Hen with weak legs and trouble standing up during implant induced moult

[_Lyndsey_]

My 5 year old light sussex hen was put on an implant 2 weeks ago to prevent egg laying. As i expected she may be moulting with a decreasing appetite, grumpyness and feathers in the run over the last 5 days. But today she has been walking on her hocks!!! If i help her to stand she can then walk fine after a moment of being wobbily, there is no limp. Then the next time she sits down again she gets stuck and can only move on her hocks again.

Anyone any ideas?

I have provided details below:

1) What type of bird , age and weight (does the chicken seem or feel lighter or thinner than the others.)

hen, 5 year old, light sussex, 3.4kg (was 3.9kg average - loosing weight since bird flockdown ended due to increased excercise and more repidly loosing weight since her implant.

2) What is the behavior, exactly.

Walking on her hocks, unable to stand without assistance. Otherwise appears to be walking okay.
Since her implant 2 weeks ago she has a reduced appertite for 5 days now, poo is mostly clear liquid with green solids in. It is worth noting that she always suffers with her normal winter moults, looses her appetite and her poo looks like this each moult - so this is 'normal' for her. I usually have to resort to hand feeding and tempting her with various snacks in a desperate attempt to prevent starvation until the moult is finished.

3) How long has the bird been exhibiting symptoms?

2 weeks since implant, 5 days noticing lost appetite and wet poo, today issues with mobility on her hocks.

4) Are other birds exhibiting the same symptoms?

No, she lives alone at the moment since loosing her last sister a good few months back (also 5 years so i had assumed it was just her time at the time). I have other birds nearby that i planned to move in with her once her implant was working. These other birds are healthy and have been on site for almost 3 months now. I change my footwear between pens.

5) Is there any bleeding, injury, broken bones or other sign of trauma.

No, i have felt her legs and no sign of injury

6) What happened, if anything that you know of, that may have caused the situation.

Implant followed by moult
I'm wondering if the moult induced starvation (not eating, wet green poo) is causing it - nutrient deficiency from not eating or general weakness

7) What has the bird been eating and drinking, if at all.

Drinking normal. Reduced appetite. She's currently on half layers half flock raiser pellets. I began transitioning her from layers pellets after her implant now that her laying days are behind her. The layers is her normal brand that she's never had issues with in the past, no moult, not a particularly old or new bag. Other chickens are also on the flock raiser as they haven't started to lay yet with no issues. She has access to grit and supplementary oyster shell. She free ranges for a few hours a day in our garden. She's not shown much interest in forraging recently either.

8) How does the poop look? Normal? Bloody? Runny? etc.

Very wet with green solid bits.

9) What has been the treatment you have administered so far?

Nettex poultry drops started today by pippette
After implant 14 days ago she had nettex vit boost tonic in her water for 5 days (finishing 9 days ago) to help with the stress of the vet visit and implant.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry to hear about your hen.

Have you spoken with your vet about your concerns?

@micstrachan do you have any suggestions to help the OP through this?

 

[_Lyndsey_]

I'm sorry to hear about your hen.

Have you spoken with your vet about your concerns?

@micstrachan do you have any suggestions to help the OP through this?

I took her to the vet today and the vet checked her poo for parasites (none) and gave me some rehydration salts type thing to give to her for a few days. Couldn't see any sign of injury. Didn't have any ideas about about her leg weakness so a bit of a wasted trip

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I'm sorry the vet visit seemed like a wasted trip.

The induced molt, she may be having a really rough time. I'd try increasing protein intake - a little egg, fish or meat (liver, heart, etc.) can be helpful.
A good poultry vitamin that contains B2(Riboflavin), B1(Thiamine) and E is something I'd give as well. If you can't find poultry vitamins then give her human B-Complex (1/4tablet) and Vitamin E (400IU).

Is her crop emptying?

Some folks that have sick hens that are struggling to recover also tube feed. A baby bird formula can be used or you can soak the normal feed and make it into a slurry.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/crop-feeding.75454/

Getting her out in the garden is a great idea, hopefully this will encourage her to move about a little. When a hen is not well, they often are content to just sit quietly. If that's the case, then I tend to leave them be, but do make sure they are eating/drinking. Sadly, sometimes no matter what we do, whatever condition that is causing the decline still takes over and ultimately we have to make a decision to say goodbye. I hope this is not the case and it's just taking her time to make a full recovery.

Please keep us posted on how she's doing.

 

[_Lyndsey_]

I got her to eat about 3 tablespoons of tinned fish today (good idea! she doesn't normally get treats like that so she seemed happy) and about a handfull of her pellets throughout the day!!! More than she's ate all week.

