Hen can't use leg

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Hello everyone. Today I found one of my hens unable to use her leg. Her name is Ebbie, and she is a 7 year old buff orpington. When I let the chickens out to free range I found her sitting in the run unable to walk, or at least not very well. I brought her in and looked her over; no wounds, no apperant swelling, etc. She was also moving her toes at least a little bit so I figured it wasn't a fracture. I washed her feet off and found some kind callous, almost as if it was bumblefoot, except there was no real scab, redness, or swelling. It was also a blue-ish color, like a bruise (photos below).


I wasn't sure if this was bumblefoot, but I assumed it was the culpret of her issue so I decided to wrap her foot up for now and develop a game plan. When I was done, I wanted to watch her walk, and I realized that her foot isn't the issue...at least I don't think. It's like she can't get her foot to where it needs to be for her to walk, so she's just hobbling on the hock of that leg. I felt her hock and I tried to feel around her knee joint and that general area, comparing it to the other leg, and I didn't feel anything different, nor did I feel any swelling. She is also broody, so I couldn't gauge for any warm spots either since all of her is warm underneath. Here is a video I took of her walking (YouTube may still be processing this video, so the link might not work yet):

You can see in the video in the first part, I noticed it seemed like some of her abdomen was hanging down lower than usual. I felt that specific area and it was soft, and at some point I felt her whole abdomen, which was overall a normal size. Another note; she has a pretty poopy butt, and from examining her it seems as though she has some orangish bugs on her, as well as an odd and hard buildup at the base of her feathers in her butt region. I'm not sure what this insect is, but it is also on my agenda to take of... I don't think it is related but I figure I'd mention it anyways just in case. No flystrike.

This week I have been at college (actually moved out today for the summer), so my dad has been taking care of them. He said that yesterday after work when he let them out he thinks she was in the coop on the nest box, being broody. This makes sense, as she has been gearing up for broodiness for a couple weeks now-- but whether she was in the boxes because of being broody or because she hurt herself, I don't know. At night he had moved her to the roost bars, but he hadn't noticed anything wrong with her-- I would think she would fall off the bar if she had an issue then. Today, they had been locked up until a couple hours ago when I found her. My best guess is she jumped off the roost bars and hurt herself. They are a couple feet off the ground, but she's an older gal so it's easier for her to hurt herself. Basically, she has been like this for no more than 2 days. Here's a picture of her leg in resting position:


Other than this she is bright and alert, though obviously in pain and a bit distressed. I currently have her in a dog crate to keep her from moving too much. My plan from here is to keep her there and hope that she heals up from rest. I will probably take her bandages off, but I'm letting her be for now. If anyone has any guidance on what the issue could be, and what I can do to help her heal I would appreciate it.

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Update:

I took her bandage off this morning. I moved her leg below the hock and it was very easy to move compared to the other normal leg, as if it was just kind of hanging there. I tried to feel for a dislocation or for a slipped tendon, but I couldn't feel anything. There's still no swelling that I can see, nor any hot areas.

Her crop was pretty hard this morning, so tonight I'm going to check for an impacted crop. I'm also wanting to give her a vitamin mix, though I'll have to get some. With no signs of injury it almost makes me think it could be some kind of deficiency. Additionally, I'm considering making her a splint to keep her leg still, but we'll see on that... I don't really know what angle I should splint it at. I'm also thinking about giving her an anti-inflammatory, even though I can't see any inflammation.

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Update 2:
I'm making these updates in the hopes that maybe someone may see these and give suggestions. I don't really know what I should be doing I've never not gotten a response, so maybe this has stumped everyone...

I checked her for an impacted crop and she's in the clear as far as that goes. I'm also giving her rooster booster that has vitamins, electrolyes, and probiotics. However, she doesn't seem to be drinking much water, which worries me. I gave her some mealworms and I put some in her water to try to coax her to get some fluid in her when she grabs one, which worked a little bit. I also sprayed her backside with Elector PSP for the bugs, which I discovered were lice.

As far as her condition goes, there has been no change. Still no swelling. I did move her leg around a bit, and when I moved it side to side it seemed to go farther than her other leg... but I don't know if this is an indication of what's wrong or if that's just because it's limp and her other one isn't. I think I might've felt some clicking though, but I can't say for certain and it didn't happen every time. I'm still wanting to put a splint on her (or maybe a cast would be better), but I'm hesitant to do that until I know for certain what her issue actually is...but at this point I don't think it would hurt her any.

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Update 3:

She seems to be improving! I let her out of her cage today to clean it out, and she was actually using her leg to walk instead of just walking on her hock. She's only barely able to use it and has a very dramatic limp, but she's putting some weight on it and she's gaining better control over it. I decided against putting a splint on her leg, so I've just been giving her the Rooster Booster as well as mealworms (plus her normal feed of course). I let her out of her cage and put her in a larger fenced off area so she can stretch and get some fresh air-- I may start doing that for about an hour daily. She self limits her movement anyways while she's out so I think it'd be good for her.

I'm cautiously optimistic, but we'll see if she continues to improve.

 

[Helens_mom]

The same thing happened to both my buff orpingtons. Maybe it’s an issue with the breed? I haven’t been able to find any information on it anywhere. Unfortunately, mine did not recover. But hopefully things will go better for your bird!

 

[Stravager]

Were you able to check if she was eggbound? That might possibly be a cause of some of the limping... did her foot seem to improve at all with the spot of bruising?
@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

Were you able to check if she was eggbound? That might possibly be a cause of some of the limping... did her foot seem to improve at all with the spot of bruising?
@Eggcessive @Wyorp Rock

I did not really check for egg binding, though I did feel her abdomen for anything hard and didn't feel anything. I haven't actually closely examined the bruising area for a while, but I did catch a glimpse of it and it didn't seem to have much of a change. I'm also fairly sure she is (or was, I can't tell now) broody, so she wouldn't be producing eggs, and she hasn't laid one since I've been containing her. Additionally, she's been pooping. I am still holding her in the cage, but she is doing MUCH better. She almost doesn't even have a limp anymore, and I expect I'll be able to put her with the rest at the end of the week!

 

[Fluffy_Feathers]

The same thing happened to both my buff orpingtons. Maybe it’s an issue with the breed? I haven’t been able to find any information on it anywhere. Unfortunately, mine did not recover. But hopefully things will go better for your bird!

I'm sorry to hear yours didn't recover. I've also noticed a thing with buffs and getting bum legs. Last year I had to cull the first buff from my original flock. My first rooster, who was six at the time, started high-stepping with one foot. Then that foot started dying after several months of it progressing, and I decided to cull him as soon as I noticed it. I have no idea what his issue was. Now, I have two buff hens who are seven. This hen is one of them, and the other I suspect may have arthritis in one of her feet. She's starting to limp and it has gotten progressively worse, and her toes won't bend on that foot. In my case, I think it has to do with their age. Buffs are heavier breeds, so maybe that contributes to the issue.

Luckily, she has been healing very well and I expect to have her back out with the rest by the end of the week. But I do fear that if she's hurt herself once that she could hurt herself again more easily, and she may not heal the next time.