Hen with a stiff leg and toes, help appreciated

[C_621]

Do you have a picture of the joint?

Sadly no, it's where her legs get fluffy. I could try taking something but it'd just be feathers, you can feel that something is off there though. Do you have an idea what it could be?

 

[Eggcessive]

Since it is part of the tibia/fibula and below the patella, maybe there was a fracture that is forming a callus as it heals.

 

[C_621]

Since it is part of the tibia/fibula and below the patella, maybe there was a fracture that is forming a callus as it heals.

That's a fantastic suggestion, I hope it's that. Any idea what it would look like on a hen? It seems like they can harden as they heal and need some time. I'd give her all the time she needs anyway, but since it's not getting worse or better fast it has me wondering.

I do remember her flying up on the roof of the coop in the middle of October, about 2 weeks before she started limping. The time frame seems a bit much, but normally she only has a 20-30 cm drop down from the roost in her usual area, so I'm not sure how a fracture could have happened.

 

[C_621]

Update 9: She just got back from the second vet, who immediately thought it was a fracture after noticing the swollen, hard part near the knee. He suggested getting an X-ray which that clinic sadly couldn't provide, to see what kind of fracture it was. If it was a slanted one they could maybe splint it depending on where they'd need to do it (for maybe €2200), else they could amputate the leg or let it heal, but she'd almost certainly limp from that since it wouldn't heal right and a nerve might have been affected. He prescribed some more Metacam for her as pain relief

They got her an appointment at another clinic in town who could X-ray but didn't know much else about chickens. They didn't even need to sedate her since she's so well-behaved, so they could send the photos back to the vet who called back a few hours later. He couldn't find any fracture or issue with the bones, so he couldn't answer what it is either. He suggested doing a cell test with a syringe to see if it's an infection or inflammation, but I'd need another appointment for that. For now he said to give her Metacam for a week and see if she'll support more on the leg, then call back to schedule another visit

She wasn't very amused spending some 5 hours in a car driving back and forth with two vet visits between, but she's been a very good bird and viciously attacked the sunflower seeds in the food bowl as soon as she got home

 

[C_621]

I got a copy of the X-ray pictures mailed, would it be helpful if I posted them?

 

[FNF]

I have a rooster showing the same issue with his right leg and foot. I have had Marek's in two hens (they both had droopy wings but never a limp, before ultimately passing within just a few days) and this does seem different to me.

I had him isolated in a place under the chicken coop during the day - he could walk (it's a sand run) around but was limited to that space, and then I let him out to roost at night with the others. I did that for probably four or five days. However, he seems to have gotten worse. Where it seemed to be his leg - he swung it - now he drags his foot some. He can use the foot, but wondering if it's a tendon issue causing the foot problem now. My friend thought he perhaps was overbreeding and sprained it which seems very possible (I thought I had even witnessed it, him chasing a hen then running with a funny limp, but I can't be sure), or he did it jumping up and down from the coop or roosting rods, or maybe that just made it worse.

In any case, I have now put him in smaller captivity in a large cat crate in the run with food and water with B12 complex in the hopes that more forced rest (rather than pacing under the coop wanting to chase hens) will help him recover. It's cold out but I think he'll be fine during the day, and I'll put the crate in the garage overnight to protect him from the worst cold without moving him completely into the heated house. I can't take him for an x-ray, it's too prohibitive, and I see no obvious wounds or issues on his foot or leg (no bumble foot or lacerations). It doesn't even look swollen. I hate feeling helpless but this seems like all I can do for the moment unless anyone has any other ideas.

 

[FNF]

@C_621 and sorry didn't mean to hijack your excellent thread, I'd be curious to see the x-ray when you get the results.

 

[C_621]

@C_621 and sorry didn't mean to hijack your excellent thread, I'd be curious to see the x-ray when you get the results.

No worries, it's mostly died down so I made a new one here, that has the X-ray pictures. I appreciate all the input people have given, it's just a difficult situation now that not even the vets can diagnose it for certain, I think I'm on my own from here on

Did you get your hens tested for Marek's? Just droopy wings and dying suddenly doesn't sound like the cases I've had, but it can take different forms. I think half of my cases went directly to paralysis, some had it come gradually though

I thought my hen had a sprain initially too, but since it's not getting better and her right leg looks larger than the other (you can see it in the 4th X-ray picture in my second thread), and feels different when you touch it too, I think her foot is curled up and difficult to use because of the swollen spot just below the knee. Marek's can make the sciatic nerve swollen apparently which would explain why the toes curl up. I guess it could also be some kind of soft tumour that doesn't show on the X-ray

Isolation is definitely the right call, Vitamin B12 too if it's a potential vitamin deficiency. If you think it's Marek's this thread has some good reading if you want to try to treat it. It's normally said to be untreatable but I'd rather try this than do nothing. You could try feeling further up the leg if you haven't already, the bone goes pretty high up and potential sprains/fractures can be around or above the knee

 

[Eggcessive]

I lost track of this thread, sorry. I looked at the xray in your newer thread, and I could not see anything, but I am not a vet. Sorry that she is doing worse with her leg.

 

[FNF]

No worries, it's mostly died down so I made a new one here, that has the X-ray pictures. I appreciate all the input people have given, it's just a difficult situation now that not even the vets can diagnose it for certain, I think I'm on my own from here on

Did you get your hens tested for Marek's? Just droopy wings and dying suddenly doesn't sound like the cases I've had, but it can take different forms. I think half of my cases went directly to paralysis, some had it come gradually though

I thought my hen had a sprain initially too, but since it's not getting better and her right leg looks larger than the other (you can see it in the 4th X-ray picture in my second thread), and feels different when you touch it too, I think her foot is curled up and difficult to use because of the swollen spot just below the knee. Marek's can make the sciatic nerve swollen apparently which would explain why the toes curl up. I guess it could also be some kind of soft tumour that doesn't show on the X-ray

Isolation is definitely the right call, Vitamin B12 too if it's a potential vitamin deficiency. If you think it's Marek's this thread has some good reading if you want to try to treat it. It's normally said to be untreatable but I'd rather try this than do nothing. You could try feeling further up the leg if you haven't already, the bone goes pretty high up and potential sprains/fractures can be around or above the knee

Yes, the two that passed I took to the state lab for necropsy and it was "probable Marek's" due to the tumors they had inside. Very sad. The roo has shown no other symptoms of it thus far, just the limp. I'm keeping him confined with the B12 complex. He's eating and drinking though not happy about this situation of course. He's a bit hard to handle but I did feel around his legs and feet and while not 100% sure, I didn't feel anything different...I'm really hoping it's a ligament or something strained and that with time and forced rest he'll heal up. Tough to have to play vet using only the internet.