The vet gave me this product https://emeraid.com/vet/emeraid-omnivore/ The instructions say a 2:3 with warm water and then give a 90ml (based on her body weight) feeds 3 times a day! But i think (hope) this is for intensive care tube feeding otherwise i'll be on all day and i think she'd burst! Instead i gave her 5ml twice today.

No improvement yet, still can't stand herself up. Her walking is a bit more wobbily if anything once i've helped her to her feet.

She can't go on like this long term, if i'm not home to help her up she could end up stuck in one spot away from the water or stuck sitting in her own poop. Fingers crossed it's just a temporary reaction and not something more sinister.

 

[micstrachan]

I’m so sorry I missed this notification. I have not been on BYC much lately as I have been very busy. How is your hen doing now?

I have had my hens feel unwell for a couple days after an implant, but they also were drained at the same time. I always thought it was more from being drained than from the implant, but it’s hard to tell. Was your hen suffering from ascites and did she get any fluid removed? I would think she would’ve recovered from fluid loss by now, if she had any removed.

I did have a hen walk on her hocks during a heavy winter molt. She ended up needing a lot of help, including living inside and tube feeding for two weeks. However, she died a year later and I learned that she had advanced ovarian cancer. That actually might have explained why she took the molt so hard. She never came back into lay after that hard molt, and she was a young hen.

What was the reason for putting your hen on the hormones in the first place? I suspect whatever her illness is, combined with the molt, is really hard on her. I do suspect she’s walking on her hocks due it to nutritional deficiency. I would honestly give her anything she wanted to get her to eat. Could you offer her a little baby bird formula mash and see if she’ll take it? My birds think it’s a wonderful treat. If she needs calories, at this point I’d even offer her raw egg. Raw egg isn’t for everyone, though, so you might prefer to scramble it.

Are you providing any poultry vitamins?

 

[_Lyndsey_]

I’m so sorry I missed this notification. I have not been on BYC much lately as I have been very busy. How is your hen doing now?

I have had my hens feel unwell for a couple days after an implant, but they also were drained at the same time. I always thought it was more from being drained than from the implant, but it’s hard to tell. Was your hen suffering from ascites and did she get any fluid removed? I would think she would’ve recovered from fluid loss by now, if she had any removed.

I did have a hen walk on her hocks during a heavy winter molt. She ended up needing a lot of help, including living inside and tube feeding for two weeks. However, she died a year later and I learned that she had advanced ovarian cancer. That actually might have explained why she took the molt so hard. She never came back into lay after that hard molt, and she was a young hen.

What was the reason for putting your hen on the hormones in the first place? I suspect whatever her illness is, combined with the molt, is really hard on her. I do suspect she’s walking on her hocks due it to nutritional deficiency. I would honestly give her anything she wanted to get her to eat. Could you offer her a little baby bird formula mash and see if she’ll take it? My birds think it’s a wonderful treat. If she needs calories, at this point I’d even offer her raw egg. Raw egg isn’t for everyone, though, so you might prefer to scramble it.

Are you providing any poultry vitamins?

Thankyou for your reply. She's still with us and still not eating much.

Good news- the implant has so far stopped all lash eggs, soft shell eggs, egg membranes etc. Also reduced minor swelling. Vet just diagnosed laying issues without much investigation as to why. She's now definitley moulting! Feathers everywhere so I'm hoping that is now definitley the cause. Her weak legs have got better! Still weak and not jumping. But much improved. She's eating a little fish and scrambled egg and a few pellets a day.

Bad news - still not eating and loosing weight. Fingers crossed it doesn't last much longer.

 

[micstrachan]

Thankyou for your reply. She's still with us and still not eating much.

Good news- the implant has so far stopped all lash eggs, soft shell eggs, egg membranes etc. Also reduced minor swelling. Vet just diagnosed laying issues without much investigation as to why. She's now definitley moulting! Feathers everywhere so I'm hoping that is now definitley the cause. Her weak legs have got better! Still weak and not jumping. But much improved. She's eating a little fish and scrambled egg and a few pellets a day.

Bad news - still not eating and loosing weight. Fingers crossed it doesn't last much longer.

Thanks for the update. Poor girl. I would keep offering her a variety of nutritious foods to see if something sparks her appetite.

 

[ILoveDaffy]

Thankyou for your reply. She's still with us and still not eating much.

Good news- the implant has so far stopped all lash eggs, soft shell eggs, egg membranes etc. Also reduced minor swelling. Vet just diagnosed laying issues without much investigation as to why. She's now definitley moulting! Feathers everywhere so I'm hoping that is now definitley the cause. Her weak legs have got better! Still weak and not jumping. But much improved. She's eating a little fish and scrambled egg and a few pellets a day.

Bad news - still not eating and loosing weight. Fingers crossed it doesn't last much longer.

How is she doing.