Lame chicken (not Marek's) - A rare account of RECOVERY.

lulu99

Chirping
Nov 19, 2018
12
23
59
Vermont
I have a chicken who went suddenly lame, with no apparent initial cause, and who has been making a stunning recovery. I'm writing this for those folks who are, like I did, spending frustrating hours searching forums and articles trying to find an answer as to what to do with their bird.

My now 9-month old Ameraucana, George, is a pet -- one of six. She's not livestock, I am on very friendly terms with all my chickens -- so 'culling' was not my solution. It became clear fairly early on that she did not have Marek's, and that we were dealing with a peculiar injury, a virus, a vitamin deficiency, or perhaps a congenital defect. I don't know what else it could be.

I found so many forum posts by people with similar mysteries, questions, concerns, advice, but of course the resolution was almost never there, unless the chicken died or was put down. Every other post I read just ended in the midst of the dilemma, with unanswered questions - except one, a guy had a lame rooster and spent all winter caring for him, and by spring the rooster had recovered and was pretty much back to normal. It took three months or more, and the guy said he just stuck it out, gave his bird a lot of attention - vitamins, meat, leg rubs, range of motion exercises, chicken physical therapy basically - and it worked. I don't recall if he knew the source of the problem, injury or whatever. But this one single very-hard-to-find positive resolution was so encouraging that I put faith in his advice and now after almost three months my hen is doing great. So I thought it was important that I give the loving keeper of a lame hen a tale with a happy outcome.

It's now February 2nd, and her lameness began middle of November. She was at the time not quite 7 months old. I noticed one day she was stomping-shuffling rather than walking, not lifting her legs. Soon she could no longer climb the ramp to the roost, and so I was lifting her on and off every night and morning for about a week. She was getting around, she just had no ability to bear weight on each leg separately. She couldn't scratch or hop up or jump down and was tripping over her own toes.

After that first week she had a legitimate injury trying to launch off the threshold of the woodshed, which is about 8-10 inches high. She crashed into the side of the barn and hurt her left leg. A visit to the vet revealed neuropathy and inflammation on her hip and hock joints, and she began three weeks of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. There was no bone injury, though the vet suggested she may have had a pelvic problem before the leg incident. Marek's was quickly ruled out.

I am lucky in that I work from home so I could spend time taking care of her, and also their coop is a large open one that I can go inside (8x8x8 feet). I live in the mountains in Vermont so the winter has been pretty harsh. Anyway, these are some of the things I did to help her out, and though it was extremely challenging at times, I am so glad I persevered because she is a lovely creature and a great friend, and is doing very well now.

She was only confined indoors for about a week in early December. After the crash landing she was unable to stand at all, so after the vet I brought her in to try to keep her comfortable, make sure she took meds and had adequate food/water, and so I could figure out what to do. I rebuilt parts of the coop and made a handicapped roost, and on the first warm night I reintegrated her with her five friends, which was not easy, but not as bad as some stories I've read. It took patience and my presence, but they accepted her by the second day.

Every day I would go to the coop and sit with her on my lap and rub her legs, gently moving them through their natural motions. I would try to do this at least once a day, often three times. When winter set in it was hard, as the coop could get down to 0-10 degrees. I installed heat panels ("cozy coop") by their roosting area and a ceramic heat emitter overhead to help take the edge off.

Incidentally, my chickens live in converted woodshed (predator-proofed and winterized against wind and drafts), not a small confined coop, and they are doing just fine in the winter. I was very anxious about how they would fare (this is my first ever experience with chickens), as it is often below zero out and gets down to the negative teens-twenties overnight. Some days it doesn't go above single digits all day long. But their coop has stayed consistently about 15 degrees warmer than outside and they are fine. (I suffer way more than they do, haha.)

I experimented a lot to improve George's diet, giving her vitamin supplements (Poly-vi-sol without iron, drops in the water), and especially B and E in the form of black oil sunflower seeds (lots). They are rich in protein, omega-6 fatty acids, and fiber, as well as B vitamins (thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, B6), vitamins A, E, K and folate, minerals and amino acids (read this - https://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/black-oil-sunflower-seeds.html). I believe this really helps, and I imagine the hens must know it because they love them and I assume it's not because they taste or smell great, but who knows.

I also gave her meat, which I think was a HUGE help (chickens are NOT vegetarians!), in the form of sardines (in olive oil, NO SALT) or high-quality cat food. Some may balk at this, but I've seen a chicken swallow a frog whole, so. I make what I call "hen haggis" - cat food mixed with corn kernels and oats. I'll add a bit of hot water and stir it up for their breakfast in the freezing cold. (This is all in addition to commercial mash as their regular winter feed.) EVERY TIME I've fed George meat she becomes bolder and more energetic, more confident.

Over the course of December and January, I spent a lot of time observing her, learning her behavior, trying to discern her wants and needs, moving her from place to place in the coop, helping her adjust. Occasionally as she improved and wanted to move more, I gave her 20-40mg buffered aspirin (baby aspirin or low-dose chewable, orange flavored worked well). I probably ought to have tried that earlier on. The physical therapy and also my benevolence and role as 'transport fairy' & defender against bullying all seemed to contribute to the confidence that helped her gain strength. I made sure she ate and drank plenty, distracting the others with treats while I fed her. I carefully trimmed her toenails, which had overgrown a bit from disuse.

