Help! Hen limping

[Realtorphillips]

Hello everyone, I am new to having chickens and the ones we have we ordered from a hatchery in April. We didn’t know any better and they are not vaccinated One of our welsummers started a couple of weeks ago with a limp, and we thought it was just a sprain because she is otherwise seeming healthy. But she isn’t getting better, her eyes are really red and I’m almost positive they were more brown before this and now the feathers on her face are turning white. She is still laying daily, can see fine, seems to still have most of her appetite. She was always picked on by the other girls but even more so now. We have been to a vet with her who said injury or merricks disease, but her eye color isn’t gray and she does still use the leg, it isn’t paralyzed. She is on Metacam as of 3 days ago. Can anyone help with what could be causing this? We really want to help her but aren’t finding any answers!

 

[Ursuline Chick]

We had a girl with a limp that appeared all of a sudden. She was placed in the broody cage, where she could see everybody, but was safe and could rest her leg. After about 3 weeks my husband went out to let the other girls out and she was crying. So he let her out. She has been running with the other girls ever since, no more leg problems. so, IDK
Good luck

 

[Chickenman MAN]

We had a girl with a limp that appeared all of a sudden. She was placed in the broody cage, where she could see everybody, but was safe and could rest her leg. After about 3 weeks my husband went out to let the other girls out and she was crying. So he let her out. She has been running with the other girls ever since, no more leg problems. so, IDK
Good luck

If she is completely fine now then it was probably just superficial in terms of a wound...

 

[Ursuline Chick]

If she is completely fine now then it was probably just superficial in terms of a wound...

Yes I think she just sprained it. Is the Vet saying your girl has something serious or do you just not know?

 

[Realtorphillips]

The vet said it could be a sprain or merricks disease, but with the eye color not being gray and still having use of the leg, she doesn’t seemed convinced that’s what it is. She doesn’t seem very knowledgeable to be honest and isn’t able to answer most of our questions. But it is the only vet clinic around us that will see chickens.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

If you think if might not be Merricks, try letting her rest while still being able to see the flock, maybe she does just have a sprain.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

She is on Metacam as of 3 days ago. Can anyone help with what could be causing this? We really want to help her but aren’t finding any answers!

Hi there, welcome to BYC!

If the vet wasn't able to identify an injury via swelling, heat, or pain response.. The answer is likely Marek's. Not all birds will present with the same symptoms. Many folks are in denial about it happening to them. Here is the most valid information found..
Marek's Virus FAQ

There are a number of things can present similar to Marek's and laboratory testing may be the only way to discern the difference. For what it's worth.. there can appear to be a spontaneous recovery.. the bird is still carrying and shedding Marek's.. it just overcame the symptom of tumor pressing on the sciatic nerve.. Lots of birds survive Marek's. The later in life ones you gotta watch more for slow wasting or things like sour crop. The vaccine would ONLY be HIDING the symptoms IF that's indeed what this is. It doesn't stop birds from getting the Marek's or spreading it. Vaccinated birds not welcome here.. to allow the disease to spread undetected.

Has there been any improvement with the Metacam? Marek's does not cause pain. If it were an injury.. I would expect to see improvement with the metacam... smoother movement, etc.

Otherwise if it were an injury.. people don't often realize that pain and swelling IS the body's way of letting us know there is something wrong and slowing us down by limiting our movement and keeping us from us injuring ourselves further. Pain meds should be used only once the concern is identified accurately.

Sorry you face this.. It isn't as scary as is often let on.

What are you feeding including treats and supplements? I will have to look around for it, but I have seen feather color change being a symptom or result of something specific. Are you able to post photos?

Since she is still laying and active.. I would let her be.. If she gets's worse, consider sending her in for necropsy and confirmation or ruling out as they do microscopic testing. If you think it is Marek's and can't accept possible fall out in the future.. then be sure to only get vaccinated chicks and quarantine while it takes effect. Different strains have differing levels of mortality.

My maiden name was Phillips.

Hope your birds thrive!

 

[Realtorphillips]

Hi there, welcome to BYC!

If the vet wasn't able to identify an injury via swelling, heat, or pain response.. The answer is likely Marek's. Not all birds will present with the same symptoms. Many folks are in denial about it happening to them. Here is the most valid information found..
Marek's Virus FAQ

There are a number of things can present similar to Marek's and laboratory testing may be the only way to discern the difference. For what it's worth.. there can appear to be a spontaneous recovery.. the bird is still carrying and shedding Marek's.. it just overcame the symptom of tumor pressing on the sciatic nerve.. Lots of birds survive Marek's. The later in life ones you gotta watch more for slow wasting or things like sour crop. The vaccine would ONLY be HIDING the symptoms IF that's indeed what this is. It doesn't stop birds from getting the Marek's or spreading it. Vaccinated birds not welcome here.. to allow the disease to spread undetected.

Has there been any improvement with the Metacam? Marek's does not cause pain. If it were an injury.. I would expect to see improvement with the metacam... smoother movement, etc.

