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

[CarolyneT]

Yes unfortunately, all my chickens were vaccinated, and all bought at the same time in March 2013

 

[jucat60]

Hi I have a Plymouth Rock hen she is only young and she too is limping on one leg. It improved really well for about a week and a half and now she is reluctantly walking rather to sit. No obvious injuries? Any input would be really appreciated thank you. Would in breeding do this we got her from a place where that may have been the case

 

[i-love-my-honey]

I have a roo that is 11 months old and is suddenly lame. He has a no-crow collar on and often backs up to try to get it off. It does control his crow, but if he roots too much it inhibits his oxygen a bit and his comb gets dark at the end. I have tried it looser but he crows. Since I cannot officially have chickens, I figure it is best for him to have a happy life than be dead.

Anyway, back to the limp. Toes are not curled, leg is not stretched out, I see no problem with eyes. Any thoughts?

 

[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.

 

[i-love-my-honey]

Unfortunately I learned too late what the real problem was. As I mentioned, he had a no crow collar on. What I did not realize, I guess, is that when it got cold it inhibited his ability to get oxygen even more. We went on vacation for a week. When we got back he had frostbite SO badly he had not eaten during most of that week and was barely alive. Having never out a chicken down, it was a very traumatic experience, as it did not happen easily. Warning - in order to keep a no-crow collar on a chicken, it has to be SO tight they will not survive. :0 (

 

[veramadera]

I have a weird situation. I've been integrating my little flock, I have two runner ducks that were raised with two Polish chicks, so they all get along. They're about 3 months old now. I have a group of 7 younger chicks (ranging from 3-7 weeks) that I've been integrating for the past couple weeks. The littles have a small pen of their own inside the main run, with a small door, so they can go in and out as they need, and the big girls can't reach them. All's been going well for the past week or so, with the usual territorial "negotiations". The ducks at first pretty much ignored the littles - the hens were pecky, but not aggressive. However, I've now seen the ducks gng up on the littles twice. They seemed to do a bit of stalking, and isolate one chick from the group and play a little "chickie in the middle". This just started in the past couple days. This morning, right after I checked on them and fed them, I heard loud distress cheeps. They had a little Polish chick, (4 weeks old now) isolated next to their swimming pool. The chick was on the dray land, but was soaked, and the ducks had her trapped between them. They were literally grabbing at her, and seemed to be trying to toss her back in the water. Her only way out was through the water and she couldn't stand up. I got her out of there, and moved the ducks in a separate area. Her left foot was balled tightly up, she was ice cold and her whole body was in spasms. She was making little coughing noises. It's been about two hours since then, and we've been holding her on the couch, wrapped in a towel and snuggled with a warm rice bag. Her foot has opened up and I can't detect any kind of injury. She's dry now, and warm, but she's still shaking. No coughing - she's making quiet cheeping sounds. She seems able to stand and perch normally, but prefers to stay still in her little warm nest.

First question: Has anyone seen this kind of behavior from ducks? I've had a mixed flock for years, but have always raised them together from the start, so never had such issues. In the past, the chickens have usually been so hard on the ducks that I decided to go with the less aggressive chickens to protect them. I have Polish, Silkies and bantam cochins now.

Second question: Any ideas what I should look for with this little chick? She was the "baddest" of the littles, so active and bold. She's not herself now, and I'm so concerned for her. I'm afraid she might have aspirated some water, or maybe has a sprain.

Thanks everyone!

 

[R-V]

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.

: )

Did u get a reply to this? I have a chicken with the same problem and don’t know what to do for her.

 

[Kiki]

Hi I have a Plymouth Rock hen she is only young and she too is limping on one leg. It improved really well for about a week and a half and now she is reluctantly walking rather to sit. No obvious injuries? Any input would be really appreciated thank you. Would in breeding do this we got her from a place where that may have been the case

What happened with this bird?

 

[jucat60]

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

Thanks for this post. It seems to be such a horrible disease. I lost a Plymouth Pullet no symptoms just withdrawn for a few days and another last week stumbling sometimes. Had postmortem done probable Mareks I have 40 chickens,

 

[jucat60]

Hi I have a Plymouth Rock hen she is only young and she too is limping on one leg. It improved really well for about a week and a half and now she is reluctantly walking rather to sit. No obvious injuries? Any input would be really appreciated thank you. Would in breeding do this we got her from a place where that may have been the case[/