Help! my hen's legs are swollen and she is limping!

[duckyproctor]

I'm very worried about my polish hen. She has been limping around for about a week and a half. Both legs are rather swollen and the left seems to be bent. We have examined both feet and there appears to be no obvious injuries. For what it's worth, when she was a chick, she had a bad case of wry neck. She recovered from that illness and we don't know if there is any connection to what's going on now. Please help us help her.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Is she sitting on her hocks or elbows? Are her legs swollen and hard to the touch?Can you take some pictures a little farther back of the whole legs? There is a condition called petrosis or marble bone disease that is related to avian lymphoid leukosis that possibly could be the problem, but that is just a guess. I can't post any links now on my tablet, but you could Google those terms or I will try to find some tomorrow to post.

 

[duckyproctor]

Her legs are not particularly hard to the touch. She doesn't like walking, so she sits as if she was nesting. Here is a picture I took of her foot that is farther away. This one seems to be the worst of the two because it is slightly bent to the front. Just to fill you in, my family and I are new to chicken farming. She is part of our first batch of chickens. Every other chicken in our flock is doing great.

 

[Eggcessive]

Besides osteopetrosis, there can be other diseases that cause swelling of the legs such as mycoplasma synovitis, gout, and viral artritis.
Here are some threads and articles about osteopetrosis:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/918075/swollen-legs-hampshire-red
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/917449/leghorn-swollen-legs
http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=553450

From Avitech
OSTEOPETROSIS (Marble Bone, Thick Leg Disease) This disorder arises due to abnormal growth and modeling of bone characterized by thickened legs. The affected bones have a very narrow marrow cavity and thick cortical bone. It can occur either due to deficiency of zinc or due to infection with an avian leucosis complex virus. It can be induced by embryonic or a day old inoculation of chicks with strains of avian leukosis virus (Kirev, 1988) resulting in formation of a highly cellular bone with a marked rise in serum bone alkaline
phosphatase activity. It is generally bilateral with the tarsometatarsus and tibiotarsus affected oftenly.

 

[sonshine15]

Crazy busy with finally a few warm days after the worst winter I've ever experienced with chickens

I sent in swabs to the lab and will know more when results return. BUT in the meantime now my Bielefelder is limping and has reddish lines running up his leg???? Also a BO..............Is there anything I should do while waiting on labs. Out sterilizing everything again just in case...........

 

[Angie8eggs]

Oh no! I am so sorry I hope you get answers very soon!

 

[Eggcessive]

Crazy busy with finally a few warm days after the worst winter I've ever experienced with chickens

I sent in swabs to the lab and will know more when results return. BUT in the meantime now my Bielefelder is limping and has reddish lines running up his leg???? Also a BO..............Is there anything I should do while waiting on labs. Out sterilizing everything again just in case...........

Can you post pictures of your chickens' legs? Red streaks up legs and between toes of some chickens can be normal and a sign of fertility with certain leg colors.

 

[sonshine15]

Can you post pictures of your chickens' legs? Red streaks up legs and between toes of some chickens can be normal and a sign of fertility with certain leg colors.

The BO I think is normal with streaking? The Bielefelder roo............just doesnt look right. I bought some Koi antibiotic to soak their feet in. I have several with bumblefoot am treating but he and the BO do not have the black spot. This is where crazy busy comes in. Soaking the birds etc. I'll see if I can get a pic after awhile....am not moving fast today. Amazing how first few days of warm tems and sunshine can cause 100 MPH when the body is used to 50 over the Winter. We have 5 days of rain coming up so between lawn and etc, bit off more than I could chew. I'll be soaking them when it warms up and will put him in the hospital pen with the other bumblefooters so I can catch him easier.

These poor chickens have carpet feet after all this snow. Now they go out more in the daytime and are picking up stickers that are wreaking havoc. Over 4 years living here goatheads were bad when we moved here but we never had bumblefoot.

 

[sonshine15]

From what I'm reading up on seems Mycoplasma is on most farms now?? Labs said 80% Colorado and if you cull, start over another 80% chance of having the stuff anyways. Two lame birds and one is the rare breed roo.............Not sure what to do with the lameness but with my BO doing better on colloidal silver, will start the roo on it too. Denagard on the way..............Been treating with Tylan 200.

All I can say is UHG!!!!!!!!!!!! Crazy stuff and thinking if it's this bad just announce to people they are carriers and go on. I can't control the wild birds, wild turkeys nor the air so acceptance seems the only way to go unless I find something else.............

 

[sonshine15]

Her legs are not particularly hard to the touch. She doesn't like walking, so she sits as if she was nesting. Here is a picture I took of her foot that is farther away. This one seems to be the worst of the two because it is slightly bent to the front. Just to fill you in, my family and I are new to chicken farming. She is part of our first batch of chickens. Every other chicken in our flock is doing great.

Ducky, how is your bird doing?