Otherwise if it were an injury.. people don't often realize that pain and swelling IS the body's way of letting us know there is something wrong and slowing us down by limiting our movement and keeping us from us injuring ourselves further. Pain meds should be used only once the concern is identified accurately.

Sorry you face this.. It isn't as scary as is often let on.

What are you feeding including treats and supplements? I will have to look around for it, but I have seen feather color change being a symptom or result of something specific. Are you able to post photos?

Since she is still laying and active.. I would let her be.. If she gets's worse, consider sending her in for necropsy and confirmation or ruling out as they do microscopic testing. If you think it is Marek's and can't accept possible fall out in the future.. then be sure to only get vaccinated chicks and quarantine while it takes effect. Different strains have differing levels of mortality.

My maiden name was Phillips.

Hope your birds thrive!

Thank You so much for this response! I will try and separate her from the flock and see if that helps, i was thinking of only keeping her on the metacam a week to see if it made any improvement. So far I haven’t see any. The vet said if it is merricks it would be too late to protect the rest of the flock, even though none of the rest are showing symptoms of anything. Do you find this to be true or should we take action with her in order to protect the others?

 

[Realtorphillips]

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far, I really am very grateful for any advice or insight. Out of our flock she is one of our sweetest ones and I am so sad to see her having problems.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

The vet said if it is merricks it would be too late to protect the rest of the flock, even though none of the rest are showing symptoms of anything. Do you find this to be true or should we take action with her in order to protect the others?

Yes, I find this to be true.. to a degree. It's true that they have already been exposed.. at LEAST 3 weeks before any symptoms presented so all have already been exposed.. IF it is Marek's related. So they may be showing more resistance.. there was one gene identified that does give resistance.

However a bird actively displaying symptoms is also actively shedding live virus in their dander.. which to me MIGHT mean more exposure.. or more invasion against others immune system.. verse removing the bird, stops shedding of MORE virus into the environment. I believe when they are in remission that the it's somehow not shedding AS much.. but then they are still contagious as far as I can tell.. so I may need to look into this a bit more..

I breed my birds, and taking action is the right choice for ME.. I cull immediately any bird displaying symptoms of Marek's without signs of injury. I have much invested in my flock and believe I'm breeding for resistance or at least selecting for it.

The fact that she's still laying means she isn't that stressed really. I cannot promise it's disease and hope that it isn't. If I was keeping a pet flock at only a few dollars per chick.. I'd likely do everything I could to support her own immune system.. If any separation is given make sure it's in sight of the flock for her protection. If she continues to decline, the flock may continue to try and make her leave.. weakness invites predation and parasites and nature (ie chicken flock pecking order antics) can be quite brutal sometimes.. So if it's not excessive brutality, I would let the flock continue.. and enjoy her lovely eggs! I would consider using a flock raiser or grower with oyster shell on the side for added nutrition (verses "layer") as the usual higher protein and amino acid content will support her dual purpose body a bit better, also putting more nutrient into the eggs your family eats ultimately. My older birds enter molt much stronger and return to lay sooner since making the switch.

A little bit of probiotic support never hurts, short term.. bacteria battle viruses. Supporting the bird immune system will help her fight it also. No supplement should be given more than 10 days in a row. A couple that I like.. are some of the Rooster Booster brand products.. (Poultry Cell or Poultry Booster products) OR Poultry Nutri- Drench would be my top choices. Sold at Amazon and TSC as well as many feed stores. If you have a human B complex on hand.. break it up into the feed or water for your whole flock.. it supports the immune system and cannot be overdosed.

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far, I really am very grateful for any advice or insight. Out of our flock she is one of our sweetest ones and I am so sad to see her having problems.

With this statement in mind.. doing everything you can to support her sounds like the right thing for YOUR flock! Protecting your heart is also key to being humane and protecting the rest of your flock by not changing the pecking order and not accidentally getting too hurt or despondent to the others... What it all for if we can't keep out favorites? and we're talking 5 weeks or more since exposure took place now..

That being said, more often than not.. things do hit our favorites first!

Did the vet say anything about metacam and egg withdrawal? I couldn't find anything that looked similar but maybe you will see something I didn't...
http://www.farad.org/publications/miscellaneous/LayingHensEggResidues.pdf

This one (two) indicates 8 days (minimum) egg withdrawal for Meloxicam, which I THINK is similar to Metacam..
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29698068/

https://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/ajvr.78.8.965?journalCode=ajvr

Hang in there! You have some tough personal choices to consider. It does sound like your vet is giving accurate information and not trying to test or treat for things that will just cost you without giving real results. It's kind of important to be able to trust your vet. And it's certainly true that not all are created equal, someone graduated at the bottom of the class, and they really don't all have the same thought or practice even with the same information. I haven't seen anything that throws red flags about who you're seeing AND I'm not the one to stay quite when I do.. despite being just an avid poultry fancier and not a licensed veterinarian, experience is mother of all teachers!

As your birds get older, Marek's is less likely to rear it's ugly head.. in those that were never symptomatic.

If you're like most folks.. now you've taken her to the vet, she's got a special place in the heart. And it is what it is, but NO giving up.