Hen can't walk...

[InParadise]

Quote:
So glad to hear that!

 

[IroquoisEgg]

Hey all,
I just read through this thread because I am having the same problem with one of my pullets. Last Thursday she was fine, the next day she is walking funny. Bringing her leg up higher and looking almost like her legs were a different length. It has gradually gotten worse and today (Monday) she was sorta hopping walking not wanting to put much weight on it. I noticed that her thigh on the bum leg felt swollen in comparison to her other leg. Would Marek's cause this or is Marek's more of paralysis and she would be dragging her leg behind her? I have isolated her and give her vitamins, and she is eating/drinking great. No one else is showing any illness, she is the only one out of 20 chickens. Please help she is my White EE girl named Fern, I have raised her since she was 1 day old, so sweet and even comes to me when I call her. The feed store I got her from doesn't vaccinate for Marek's though. She is about 10 weeks old.

 

[silkieluv23]

One of my silkies is doing the same, she refuses to use her legs so she just shuffles round on her wings.
She is eating and drinking fine though so I have no idea what is going on!

 

[ten chicks]

One of my silkies is doing the same, she refuses to use her legs so she just shuffles round on her wings.
She is eating and drinking fine though so I have no idea what is going on!

Check bottom of her feet for bumblefoot,look up information for Marek's(excellent info on this forum). what happens when you pick her up and set her back down?

Vitamin deficiency can also cause leg issues.

She isn't broody is she,reason i am asking is my silkie hens look like they are shuffling around on their wings when broody,but in reality they are so fluffed out and crawling low to the ground that it appears this way.

 

[silkieluv23]

I don't think she's broody because she doesn't really sit in a broody position and it is really cold and wet here at the moment. I did google Marek's but I think that is unlikely too as her legs aren't actually paralised and Marek's is also meant to be highly contagious so where would she have got it? And why is she the only hen with the problem?
When I put her down she stands fine, just her wing sags a little on one side.
Could she have hurt her back or sprained something?
Any way she seems better today so I am hoping she'll get better on her own.

Fingers crossed!

 

[grannyhowie]

I have a 19 month old EE hen. About 5 months ago she started to sit down to rest a lot. We would find her under a bush just sitting there for hours, When she did walk it was very slow and for short distances. After about 2 weeks she seemed to get back to normal except that she wasn't laying. I did an internal on her and found that she wasn't egg bound. About 2 weeks later her legs stopped working again. She has been this way now for months. She eats and drinks just fine. We put chicken vitamins in her water, and have brought her indoors because the other hens are attacking her badly. Her legs are splayed out in front of her, but when I pick her up she has no problem moving them. She had the mareks vac when she was born. I know that there is no guarantee with the vaccine. She no longer lays eggs. If it was mareks wouldn't she have died by now or wouldn't other hens have come down with it?

 

[drChickan]

I haven't read this entire thread.. Has anyone suggested the possibility of the hen being eggbound.?. Sometimes the symptoms are very similar to what I was reading... I had a hen completely unable to walk and she was eggbound, once the egg was out it took a few days to completely recover... Just a thought =) Hope she gets better =)

 

[Soot the silkie]

I hate to tell all the people out there this, but do not trust vitamins!!! My little silkie girl had the same problem, and I put her on multi vitamins, and she gained strength and was soon energetic, and wanted to walk but still couldn't. Then one day I noticed she had limited eyesight in her left eye. Four days later she was dead. It is probably Mareks. And Mareks is not curable. Check your girl's eyesight by showing her a favorite treat where she can only see it with one eye then the other.

 

[Soot the silkie]

I don't think she's broody because she doesn't really sit in a broody position and it is really cold and wet here at the moment. I did google Marek's but I think that is unlikely too as her legs aren't actually paralised and Marek's is also meant to be highly contagious so where would she have got it? And why is she the only hen with the problem?
When I put her down she stands fine, just her wing sags a little on one side.
Could she have hurt her back or sprained something?
Any way she seems better today so I am hoping she'll get better on her own.

Fingers crossed!

Mareks doesn't necessarily mean paralysis. Your other chickens could be vaccinated or immune to the disease. If the sick girl has ever come into contact with other birds not from your flock or you have ever come into contact to another flock, that is where she could have gotten mareks.

 

[THeelChickinKY]

I just read through the thread because I have a Dominique hen doing the same thing. We've brought her inside and she's alert and eating and drinking well. Her two symptoms are not walking (but she can move the legs) and unformed, terrible smelling waste. She has a cut on her head aND a scrape