help! limping chicken/ can't use one leg

[Basia St Clair]

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.

Yes, her name is Miracle. She is a Miracle because she was the first chicken I ever had hatch from my Rooster, Cal, and my broody hen, Buff . Watching her hatch was a miracle

This morning she was hard to catch! Maybe night time rest helps? Anyway, I did finally put her in the crate in the run so she has limited movement. She also has her special food of scrambled egg, vitamin E and B-Complex.

I keep flip flopping from Marek's to injury. Here is the question: With Marek's can the bird show improvement throughout the day, and then relapse again? I ask because this morning she was running around more than usually, but then stopping and wobbling again. Last night, after her nightly feed, she feel over, put her wing out and just seemed unable to push herself back up. I am inclined to think that if a nights rest helps, its injury? Or is that wishful thinking?

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

I dunno, i thought the same when i had 2 hens get one single puffy around the eye areA. Both hens seemed fine and it only lasted a couple days but it had me thinking maybe mareks because of how quickly a seemingly remarkable symptom just went away on its own. I dont know enough at all. I just know that when my hens had bad leg, it was from naughty roost antics. I also know that when crated, they rested the leg and thats what needed to be done. In my head, i said, think of the hen as a child. She knows no better and wants to cluck around with the flock but needs to rest. Too much opportunity for an occurrence with the bum leg. The hens that got crated, each didnt seem to mind being crated either. They both rested. They recovered so quickly it was miraculous it seemed. Mine did not fall over at all tho. That would be concerning to me. Any neurological type symptoms, Or definitely just the leg? Like i said, i have zero expertise, just had 2 hens with a limp and keeping them crated kept them safe and less prone to reinjury. I was also able to know shes accounted for. I would let her into run only while the flock was free ranging to observe her progress. We had 1 day of no progress with one hen, but it seemed the next day time made up for it as she was back with the flock after 3 days. At night i put her in a small/medium animal carrier on the hen house floor with fresh hay. Her behavior indicated that she was ok with all the stuff i did, (no screaming or acting frantic) so i continued. I also gave her access to reg feed as well as scrambled egg. I would mix the 2 together and add water. I know there are other high protein choices like brewers yeast but havnt felt I needed it. Your poor gal, i hope she gets 100%. Good luck

 

[applethechicken]

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

hopefully the vet can help you out! Do you have an option to crate her in a larger area? I have something like this: https://www.amazon.com/HOMIDEC-Play...5602&sprefix=diy+pet+wire+fenc,aps,121&sr=8-2
where I can crate my non contagious sick birds in the same run as everyone, but still have space to move little. Or maybe crate her sometimes so she has time to rest, and then let her out a little, but not so much that she uses her leg too much, so she gets the best of both worlds

 

[Basia St Clair]

hopefully the vet can help you out! Do you have an option to crate her in a larger area? I have something like this: https://www.amazon.com/HOMIDEC-Playpen-Animals-Outdoor-Portable/dp/B09MRTNPQD/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3J372LF6GK361&keywords=diy+pet+wire+fence&qid=1669745602&sprefix=diy+pet+wire+fenc,aps,121&sr=8-2
where I can crate my non contagious sick birds in the same run as everyone, but still have space to move little. Or maybe crate her sometimes so she has time to rest, and then let her out a little, but not so much that she uses her leg too much, so she gets the best of both worlds

Back from Vet. He really didnt think this presented as Mareks but is stumped. He gave her a vitamin B shot. I have her in a separate cage in the run. All we can do now is wait.

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Back from Vet. He really didnt think this presented as Mareks but is stumped. He gave her a vitamin B shot. I have her in a separate cage in the run. All we can do now is wait.

Hey! hi, how is Miracle gal as of now? Thinking of you all

 

[Basia St Clair]

Hey! hi, how is Miracle gal as of now? Thinking of you all

Thanks for thinking of me.

She's taken a turn for the worse. I am trying to decide if I should let her go. She can barely stand or hold her head up. I believe she will be leaving us soon anyway, but I still hold out so much hope..............

 

[Basia St Clair]

Thanks for thinking of me.

She's taken a turn for the worse. I am trying to decide if I should let her go. She can barely stand or hold her head up. I believe she will be leaving us soon anyway, but I still hold out so much hope..............

