Poly-Vil-Sol along with her normal 16% protein grower feed and water. She's eating and drinking normally. Her poo is brown/green and grainy w/ normal firmness/urates. Her color is great and I checked for lice and mites - she's clean. She laid an egg on Saturday and Sunday and none since. She is low on weight with loss of breast mass.

Yesterday my hen stopped walking all together. She uses her beak and wings to crawl around. Her feet & toes are curled up under her. The other 3 she was in with are all perfectly fine.

Bridgette pretty important part of my MFC breeding project.
Is there anything I can do for her? Anyone know what the heck this is and know if I can treat her successfully?

 

[TeamChaos]

I definitely agree w/ you starting her on vitamins- it can take a little while to correct a deficiency so I wouldn't stop the vitamins. Can you stand her on her legs and uncurl her feet? I'd do it several times a day as physical therapy while you give supportive care. I'm assuming you've checked her range of motion and that she has no obvious injuries to her legs or hip joints. Do you have a rooster who could have injured her while trying to mate? Have you checked her little chicken ears to make sure she doesn't have an abscess or injury that might be throwing her balance off neurologically? Hmmmm....

 

[Reyvaughn]

I didn't check her ears except for ear mites. While she was able to walk, I'd get her out and stand her up and she'd walk around for a bit and then squat down and would fight to get back up. Now she just squats. There are no injuries. She is getting a bit nasty from crawling through her poo, so I want to give her a bath. Maybe the warm water will help with circulation. My rooster is another bantam Cochin and he's nasty to humans, but very nice to his girls. I don't hink he hurt her, but who knows. I didn't see anything - not even missing feathers form normal mating.