help! limping chicken/ can't use one leg

[applethechicken]

Hi! I have an almost 6 month old (not laying yet) Rhode Island Red that has been limping for the past week. It started as a small wobble, but now she doesn't use her left leg at all. Her other leg and wings are all fine, just her left leg. Also, her toes are not curled, but they're not in their normal position.

I attached a few pictures and here's a video:

She is vaccinated against marek's, and the 4 other chickens with her are fine. She doesn't seem to have any mites/ lice, internal diseases, or bumble foot, but I'm still keeping an eye on them. When she was a baby, she did walk a little bit weirdly, like there was a wobble, but it went away. She also jumps off roosting bars with a lot of effort, so she may have injured her leg? I don't think her leg is paralyzed because when I touch her feet she feels it. She still tries to scratch her face with her left feet. She's also still preening. She eats an organic starter/grower feed along with bugs, grains, and vegetables/ herbs from my garden. She still eats and drinks normally, but gets tired very easily and has to sit down and nap every 15 minutes or so for a few minutes.

I separated her from the other chickens in their run because she would get trampled over otherwise, but I let her out when I can watch over them and also take her into my garden to feed her steamed eggs.

How do I help her get better, and is this an injury or a disease?? nutritional deficiency?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

She eats an organic starter/grower feed along with bugs, grains, and vegetables/ herbs from my garden. She still eats and drinks normally, but gets tired very easily and has to sit down and nap every 15 minutes or so for a few minutes.

I would focus on her eating her normal feed of starter grower, cut out the other things.
Give her 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily along with 400IU Vitamin E. Give her 1 egg daily to help with the uptake of E.

Hard to tell if it's injury, developmental, neurological and/or symptoms of Marek's. The balance issue and crossing of the leg is concerning.

Try the vitamin therapy to see if that helps. She's quite pale, so getting a fecal float to see if parasites and/or Coccidiosis are a contributor would be a good idea.

If you lose her, getting a necropsy through your state lab will give you some answers.

 

[applethechicken]

I would focus on her eating her normal feed of starter grower, cut out the other things.
Give her 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily along with 400IU Vitamin E. Give her 1 egg daily to help with the uptake of E.

Hard to tell if it's injury, developmental, neurological and/or symptoms of Marek's. The balance issue and crossing of the leg is concerning.

Try the vitamin therapy to see if that helps. She's quite pale, so getting a fecal float to see if parasites and/or Coccidiosis are a contributor would be a good idea.

If you lose her, getting a necropsy through your state lab will give you some answers.

thanks for the advice. I've limited her food to only the pellets, and I'll try those suggestions.

 

[vrollo81]

I would focus on her eating her normal feed of starter grower, cut out the other things.
Give her 1/4 tablet B-Complex daily along with 400IU Vitamin E. Give her 1 egg daily to help with the uptake of E.

Hard to tell if it's injury, developmental, neurological and/or symptoms of Marek's. The balance issue and crossing of the leg is concerning.

Try the vitamin therapy to see if that helps. She's quite pale, so getting a fecal float to see if parasites and/or Coccidiosis are a contributor would be a good idea.

If you lose her, getting a necropsy through your state lab will give you some answers.

How do you get the necropsy done?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Each state has one or more labs depending on where you live. You don't have your location in your profile, but you can look up your lab in the link below.
It's always a good idea to call your lab to get more details on how to fill out forms, send a carcass in and what fees (if any) are.
If your hen has died, then you will want to wrap in plastic and refrigerate the body to keep it cool until you send it in.
https://www.metzerfarms.com/poultry-labs.html

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Hi! I have an almost 6 month old (not laying yet) Rhode Island Red that has been limping for the past week. It started as a small wobble, but now she doesn't use her left leg at all. Her other leg and wings are all fine, just her left leg. Also, her toes are not curled, but they're not in their normal position.

I attached a few pictures and here's a video:

She is vaccinated against marek's, and the 4 other chickens with her are fine. She doesn't seem to have any mites/ lice, internal diseases, or bumble foot, but I'm still keeping an eye on them. When she was a baby, she did walk a little bit weirdly, like there was a wobble, but it went away. She also jumps off roosting bars with a lot of effort, so she may have injured her leg? I don't think her leg is paralyzed because when I touch her feet she feels it. She still tries to scratch her face with her left feet. She's also still preening. She eats an organic starter/grower feed along with bugs, grains, and vegetables/ herbs from my garden. She still eats and drinks normally, but gets tired very easily and has to sit down and nap every 15 minutes or so for a few minutes.

I separated her from the other chickens in their run because she would get trampled over otherwise, but I let her out when I can watch over them and also take her into my garden to feed her steamed eggs.

How do I help her get better, and is this an injury or a disease?? nutritional deficiency?

Just like when a human has an injury, the best thing is to rest the troubled area. I had 2 hens who had injured legs. I realized it was their roost set up. I put a dog crate in the run and kept injured chicken in there. The goal was to rest the leg. She didnt know that and If she stayed with the others, she was overusing the leg that needed rest. Both hens recovered. I offered extra protein (scrambled eggs/fish). Good luck. These fluffy butts can be quit resilient

 

[Basia St Clair]

Hey @applethechicken ,
Can you provide an update?
I have a chicken showing similar symptoms. Thinking it may be Marek's disease, but hoping its a leg injury. My 24 week old pullet started limping about a day after a hawk attack on the another chicken. I did not witness the attack so believes its possible this chicken was injured during the hawk invasion of the run. I've heard Marek's can present itsself after stress. Currenlty treating with B and E vitamins.