 

[Basia St Clair]

12/1 Update:

I cannot believe that Miracle made it through the night! This morning she was "squat/wobbling" in her dog crate!!! Last night she was on her side gasping for air!!!

I took her out of the dog crate and she is in a separate enclosure in the house now. This morning she was barely moving, so I fashioned a chicken suspension out of fabric and put the food and water on a small shelf. Left her in the seat for about 2 hours.

I took her out of the set and she is wobble walking about 2 steps every hour or so. She has vitamin B complex, Vitamin E, nutri-drench, eggs, feed, lots of water and I added a crushed up 81mg aspirin to her food. She nibbles a little and drinks a little on her own.

Definitely not out of the woods but between last night and today its amazing! Maybe it was a vitamin deficiency and the vitamin B shot from Vet is kicking in?

 

[My Very First 6 Chickens]

Thanks for thinking of me.

She's taken a turn for the worse. I am trying to decide if I should let her go. She can barely stand or hold her head up. I believe she will be leaving us soon anyway, but I still hold out so much hope..............

12/1 Update:

I cannot believe that Miracle made it through the night! This morning she was "squat/wobbling" in her dog crate!!! Last night she was on her side gasping for air!!!

I took her out of the dog crate and she is in a separate enclosure in the house now. This morning she was barely moving, so I fashioned a chicken suspension out of fabric and put the food and water on a small shelf. Left her in the seat for about 2 hours.

I took her out of the set and she is wobble walking about 2 steps every hour or so. She has vitamin B complex, Vitamin E, nutri-drench, eggs, feed, lots of water and I added a crushed up 81mg aspirin to her food. She nibbles a little and drinks a little on her own.

Definitely not out of the woods but between last night and today its amazing! Maybe it was a vitamin deficiency and the vitamin B shot from Vet is kicking in?

Look at all your doing for her! Your a gem. I hope she gets better and better. Updates please

 

[Basia St Clair]

12/2/ update:

Miracle's progress continues to astound!

This morning she was standing and "moving" around in her indoor hospital cage. It was a slow wobble saunter. She could scratch behind her wings on both sides without falling over. She only need to balance herself once with her wing.

She ate, A LOT!

I moved her outside with the flock in a separate large enclosure. She is really unsteady on her feet but she is behaving more like a chicken. She is preening, she is foraging (but not yet steady enough to scratch).

I don't want to get too hopeful. She still has a long way to go, but she is definitely finally showing definitive improvement.

Timeline (for anyone who has the same thing happen)
1) 2 weeks ago today a hawk attack killed one of my chickens, all other chickens appeared fine. It may be a coincidence or it may be what brought on the issues with Miracle.

2) Next day Miracle started wobble walking, looking very unsteady on her feet. she was this way for about a week. Sometimes better, sometimes worse. I though maybe the hawk had pulled on her leg or wing.

3) On day 10 after attack Miracle was getting considerably worse. She had a droopy wing, she was falling over on her side sometimes, she was often balancing herself with her wings, and when she was not walking (the majority of the time) she was "squatting" on her butt/back legs. It looked like issues with her right side, but really couldn't tell. I started searching this forum for possible causes and started thinking Marek's or a vitamin deficiency. She did not seem paralyzed as she had weak strength in her legs and could flap her wings. I started hand feeding her eggs, vitamin B complex, nutri drench and Vitamin E. All other chickens in the flock seemed fine.

4) On day 11 she was laying on her side and not moving. I moved her to a dog crate in the house. She would stand, wobble, fall. Continued the hand feeding and vitamins. She was going down fast.

4) On day 12 she did not get up. I took her to the Vet and he gave her a steroid shot and vitamin B complex shot as well. His opinion was her behavior was not indicative of Marek's. That night I thought for sure we would lose her. She was on her side, not moving, gasping for air.

5) Day 13. She was standing in her crate! Not moving but standing. Moved her to an old brooder indoors. Again feeding her eggs, vitamin B complex, nutri drench and Vitamin E. Put her in a chicken chair for about 2 hours and propped food up for her. When I took her out of the chair she was walk wobbling a step or two about every hour. Great improvement but not nearly regular chicken behavior. She would still fall over when she was preening behind her wings.

6) Day 14: Today. She is walking! See start of message