Injured chicken, can’t stand up, broken wing/leg?

[Liv's chickens]

hello everyone, today I went out to feed the chickens. We just had our first big snow, and for most of the chickens, it will be their first winter. Some of the girls finally came out of the coop today since it’s nicer weather and of course, they get very excited when treats and feed comes around, so they all jumped into the coop. Then I looked on the ground, and one of them was lying on the ground, feet out, and wings outstretched. I thought she was dead at first but then I saw her head move. She was being stepped on by the others, so I immediately picked her up and took her inside. She can’t stand on her legs, but if I hold her up, she seems to be able to touch one of her feet to the ground, but can’t put much weight on it. The other doesn’t want to bend and seems pretty stiff. Her wing is kind of floppy, and her comb is a bit bloody. She was very eager to drink, so I assumed she hadn’t gotten to any water in a while. I made a watery mash of pellets, plain yogurt, and water, but she doesn’t have much interest in it. She also opens her beak when breathing. I’m very confused on what has happened, and I’m going to try to keep her in a dark, warm place, checking on her often. If anyone has any idea what could have happened or has any suggestion, I would love to know. Thanks in advance. The picture above of what happens when I put her down. She really can’t stand at all.

 

[Melky]

If evidence of trauma would clean open wound with soap and water. Could use wound spray or antibiotic ointment. If more like fracture with no open injuries, you could splint wing or leg. Try to observe what parts the bird is using. Isolate with own feed/water with electrolytes. Skip treats for now. Offer poultry grit and oyster shell free choice. Would recommend seeing vet.

 

[Melky]

If unsure what to splint or how should just take in to vet. They can determine if something is broken and maybe reset.

 

[Liv's chickens]

If unsure what to splint or how should just take in to vet. They can determine if something is broken and maybe reset.

Yeah. Thank you for the advice. The problem is that I live way out in the country and there really isn’t any vet that takes in chickens that I know of. I will give updates and do as much as I can to help her.

 

[Liv's chickens]

If evidence of trauma would clean open wound with soap and water. Could use wound spray or antibiotic ointment. If more like fracture with no open injuries, you could splint wing or leg. Try to observe what parts the bird is using. Isolate with own feed/water with electrolytes. Skip treats for now. Offer poultry grit and oyster shell free choice. Would recommend seeing vet.

I haven’t had any birds die except I did have coccidiosis in the flock a few months ago, and my rooster died from that. I treated right away and the rest are fine now. I was pretty sure that one of my chickens died from Mareks last year before I moved this year. I kind of brushed off the the thought of Mareks but that could actually be a possibility. She did poop once and it was kind of runny and green, but did have white in it. I still occasionally find a bit of bloody poop in the chicken coop, which I was a bit concerned about but I was thinking maybe it could just be sheared stomach lining? I got my chicks from tractor supply so I’m not sure if they would have been vaccinated for that or not.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi.

I'm sorry to hear about your chicken. I was going to suggest Marek's as the likely cause before I got to your last post but if you have had a previous incident that you suspectwas Marek's then that makes it even more likely. As far as I am aware, Tractor Supply do not get vaccinated chicks but even if they did, it is still possible that she has Marek's.
There are a huge number of posts on the Emergency section at the moment that are looking like Marek's. I'm not sure if it is a particularly bad year for it or what!
How old is she? If she is an adolescent 12-30 weeks then that would make Marek's even more likely, but if she is older, she could have been infected last year and just be having an outbreak now perhaps as a result of moult or the stress of the weather change and being confined to the coop more. There is usually a stressor which triggers an outbreak.

Many people cull Marek's symptomatic birds to prevent them shedding more virus into the environment. I usually offer supportive care if they are bright eyed and eating and drinking. My experience is that they go down hill pretty quickly once they lose interest in food and I usually euthanize them within a day or two of them refusing to eat. I have had some birds make miraculous recoveries from quite debilitating Marek's symptoms/paralysis but they are prone to further attacks in the future. Only you can decide what is best for your flock. If it is Marek's she will be actively shedding the virus whilst she is symptomatic like this but if she recovers, it goes back to it's dormant phase and she is no longer infectious....it is a Herpes virus like cold sores in people.... you can only get the virus from contact with someone who is having an outbreak, but not when they are clear. Hope that makes sense. The best that I can suggest is a good quality vitamin supplement like Poultry Cell or Nutri Drench to support her immune system to help her fight it.
Good luck!

