lame chicken- no obvious injury- not Marek's or other neurological problem- not bumblefoot

[lcatty]

Hi folks. There are NO vets in my area that treat chickens. I've got a little hen who has been limping badly for the past two weeks. DH and I checked her out. It is not bumblefoot, and there are no obvious external injuries to leg or foot or thigh. I know it isn't Marek's or curly-toe paralysis (seen those). She holds her leg stiffly and kind of hops to avoid putting weight on that leg, which makes me think an injury to a joint (?) She is not in so much pain she cannot walk at all (which I would think would indicate a broken bone) but she clearly hurts. We tried gently maniuplating the leg, foot and joints to see which produced the most reaction but really, everything we did ticked her off the same amount, so we are still clueless. I'd really rather not put her down if I can avoid it.

This stinks. I wish I had a poultry vet. I might call one vet in my area who doesn't treat birds but will still look at any animal if it is in severe pain (she's got a big heart).

Any suggestions on how to attempt a diagnosis, or what I should do, would be appreciated. Like if you've splinted a chicken leg before and you have time to respond, let me know how you did it and if it worked.

Hope you all, and your chickens, are well.

: )

 

[azygous]

There are illnesses affecting chickens that are caused by viruses and they produce tumors where they often can't be seen. These viruses are often responsible for chickens turning up with mysterious "injuries" or even suddenly dying for no apparent reason.

A virus such as the one that my flock carries doesn't affect all chickens, just vulnerable ones will show symptoms. The problem with diagnosing this sort of thing is that it often requires a necropsy with pathogen cultures to pinpoint the disease. It's of tremendous value, therefore, to get a necropsy done on any chicken that dies suddenly of mysterious symptoms or even one who has shown no symptoms and dies suddenly.

The disease that affects my flock is lymphotic leucosis (LL), a very infectious avian leukemia. It produces tumors that can grow on organs and joints and even in the eyes. It can affect only selective individuals while the rest of the flock can be asymptomatic and otherwise healthy.

I currently have a hen with symptoms such as this thread talks about and the latest posters express concern over. My hen isn't the first in my flock to come up lame. I had another one I had to euthanize several years ago, and she lived with the slowly progressing lameness for years before she could no longer get around at all. I also had a rooster that became lame, but he went from bad to worse very quickly.

I can't tell you that it's LL that is affecting your chicken, but if the individual is healthy in every other respect, you might suspect it, especially if it doesn't get better, but progressively becomes worse over time. And if you've had your flock for a number of years, and occasionally one dies for no apparent reason, you might have even more reason to suspect LL is in your flock. Marek's is another such virus and it's extremely contagious, also. A necropsy is crucially important for the future of any flock showing such symptoms as are discussed on this thread.

 

[casportpony]

I don't want to sound rude, but how do you know it's not Marek's?

 

[lcatty]

Hi! No worries, you don't sound rude. I've seen Marek's. The paralysis on one side, usually wing drooping, legs eventually splay out front and back with curled toes. None of that here. Just hopping and holding the one leg out straight only when she's ambulatory. She doesn't do that when she sits. She also roosts with the others.

Plus, Marek's tends to be progressive, and no change with her.

I think it is broken or sprained or maybe a torn muscle but I cannot tell where the injury is.

 

[winchuck]

Sounds just like my little chicken. We watched a Youtube video on how to humanely kill a chicken and my husband did it. It is a woman who wears an apron and talks to the chicken all the time she is doing it in. He said she actually fell asleep while he was doing the deed. I didn't have my grown up pants on. He took his fish knife and stuck the artery along side of her neck holding her gently wrapped in a towel and then let her bleed out. There seemed so many reasons why she was ill that I felt ill equipped to figure it out. Her wing was drooping and her foot would be folded back like you described. I didn't see any choice when I found her in a pitiful heap. No one was picking on her; which was a good thing.

Today I sat on the ground and my flock immediately surrounded me all eager to check me out. I got a few pecks, so I guess I am not as loved as I am a food source. LOL I weeded today so they got a big pile of weeds to check out and seemed very happy to sort through what I dumped into their area. I like the idea of the help in making my compost piles break down with lots of chicken poop interlaced. Wow! Wonderful gardening in the future.

 

[CarolyneT]

I have lost 5 bantam hens, 2 bantam cockerels and 3 chickens to Marek's.

I am sharing what I have learnt as information is very sparse.

Marek's can effect poultry at ANY age.

Vaccinated birds are not safe. It doesn't always work and on top of that new strains are resilient to the vaccination

My last bantam died 5 months ago- the deaths in the Bantams started in May last year.

No new birds were added to the flock and I have no idea where it came from or how.

Hypercium, vitamins, anti-biotics, baby ibuprofen, hand feeding and watering does not work.

My leg horn did recover from paralysed neck with the above treatment, only to die 6 weeks later from internal tumours

Two of my chickens were struck down when in full molt, as they were obviously weakened and Marek's is opportunistic. My other chicken that died was a big strong healthy bird.

Symptoms:

None- just go quiet and drop dead within 24-48 hours
Huddled, head under wing and lethargic
Limp, lame and then paralysis
Gaping and struggling to swallow
Green poo
Eyes closed or half closed
Dirty, sore , featherless vent
Soft, thin or rubbery eggs
Stumbling, and using wings to balance
Towards the end they always have classic Marek's sign of curled foot / claw


https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq

 

[Eggcessive]

I brought home 8 week old Plymouth Rock chicks. Was supposed to be a roo and 3 pullets. Of course we ended up with 2 roos. One I named Patrick. Patrick got a tick near his eye and went slightly lame. Coincidence???? Not sure. He has gotten progressively better, and only looks a little ungainly now. Then the other Rockafella went lame, more one leg than the other. He had been perching, but now slept on the floor with Patrick. Girls were both fine, and still are. Then Rockafella just died one night. I had looked him over for ticks (no idea if Patrick's tick episode meant anything) and injuries. Nothing. He was the same on the night before he died, limping but functioning, eating and drinking. At a total loss with it all. Very sad to lose him.

There is a tick-born disease called spirochetosis which can cause lameness. Here are a few links to read:
http://www.developmentvet.aun.edu.eg/poultry diseases fourth year/ch1_15.htm
http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/poultry/avian_spirochetosis/overview_of_avian_spirochetosis.html

 

[TinTennessee]

I have one doing the same thing. No obvious signs of injury. Will hop around, no wing droop. I've isolated her from the others. It's been a week with no change. I'll be following this post to see if there's an outcome.

 

[LadyofChickRose]

Have you checked that her tendons are in allignment? I once had a chicken who symptoms match your description and the treatment is holding the leg back and straightning and massaging it. For my chicken it took a few months to heal.

 

[lcatty]

Maybe it is the tendons. I had time to sit down with her and check more closely myself. On the injured leg, her hock is quite swollen now- noticably bigger than the other side-and it is warm. I can move the joint and it does not cause a reaction. However it is obviously causing her a great deal of pain when she puts weight on it.

Maybe this does involve tendons. Could you pm me and tell me how you did the massage? Did you keep her still? I thought it might help to put her in a very small enclosure- guess I will have to purchase a rabbit cage or something similar tomorrow, maybe keep it on the porch.

I wish there were pain relievers you could give to chickens. I picked up the Chicken Health Handbook by Gail Damerow and I'm going to start searching in there.