hen has swollen leg and cant walk,not eating or drinking

[macaws49]

my hen would not get up yesterday. We brought her in the house. One leg is swollen and she cant walk. She wont eat or drink. I have been force feeding her with a mixture of water and a product that I raise baby parrot on. I only have about 15 chickens and have never had a sick one. I don't know what to do. It is 29 out so I have her in the house. Any help would be appreciated. We love our chickens. They have a fenced acre to roam on and a nice big chicken house. What should I do?

 

[Redhead Rae]

my hen would not get up yesterday. We brought her in the house. One leg is swollen and she cant walk. She wont eat or drink. I have been force feeding her with a mixture of water and a product that I raise baby parrot on. I only have about 15 chickens and have never had a sick one. I don't know what to do. It is 29 out so I have her in the house. Any help would be appreciated. We love our chickens. They have a fenced acre to roam on and a nice big chicken house. What should I do?

Pictures of the bird and her leg would help. Also, force feeding a chicken can be a very bad thing to do. You could cause her to breathe in particulates of the food and get a lung infection. @azygous @casportpony @Eggcessive should be able to help out.

 

[Eggcessive]

Welcome to BYC. Could you describe what part of the leg is swollen, and post a picture of the leg? Do you feel like she injured it, or can you see any bruising on the leg, or bumblefoot scabs on the footpad? I would mix a small bowl of vety wet chicken feed, and you may add a few pieces of cooked egg and a tsp of plain yogurt to tempt her to eat. Hold it up to her beak to try it. Be careful not to force feed her since she can aspirate and die. I dip my chickens beaks into water or dood to try. If she absolutely won’t eat or drink, tube feeding may be something you want to try. But for now fluids are the most important thing to give.

 

[Aryetheral Waalburgus]

I would add that egg yolks are healthy for chickens, and would be easy for her to eat. This sounds to me like either a bad case of Bumblefoot or a broken/sprained bone.
If you post pictures of your hen's leg/foot, I can tell you if it's Bumblefoot.
I had a hen with a very severe case, and her symptoms were: swollen leg, red coloring to leg, fever, lack of appetite, limping.

Bumblefoot is an infection of the inner foot caused by a heavy impact. When the chicken recieves a heavy impact to their foot, the tissue can get injured. When this happens, pus builds up around the tissue. Birds have a different type of pus than humans; it is hard and build up into "kernels." In mild cases, before the pus has a chance to harden, you can treat Bumblefoot with antibiotics. I use an injection of a half cc of Tylan 50 for cattle for standard size birds (you can but this at most farm supply stores). In severe cases, the pus Bumbles must be surgically removed. You can do this at home, and should you want it, I can give you an illustrated tutorial.

For now, keep her away from the flock in the garage/house. Always provide water and Eggcessive above had some excellent suggestions for food options.

 

[macaws49]

thank you all for your replies. My computer is so old I can not post a picture. Her leg is not red and the bottom of her foot looks normal, just swollen. I will mix up a mixture of the recommended food and try that and stop force feeding her.

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you checked to see if she could have a hair, string, or leg band that has become wrapped around and embedded into her leg? Is her whole leg swollen or just the lower leg, or the foot, or both the foot and lower leg? It helps to know all the details. Sorry the picture may be too difficult. I can relate because I have a hard time posting pictures on computers, although many use their cell phones.

With only one leg affected, that may rule out some conditions such as gout, mycoplasma gallisepticum, or marble leg syndrome. Injury or something wrapped around the leg seem to be the best guesses on what might be wrong.

 

[Abriana]

She could have sprained it or broken something jumping off of a high place like the coop roof, or even the roosting bars. I would give it an epsom salt soak to help reduce swelling and relieve some of the pain.

 

[Abriana]

Also if you use identification bands on your chickens, I would check that it hasn't ridden up on the leg and been buried in the feathers where you can't see it. That is quite a painful injury and can cause severe lameness. It sounds like it is more in the foot/ankle region however, but just thought I'd put that out there just in case.