 

[Liv's chickens]

Hi.

I'm sorry to hear about your chicken. I was going to suggest Marek's as the likely cause before I got to your last post but if you have had a previous incident that you suspectwas Marek's then that makes it even more likely. As far as I am aware, Tractor Supply do not get vaccinated chicks but even if they did, it is still possible that she has Marek's.
There are a huge number of posts on the Emergency section at the moment that are looking like Marek's. I'm not sure if it is a particularly bad year for it or what!
How old is she? If she is an adolescent 12-30 weeks then that would make Marek's even more likely, but if she is older, she could have been infected last year and just be having an outbreak now perhaps as a result of moult or the stress of the weather change and being confined to the coop more. There is usually a stressor which triggers an outbreak.

Many people cull Marek's symptomatic birds to prevent them shedding more virus into the environment. I usually offer supportive care if they are bright eyed and eating and drinking. My experience is that they go down hill pretty quickly once they lose interest in food and I usually euthanize them within a day or two of them refusing to eat. I have had some birds make miraculous recoveries from quite debilitating Marek's symptoms/paralysis but they are prone to further attacks in the future. Only you can decide what is best for your flock. If it is Marek's she will be actively shedding the virus whilst she is symptomatic like this but if she recovers, it goes back to it's dormant phase and she is no longer infectious....it is a Herpes virus like cold sores in people.... you can only get the virus from contact with someone who is having an outbreak, but not when they are clear. Hope that makes sense. The best that I can suggest is a good quality vitamin supplement like Poultry Cell or Nutri Drench to support her immune system to help her fight it.
Good luck!

Thank you so much for all this information! I really appreciate it! I believe that she likely has it, as she is now showing almost all the symptoms. She has gotten worse and I don’t think she has much longer to live. I’m very sad to realize that this may be Mareks and I love my chickens so much and even drove three across the country when I moved because I couldn’t bear to give them away. They are the sweetest things and all 13 of them come running when I step out the door to see me. I’m not sure what I’ll do. It will definitely be heartbreaking if I loose this flock. I really hope that I may be able to save some. My three older hens are a few years old now, and all the rest I got this spring.

 

[rebrascora]

I'm so sorry that she is deteriorating but don't panic! I know that each individual loss is heart breaking but there is no reason to believe you will lose a large portion of your flock to it. If you had one with it a year ago and then this one now, it doesn't seem like it is a particularly aggressive strain. Keeping the remaining birds as happy and well nourished and stress free as possible is important in keeping the virus in it's dormant phase. Unfortunately there is not much you can do about things like the surge of hormones at point of lay or moult or the weather but ensuring that they have plenty of space and no adolescent cockerels harassing them is a good starting point.

 

[Liv's chickens]

I'm so sorry that she is deteriorating but don't panic! I know that each individual loss is heart breaking but there is no reason to believe you will lose a large portion of your flock to it. If you had one with it a year ago and then this one now, it doesn't seem like it is a particularly aggressive strain. Keeping the remaining birds as happy and well nourished and stress free as possible is important in keeping the virus in it's dormant phase. Unfortunately there is not much you can do about things like the surge of hormones at point of lay or moult or the weather but ensuring that they have plenty of space and no adolescent cockerels harassing them is a good starting point.

Ok thank you so much. That gives me a bit of hope that I may be able to save some. I will try my best to help them. So far, the rest of the flock seems to be fine and they are free range so they can have as much space as they want, as well as a coop. I will give updates. Thanks again.

 

[Liv's chickens]

Here’s an update - my hen continued to become worse and I didn’t want her to suffer. I knew she couldn’t get better. We put her down yesterday. I was very sad to do this but I know it just isn’t fair to have her suffer. We put her down as humanely and less stressful as possible. So far, all the other chickens are actually looking just fine! I do have one hen who was breathing kind of weird, but I’ve had her quarantined for a few days and she’s eating and drinking.. any suggestions? Is she safe to go back with the others? I’m not sure what to do, if the rest survive, will I not be able to get any more chickens until I no longer have them?