I have a 25-week-old (mostly) Black Australorp hen/pullet who can't walk anymore. I'm hoping someone might have some advice. I'm pretty certain now there's something wrong with her legs, I don't think it's an injury - more like systemic, illness, or neurological maybe? Or because she's very shy, is she not getting enough to eat?
It started a few days ago with her just spending a lot of time sitting on her belly, instead of scratching around like the other girls. When I came near, she'd get up and run or walk away, but then plop down again, usually in a corner somewhere. Today it was much worse. She refused to walk but would try to hobble away from me - belly close to the ground, legs shuffling underneath, almost like a duck-walk or scooting - with her wings held out and down a bit (for balance?). She's always been a very shy bird since hatching, and I often find her in a corner hiding her face - though I see no reason for it, no bullying.
Two nights ago at dusk, I found her hiding in a corner on the floor of the coop. Last night I found her outside alone, on her belly, eating away at the feeder, after full-dark. I put her in the coop near a roost, but instead she hobbled and plopped down with her head in the corner. So then I isolated her in the front half of the coop on a low shelf (2' x 4' with a wide lip) in a nest of wood chips and she stayed there through the night. Gave her food and water this morning within easy reach, and closed that section of the coop to isolate her. She ate quite a lot of her feed and water today, plus a little dish of something I mixed up for her: A dose of Corid, a crushed Calcium+D tablet, a dose of Nutri-Drench, about 10 live mealworms, and a spoonful of scrambled egg to glue it all together. By this afternoon, she had eaten almost all of it but was down on the floor in her corner again.
She shows no obvious signs of illness or injury that I can see. Her comb is bright pink, not red, but dry looking, legs and feet move and flex normally, no bumblefoot, no nasal discharge or coughing, eyes are clear, crop feels squishy and normal, abdomen is soft and pliable, though her keel bone feels somewhat prominent. Her vent is pulsating and looks moist and normal, but I do not feel an egg near the cloaca. I cut a walnut-sized ball of poop from her vent feathers today, but haven't been able to isolate her own poop other than that one ball. I'm pretty sure she is NOT laying, because she can't get up to a nest box and I haven't found any eggs in the coop or run. Other pullets from her clutch are starting to lay; I found two soft-shell eggs today, and several very small pullet eggs.
I have 41 chickens of mixed heritage breeds in a closed flock from 25 weeks to 3 years. 4 roosters. The only new additions were years ago, and I don't get visitors to the coop or run (other than wild birds and the occasional raccoon or opossum). They don't free-range anymore due to predator overload. Large 8x24 coop, 40x50 run on dirt covered in parts with wood chips and hay. It's been very WET and soggy for weeks here. I feed a game bird grower/finisher crumble with 22% protein, and a very small amount of scratch or other treats daily.
What do you think is wrong with her, and what might be the best treatment?
In this video below, please disregard that nail sticking up a bit. It's on the underside of a lid for a feed barrel, and I only turned it upside down like that for the video because the top side was all messy with poo. She did not hurt herself on it; I saw it afterwards, and returned it to its barrel. You can see that she can't get her feet to work right. I was holding her up, until she hopped down.
Later, at bedtime, she wanted to be in the roosting area with her buddies. I let her go, and snuggled her into a comfy corner.
It started a few days ago with her just spending a lot of time sitting on her belly, instead of scratching around like the other girls. When I came near, she'd get up and run or walk away, but then plop down again, usually in a corner somewhere. Today it was much worse. She refused to walk but would try to hobble away from me - belly close to the ground, legs shuffling underneath, almost like a duck-walk or scooting - with her wings held out and down a bit (for balance?). She's always been a very shy bird since hatching, and I often find her in a corner hiding her face - though I see no reason for it, no bullying.
Two nights ago at dusk, I found her hiding in a corner on the floor of the coop. Last night I found her outside alone, on her belly, eating away at the feeder, after full-dark. I put her in the coop near a roost, but instead she hobbled and plopped down with her head in the corner. So then I isolated her in the front half of the coop on a low shelf (2' x 4' with a wide lip) in a nest of wood chips and she stayed there through the night. Gave her food and water this morning within easy reach, and closed that section of the coop to isolate her. She ate quite a lot of her feed and water today, plus a little dish of something I mixed up for her: A dose of Corid, a crushed Calcium+D tablet, a dose of Nutri-Drench, about 10 live mealworms, and a spoonful of scrambled egg to glue it all together. By this afternoon, she had eaten almost all of it but was down on the floor in her corner again.
She shows no obvious signs of illness or injury that I can see. Her comb is bright pink, not red, but dry looking, legs and feet move and flex normally, no bumblefoot, no nasal discharge or coughing, eyes are clear, crop feels squishy and normal, abdomen is soft and pliable, though her keel bone feels somewhat prominent. Her vent is pulsating and looks moist and normal, but I do not feel an egg near the cloaca. I cut a walnut-sized ball of poop from her vent feathers today, but haven't been able to isolate her own poop other than that one ball. I'm pretty sure she is NOT laying, because she can't get up to a nest box and I haven't found any eggs in the coop or run. Other pullets from her clutch are starting to lay; I found two soft-shell eggs today, and several very small pullet eggs.
I have 41 chickens of mixed heritage breeds in a closed flock from 25 weeks to 3 years. 4 roosters. The only new additions were years ago, and I don't get visitors to the coop or run (other than wild birds and the occasional raccoon or opossum). They don't free-range anymore due to predator overload. Large 8x24 coop, 40x50 run on dirt covered in parts with wood chips and hay. It's been very WET and soggy for weeks here. I feed a game bird grower/finisher crumble with 22% protein, and a very small amount of scratch or other treats daily.
What do you think is wrong with her, and what might be the best treatment?
In this video below, please disregard that nail sticking up a bit. It's on the underside of a lid for a feed barrel, and I only turned it upside down like that for the video because the top side was all messy with poo. She did not hurt herself on it; I saw it afterwards, and returned it to its barrel. You can see that she can't get her feet to work right. I was holding her up, until she hopped down.
Later, at bedtime, she wanted to be in the roosting area with her buddies. I let her go, and snuggled her into a comfy corner.
And she wasn't strangling on it. My rookie fears for naught..... (Note to self: Next time, pop the pill into the right side of her throat.) Dang, I meant to weigh her, but forgot. I'll try to do that today.
