Hen with a stiff leg and toes, help appreciated

[C_621]

A vet could radiograph her and see if there is a fracture or a dislocation. She does look alert which is a good thing.

She got slighty worse yesterday, the leg feels a bit "loose" where it meets the body, right there the feathers start. Could it be a slipped tendon? She's still alert and eats like normal, not feeling anything significantly swollen

I've asked around with the local vets to see if anyone is knowledgeable or willing to x-ray her, she'll get anti-inflammatories hopefully today

 

[Eggcessive]

Splinting depends on the location of a fracture. Upper leg fractures are difficult to treat. The xray of the leg could just rule out a broken bone. Are you keeping her from jumping, roosting, or overusing it? They can have tendon problems with leg bone deformities that cause inward or outward bowing of the leg at the hock. Varus or valgus deformity can occur in all poultry.

 

[C_621]

Splinting depends on the location of a fracture. Upper leg fractures are difficult to treat. The xray of the leg could just rule out a broken bone. Are you keeping her from jumping, roosting, or overusing it? They can have tendon problems with leg bone deformities that cause inward or outward bowing of the leg at the hock. Varus or valgus deformity can occur in all poultry.

She's still in the cage from the videos, she can't jump or fly around much. She does walk on the leg to get around to eat and drink, but mostly lies down or stands on one leg. I'm not sure she even sleeps on the log provided at night, might be on the floor.

Wouldn't that kind of deformity be pretty visible? She has fairly short legs that are covered by feathers, but I've never noted anything unusual about them. Even now they mostly feel the same, except at the hip.

I managed to get a vet time on Tuesday, they sadly couldn't prescribe anything without a visit so she'll get a bit of Aspirin and a bandage as they suggested

 

[Eggcessive]

Here are some links with pictures of leg bone defects:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/leg-health-in-large-broilers

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...gular-(Valgus/Varus)-Leg-Deformities_v3343383

 

[C_621]

Here are some links with pictures of leg bone defects:
https://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/leg-health-in-large-broilers

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/poul...gular-(Valgus/Varus)-Leg-Deformities_v3343383

That second link is very interesting, I wouldn't have suspected that could be a possibility since she's a 370-something grams Serama. Her legs aren't like the pictures provided, but one of her hatch sisters also limped at 3-4 months of age (she recovered from that eventually) and another has a strange bone growth near the tailfeathers. Maybe it's something genetic and bone-related

She is getting vitamin C and D through water daily and is good at eating her calcium, but I'll see what the vet thinks next week

 

[Eggcessive]

Let us know what the vet Hans to say.

 

[C_621]

Update 4: Nothing has really changed, I tried to bandage her leg but it seemed to hinder her more than it helped. Maybe I wrapped it poorly, didn't want it to be too tight. She supports herself on the hock sometimes, but remains alert and very prone to throwing food all over the place (which is one reason I considered vitamin deficiency). Her breathing is a bit more laboured, she has some kind of chronic respiratory illness I may test her for while at the vet (some form of mycoplasma maybe), it tends to flare up when she's stressed. Most of the time she stands on the good leg or rests just like before. The hip above the bad leg feels different, but it's hard to say why

 

[Eggcessive]

Have you ever seen the chicken slings thread with good examples in posts 5, 11-14 and others:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

They sometimes do not tolerate a sling, and try to escape. They are best used for periods during the day with periods of rest out of them and to sleep, stretch, etc. Food and water bowls can be attached.

 

[C_621]

Have you ever seen the chicken slings thread with good examples in posts 5, 11-14 and others:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/versions-of-chick-chairs-please.1166308/

They sometimes do not tolerate a sling, and try to escape. They are best used for periods during the day with periods of rest out of them and to sleep, stretch, etc. Food and water bowls can be attached.

I've thought about it, was planning to in case she ends up paralysed, but that hasn't happened yet. That thread has some great ideas for slings though, excellent link. I knew you could hang cloth from the ceiling of the cage but that clearly isn't the only way you can do it

I don't think she would accept it though, she's very headstrong and wants things her way. Her wings work fine and she still fights back if she doesn't want to be held anymore (she's hand tame but won't tolerate too much touching her bad leg). I'll keep the option in mind, but it's hard to tell for me to tell if she should be kept from using the leg at all or not

 

[C_621]

Let us know what the vet Hans to say.

Just got back from the vet. They confirmed her sciatic nerve is hard and swollen, and checked her eyes. They prescribed metacam for 5 days to see if it's an inflammation that'll become less swollen with treatment, else they think it's Marek's and that she should be put down and sent in for a necropsy.

She's not acting very differently than before, but I started giving her Chinese Skullcap capsules mixed with egg yesterday, don't think there's anything to lose by trying