 

[applethechicken]

Hey @applethechicken ,
Can you provide an update?
I have a chicken showing similar symptoms. Thinking it may be Marek's disease, but hoping its a leg injury. My 24 week old pullet started limping about a day after a hawk attack on the another chicken. I did not witness the attack so believes its possible this chicken was injured during the hawk invasion of the run. I've heard Marek's can present itsself after stress. Currenlty treating with B and E vitamins.

Hi, sorry to hear about that with your chicken. Unfortunately, Apple didn't make it. It just gradually got worse and worse over the course of a month. In that post, she could hop on one leg, but soon after she couldn't use that leg either, and it got to a point where she couldn't even sit. She just laid on her side wither her legs out to the side, and she couldn't eat or drink on her own. And she kept squawking/ screaming, flapping in circles, and breathing with her mouth open in the end because she was on her side.

I tried rooster booster, but didn't help and also stopped because it was very high in iron, which isn't good for them. I then switched to a vita b complex + e, which also didn't seem to help her. I don't think that was the problem for her. She had a wobble with her walk ever since she a chick. I didn't get a necropsy.

I also made her a wheelchair (and a box), and she liked it, except she refused to poop in it so I had to take her out every 30 minutes. And she didn't move her feet to walk in the wheelchair, she just liked resting in it.

Sorry for the sad story. If its an option, get her tested to see it if is Mareks. Or see if there's anything swollen or bruised on her leg, feel for broken bones, or see if her nerves are still alive on her toes. (I've read that curled up toes means the nerves are dying, but don't quote me on that.) Or feel around her leg and see if she feels pain anywhere. Don't let her use the other leg too much, since she might overuse and injure that one, so limit her activity space.

If you have any other questions, I can try to help, but since my story isn't successful, I have limited knowledge.

Praying for a full recovery for your chicken.

 

[Basia St Clair]

Hi, sorry to hear about that with your chicken. Unfortunately, Apple didn't make it. It just gradually got worse and worse over the course of a month. In that post, she could hop on one leg, but soon after she couldn't use that leg either, and it got to a point where she couldn't even sit. She just laid on her side wither her legs out to the side, and she couldn't eat or drink on her own. And she kept squawking/ screaming, flapping in circles, and breathing with her mouth open in the end because she was on her side.

I tried rooster booster, but didn't help and also stopped because it was very high in iron, which isn't good for them. I then switched to a vita b complex + e, which also didn't seem to help her. I don't think that was the problem for her. She had a wobble with her walk ever since she a chick. I didn't get a necropsy.

I also made her a wheelchair (and a box), and she liked it, except she refused to poop in it so I had to take her out every 30 minutes. And she didn't move her feet to walk in the wheelchair, she just liked resting in it.

Sorry for the sad story. If its an option, get her tested to see it if is Mareks. Or see if there's anything swollen or bruised on her leg, feel for broken bones, or see if her nerves are still alive on her toes. (I've read that curled up toes means the nerves are dying, but don't quote me on that.) Or feel around her leg and see if she feels pain anywhere. Don't let her use the other leg too much, since she might overuse and injure that one, so limit her activity space.

If you have any other questions, I can try to help, but since my story isn't successful, I have limited knowledge.

Praying for a full recovery for your chicken.

Thank you so much for the additional information. I am so sorry for your lose. Every one of my chickens is "my baby" and a lose is always hard.
Miracles condition has not changed much since Friday. Sometimes i think i see great improvement, only for her to lapse back into the wobble/limp.

I feeding her B vitamins and Vitamin E on a daily basis. We will be visiting the Vet this week to rule out anything obvious that the Vet sees and I missed. Its been 10 days since the hawk attack. I think I expected her to be on the mend more quickly. It is, however, almost impossible to get her to be still. She can still walk around pretty quickly but then stops for many rests. Maybe she is healing slowly because she is doing too much activity. I tried a crate but she would not have it. In the bigger run she still moves a lot.

I keep hoping against hope (i think) that its not Marek's and she rebounds. Time will tell

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Thank you so much for the additional information. I am so sorry for your lose. Every one of my chickens is "my baby" and a lose is always hard.
Miracles condition has not changed much since Friday. Sometimes i think i see great improvement, only for her to lapse back into the wobble/limp.

I feeding her B vitamins and Vitamin E on a daily basis. We will be visiting the Vet this week to rule out anything obvious that the Vet sees and I missed. Its been 10 days since the hawk attack. I think I expected her to be on the mend more quickly. It is, however, almost impossible to get her to be still. She can still walk around pretty quickly but then stops for many rests. Maybe she is healing slowly because she is doing too much activity. I tried a crate but she would not have it. In the bigger run she still moves a lot.

I keep hoping against hope (i think) that its not Marek's and she rebounds. Time will tell

She needs to rest the leg and shouldnt use it, but probably cant help trying and will do further damage?. I put a dog crate in the middle of the run and she stayed there all day and that was better than out with the flock. She clearly was resting more in the crate. If i let her out her she was compelled to keep up with the flock causing possible further injury. All we can do is try out best and keep learning. Good luck. Im so sorry. Its stressful. Your chickens name is Miracle? Thats cute. How did she get that name? I have a chicken named Patient.