Hen won't use one leg

[FlyingNunFarm]

I have a 3+ year old Brown Leg Horn. She had a swollen bumble foot I was working on when I noticed her limping. The hole itself was small but I got quite a bit of nasty out it.
Now she is refusing to use HER OTHER foot!

I don't see or feel anything wrong with it. Her grip in that foot is a little weaker then the other. I noticed tonight it's slightly colder. Not cold but not as warm as her other leg.
She roosts up high so I thought maybe she injured it. Once I treated her bumble foot I wondered if her bumble foot wasn't as swollen as it seemed, maybe her other foot didn't have as much padding.

So I padded her foot with a cotton ball. Refused to walk on it still.
I've tried stopping them from roosting so high. They all flung themselves at the roost anyway. Thought I'd have even more injured chickens.
Now installed a tree ramp from the high roost to a lower roost. I've seen some use it but I don't know if she does.

The only other oddity I noticed was a red patch of skin.

Not the best picture. But you can see her vent and the skin color around it, then directly below her vent her skin is red and warm. I'm honestly not sure what that's all about.
She will hop around and goes outside. Once out she tends to lay in some tall weeds. Her butt isn't dirty so she's not just laying out there sitting her own poop.
She has lost some weight and I'm fairly certain she's not laying.
No vet around and taking her away from the flock would stress her. She tolerates me but even hopping she tries to escape being picked up and handled.

Any ideas? Even far fetched. I'm lost on this one.
Thanks.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Is this the most current photo of the Bumblefoot? How have you been treating the foot?

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Not the most current but it doesn't look much different. I did the soak in Epsom salt water and massage attempt.
This is the foot she refuses to walk on.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Losing weight and not laying eggs - any bloat or feeling of fluid in the abdomen?

When you manipulate the leg, does it seem painful to her? I'm at a loss here. Losing weight is not good - so having a fecal float to rule out worms would be a good idea. It could be the leg is painful to move to food/water and she is just not taking care of herself or she could have something else going on internally. It's just so hard to know.

If taking her away from the flock will stress her greatly, you can try caging or kenneling her in the run - this way she has her own food/water , you can monitor her more closely and she is still with the flock. She may have sprained it and feels like she has to keep up with the others. I had a hen that hurt her leg and she seemed almost seemed relieved when I caged her, restricting her activity - she didn't have to put on that brave chicken face and try to keep up. I would make her rest most of the day, then let her out about an hour before roosting - she did very well, but this was a calm hen to begin with - if yours is flighty, then it may not work for you.

It won't hurt to provide her with some vitamins for a couple of days and give her some extra protein for a boost. The weight loss is concerning - going off feed, losing weight, not laying eggs, lameness (limping) can all point to reproductive disorders.

Keep us posted.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Belly feels normal. She doesn't seem to mind me checking the leg. To check her grip I put her on both hands and try to get her to use the foot she doesn't want to put down. Tonight I flipped her over, feet up, and held her like a football while I felt up and down both legs. She didn't freak out.
I think the weight loss is her not taking care of herself like you said. She moves around on her own but not much. She's doesn't try to keep up with the others. They have a large two part run. She stays in the area closer to the coop but sort of goes to one spot and doesn't move unless she has to.
I wonder if giving her some extra attention in the day then stopping her from roosting so high up would help. She doesn't mind short trips away from the flock if she can hear them close by. Pretty sure keeping her away for an extended time would stress her.
I can definitely give her some vitamins and extra protein. I'm not sure if she's completely stopped laying. She's not an egg a day layer and I have other white egg layers. I haven't caught her in a box though.
I'll see how it goes...
Thank You for the ideas.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Do you have enough room to cage or kennel her in the coop at night? Let her do her thing during the day, but "confine" her at night so she doesn't get so high. Since we are not in winter, there's not a great concern about being cold. I agree, a bird does so much better if they can be near the others.

You can also try giving her an aspirin solution to see if that makes a difference - if it's sprained, usually that will give enough relief for them to move around - might be a good way to at least determine whether it's injury or something else. Aspirin solution=81mg aspirin to 1quart of water (1low dose Bayer per quart of water).

I'm hoping that she just sprained it - maybe overcompensating for the bumblefoot and she landed wrong getting down from the roost.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

That's what I kept thinking. She landed wrong and sprained something. She's just not getting better.
I'll try the aspirin. Should I mix it up and give her a certain amount? Offer her what she will drink every 4 hours?
I'm going to make her some scrambled eggs for breakfast. Make sure she eats and gets some extra care.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Offer the aspirin water as her daily water. I'm not sure how well she will take it - it might taste bitter to her - you could sweeten it slightly with a little honey or sugar. I've only used the Bayer "melt" type aspirin which was orange flavored, so not too bitter since mine drank it.

Scrambled egg is a favorite of mine - for any I have under the weather, I drop Poultry Nutri-Drench on the egg and hand feed it This way I know they are getting the vitamins too. (Direct dose of Poultry Nutri-Drench is 1cc per 3lbs of weight).

I hope she gets better - It's so hard to know what's going on with her. The weight loss is the most concerning. Since she is not moving around that much, check her for any mites/lice too - they tend to not groom or dust bath with leg injuries either, so this makes them more prone to get overloaded.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

Well eggs, with Grubblies on top, went well. (Like there was doubt)
She balances amazingly well on one leg.

She let me hold her for a bit while she ate. I thought I'd give her good leg a rest. I did notice the very ends of her comb are dark.

No temperature difference I can feel. Doesn't mind if I touch it. (Anymore then the rest of her comb) Maybe it's the lovely weather we've been having. 80 in the day then 60 at night
She pooped too. Twice in about 5 min.

First one was pretty normal but the second...
I'm going to pick up aspirin and some more nutri drench. I can put her in a crate at night. I have a bigger one if I need to include a friend for a sleepover.
Thanks Again

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Second poop looks like cecal poop - it can be loose and stinky.