Hen kind of limping and dragging a wing.

bearz

Songster
11 Years
May 20, 2008
290
1
154
My DS has about 50 chickens. I just was in the coop and one of them is kind of dragging a wing and limping. I picked it up and flipped it over and both legs move well when extended and recoiled. Opened the wing and couldn't see any damage but I'm far from an expert.

She's eating and drinking and getting around. Should I isolate her to prevent further damage.

She's one of the chickens that roost in the rafters and sometimes they really fly to get up there! I'm thinking she must have missed on the way up and hit something. I've seen that happen before.
 
If you havent already, try to locate a vet in your area, it may be as simple as a dislocation, but the longer you wait the more the muscles tear and stretch, and wont go back the way they belong. Sounds more like a shoulder break tho, and that can be painful. Remember, birds hid illness and pain, otherwise the other birds attack them, so if you can see it, it is extreme.

better to find a vet now, when you have a non bleeding issue, than later when you need to know where to go instantly. Chicken vets are not easy to find, be prepared to call around a lot, most vets who work an chickens wont charge you an arm and a leg, but if you get in with an exotics vet who starts that nonsense, keep looking. Large animal vets that work on horses and goats, are often equiped to travel to farms, and may be able to come right to you. A little research now is a good thing

Good Luck!
 
It could also be Mareck's & if so she should be isolated & culled.
As to having a vet come out-around here they charge $50 to $100 for showing up. I guess you'd have to decide how much this chicken is worth to you. Of course the other problem is most large animal vets know almost nothing about chickens.
 
Quote:
Culling isn't the only option. They can survive.

And then they're carriers so they can infect others.
 
Quote:
Culling isn't the only option. They can survive.

And then they're carriers so they can infect others.

Every chicken there has already been exposed and is a carrier already. So unless you cull them all it doesn't matter. This is why vaccination is so helpful.
 
This came as a chick in June from McMurray and they were all vaccinated so I'm not worried about Mareks.

I put her in a cage with a nesting box with hay and food and water. Now one of her legs is lagging so I'm thinking she must have hurt herself trying to fly up to the rafters. She's still eating and drinking so I think I'll take a wait and see approach. Some of my other hens started laying this week and my roos have been pretty active so it could have been just about anything. I've seen several hens squawk and run from the roos and knock things over in the process.

My DH is putting in 2 new roosts at different heights to help the others that insist on roosting in the top rafters.

I have a feeling we'll be culling her, which is a shame because she is just a beautiful bird and we only have one of her.
 
I had a turkey once that was running and got her foot caught and tripped. She dislocated something and couldn't walk. Unfortunately, she was extremely large, and her size made her unable to recover. Good luck with hen! At the very least, I would put her in a small cage to keep her immobile while she healed. Personally, I would have her x-rayed if possible.
 
Last edited:
Quote:
And then they're carriers so they can infect others.

Every chicken there has already been exposed and is a carrier already. So unless you cull them all it doesn't matter. This is why vaccination is so helpful.

Actually the chickens there that were exposed & did not become ill are not carriers. They are birds with natural immunity & are the birds one would want to keep to breed from.
If you "cure" sick birds & use them for breeding you produce chicks that are susceptible to the same illnesses the parent were "cured" of.
This is why many serious breeders don't medicate sick birds. By breeding only from birds that don't get sick you produce more birds that don't get sick.
Watching the various threads here it's apparent that lots of people deal with illnesses on a regular basis.
I have selected for health as past of my breeding program for years & at this point almost never have a sick bird. I hatched 368 chickens this year & lost just 1-it got smothered in the brooder.
 
Bearz - glad to hear that you isolated her. She might just need the rest. This summer, one of my roos was acting "gimpy," hopping on one leg. He looked fine, not a mark on him - UNTIL THE NEXT DAY. Then, I found that his entire leg was a dark purple bruise, that later turned jade green. It took him about 5 days to regain his strength.
So, yeah, sometimes they just "get hurt."
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom