hen having trouble walking

[sbicheidi]

hello, i'm new here and so glad to have found this site. i hope you can give me some advice?

about a week ago, i noticed my favorite hen walking awkwardly. she seemed happy enough, eating well, good color that i just kept an eye on her but didn't do anything special.

then i started researching online to see if i could find anything that described her symptoms, which would be that she doesn't stand all the way up, drags her tail, one foot seems turned "in", seems unsteady on her feet.

i decided it might be an injury (the chickens can run w/our goats during the day and i thought maybe she got in the way of a goat in motion) or some other kind of injury. i see that leg injuries/tendon injuries are not uncommon. so i caged her, which she hates. today she scooted out when i was giving her more feed and water, she's been in the cage 5 days. all the while she's eating and drinking well, her color and eyes look good and normal.

she is using her wings to steady herself today. i wasn't too concerned because i thought she might be a little weak from being caged. she happily chomped on some lettuce leaves i tossed in from the garden. she's keeping herself pretty quiet in the outdoor section of our coop. i can't quite confirm the poop situation since she spilled water in the tray below the cage.

i saw somewhere that aspirin dissolved in water was suggested. do you think i should try that to see if it makes her feel better? it might confirm that it's a physical injury. thoughts? any other suggestions??

thanks! heidi

 

[farmgirl2477]

I had a hen that went from a limp to loss of leg use with no known reason. I separated her and gave her a special diet and she eventually walked herself back out to join the flock. No idea what caused it, or if what I was doing really fixed it or if it was time, but Ill pass on what I gave to squeecker.

First gave her lots of room to move, but also things to lean against. Checked on her constantly. Gave her V&E (vitamin and electorlites) in her water. Mixed plain yogurt with her food. Also squeezed a vitamin E tablet into her mouth nightly. gave her hard boiled eggs, some cooked oatmeal. Basically anything good for her and high in nutrients. It took some time, but she healed.

I hope your girl snaps out of it faster then mine.
Good luck
Shannon

 

[brent]

Hello, I'm new with the chicken thing. All this was to be an FFA progect fo my son that now the whole family is in to, even grandma. I noticed one of the banies was starting to limp and now she has no use of her legs. While watching the other chickens in noticed that one of the ducks is started to limp and when we out feeding this evening I saw one on the Bard Rocks limping. I am starting to worie about this. We have allready lost our first group to a wild dog and had to start over agan with new chicks. I need help with the limping chickins and duck. I am going to try the diet and see what happens, I am woundering if we need to put all together so we could keep a close eye on them.

 

[brent]

Hello, I went to this site after seeing it on a nother forem, maybe it will help. We lost the little hen. We found her this AM. http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/diagext.htm

 

[wendy]

one of mine acts hurt too. i am going to try the special diet too. i seperated here, but am wondering if putting her on the roost is slowing up her healing?