Hen sitting/walking on hocks

[Birdfull]

Thank you for the info. I got a lot of advice from online and irl that it could be a b2 deficiency so I went with that but it’s been 3 weeks of mega doses (50mg at first now 100mg) and I’m getting impatient for more improvement. I’d like her to be up and standing most of the time if not all and we aren’t close to that. She CAN stand and walk though!! But won’t do so most of the time.

 

[C Siena]

I'm just brainstorming here. When you had her in the sling, at any time were her feet touching the floor/ground? I wonder if she can be in it and you put your hands under her feet, if she will raise her body, pushing with her feet/legs? Maybe you could do this several times a day. Like therapy, with her only needed to support her body weight for a couple/few seconds at a time. If/When you notice any progress, increase strength, you could allow her to stand longer, say 5-6 seconds.

I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination. I know she about 23-24 weeks now but she probably lost strength due to not using all of her legs to move. I did this with a chick with splay legs, both and totally out to the sides. I could not get the bandaid/tape on her, it kept coming off, so I tried my own therapy.

Please forgive me if this sounds stupid.

 

[chickenrunsquad]

Thank you for the info. I got a lot of advice from online and irl that it could be a b2 deficiency so I went with that but it’s been 3 weeks of mega doses (50mg at first now 100mg) and I’m getting impatient for more improvement. I’d like her to be up and standing most of the time if not all and we aren’t close to that. She CAN stand and walk though!! But won’t do so most of the time.

I'm thinking of calling the hatchery tomorrow to see if they know anything we don't, especially if it's a genetic trait in Sapphire Gems. I'll update here if I find anything. I read somewhere else on this forum that someone took 2 months to heal a paralyzed rooster! So it may also be a matter of time.

The other theory we are thinking is that an egg may have pushed against her nerve and damaged it. She has only laid two eggs so far and there's just far too much of a coincidence in timing when she was running around being curious and then suddenly can't walk after her second egg. So maybe the nerve will heal in time.

 

[chickenrunsquad]

Also: here are photos of my SG, you can see her toes curl like yours. I just made this little wheelchair for her today and she pretty much just sat there, didn't attempt to use her legs at all. Her toes curled in and they dragged on the floor. It was pretty cute to push her around though lol.

 

[chickenrunsquad]

@chickenrunsquad Some hens may have temporary problems walking if an egg is stuck, or if they have been having trouble passing one. Make sure that she gets riboflavin (B2) daily. Hopefully that will take care of her problem.

Thank you for your advice!! That is one of the theories I'm thinking, in addition to the riboflavin deficiency. I did end up crushing up some eggshells in a blender after sanitizing them in the oven and fed them to my Sapphire Gem for a calcium boost.

 

[C Siena]

We hatched a SG 26 months ago, who is showing none of this. We have another SG that we purchased from Rural King, who is doing fine at 2 days shy of 20 weeks. She began to lay a week ago, 1st egg malformed and then fine for the next couple.