So I stuck it out with George. I had no idea then and have no clear idea now whatever caused her mysterious lameness, and often I lamented that she might never get better. I can only guess it was either an odd injury, maybe to her back or pelvis, or vitamin deficiency. She has the same diet as the others, so perhaps she is just congenitally prone to require more of certain things. I have read that little chicks can suffer rickets, but never have found anything concerning older pullets or grown hens. I really don't know what happened.

Nevertheless, after two and a half months of care, she walks almost normally, maintains her balance without falling on her face, flaps her way up onto a hay bale and somehow makes it down again (I have yet to see that part). She has a dust bath, stretches without falling, shakes her feathers out, and just a couple days ago I saw her trying to scratch in the dirt on the floor of their coop. She couldn't do ANY of this up to about ten days ago. The past few days she seems to be recovering increasingly rapidly. Chickens are mysterious.

This was kinda long-winded, but I want to be detailed since I don't know how available I will be to respond to any comments or questions, as I am not the type to keep up with social media very well. But I will try to remember to check now and then. So please do ask questions or leave comments, and I hope that others who have had a hen recover from the mysteries of sudden lameness that seem a surprisingly common concern will also write about their little friend's recovery. I wish I'd had something like this to read two months ago.

The best outcome (apart from the fact that she is about 80% back to normal) is that I really got to know these creatures, and develop very individual relationships with them. I try to speak and understand their language, and I feel loved by them, and I don't believe as some people do that it's only because I provide food. I feel as though we know each other, and for me an interspecies bond is one of the great achievements a person can hope for in this life.
 
I have a chicken who went suddenly lame, with no apparent initial cause, and who has been making a stunning recovery. I'm writing this for those folks who are, like I did, spending frustrating hours searching forums and articles trying to find an answer as to what to do with their bird.

My now 9-month old Ameraucana, George, is a pet -- one of six. She's not livestock, I am on very friendly terms with all my chickens -- so 'culling' was not my solution. It became clear fairly early on that she did not have Marek's, and that we were dealing with a peculiar injury, a virus, a vitamin deficiency, or perhaps a congenital defect. I don't know what else it could be.

I found so many forum posts by people with similar mysteries, questions, concerns, advice, but of course the resolution was almost never there, unless the chicken died or was put down. Every other post I read just ended in the midst of the dilemma, with unanswered questions - except one, a guy had a lame rooster and spent all winter caring for him, and by spring the rooster had recovered and was pretty much back to normal. It took three months or more, and the guy said he just stuck it out, gave his bird a lot of attention - vitamins, meat, leg rubs, range of motion exercises, chicken physical therapy basically - and it worked. I don't recall if he knew the source of the problem, injury or whatever. But this one single very-hard-to-find positive resolution was so encouraging that I put faith in his advice and now after almost three months my hen is doing great. So I thought it was important that I give the loving keeper of a lame hen a tale with a happy outcome.

It's now February 2nd, and her lameness began middle of November. She was at the time not quite 7 months old. I noticed one day she was stomping-shuffling rather than walking, not lifting her legs. Soon she could no longer climb the ramp to the roost, and so I was lifting her on and off every night and morning for about a week. She was getting around, she just had no ability to bear weight on each leg separately. She couldn't scratch or hop up or jump down and was tripping over her own toes.

After that first week she had a legitimate injury trying to launch off the threshold of the woodshed, which is about 8-10 inches high. She crashed into the side of the barn and hurt her left leg. A visit to the vet revealed neuropathy and inflammation on her hip and hock joints, and she began three weeks of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. There was no bone injury, though the vet suggested she may have had a pelvic problem before the leg incident. Marek's was quickly ruled out.

I am lucky in that I work from home so I could spend time taking care of her, and also their coop is a large open one that I can go inside (8x8x8 feet). I live in the mountains in Vermont so the winter has been pretty harsh. Anyway, these are some of the things I did to help her out, and though it was extremely challenging at times, I am so glad I persevered because she is a lovely creature and a great friend, and is doing very well now.

She was only confined indoors for about a week in early December. After the crash landing she was unable to stand at all, so after the vet I brought her in to try to keep her comfortable, make sure she took meds and had adequate food/water, and so I could figure out what to do. I rebuilt parts of the coop and made a handicapped roost, and on the first warm night I reintegrated her with her five friends, which was not easy, but not as bad as some stories I've read. It took patience and my presence, but they accepted her by the second day.

Every day I would go to the coop and sit with her on my lap and rub her legs, gently moving them through their natural motions. I would try to do this at least once a day, often three times. When winter set in it was hard, as the coop could get down to 0-10 degrees. I installed heat panels ("cozy coop") by their roosting area and a ceramic heat emitter overhead to help take the edge off.

Incidentally, my chickens live in converted woodshed (predator-proofed and winterized against wind and drafts), not a small confined coop, and they are doing just fine in the winter. I was very anxious about how they would fare (this is my first ever experience with chickens), as it is often below zero out and gets down to the negative teens-twenties overnight. Some days it doesn't go above single digits all day long. But their coop has stayed consistently about 15 degrees warmer than outside and they are fine. (I suffer way more than they do, haha.)

I experimented a lot to improve George's diet, giving her vitamin supplements (Poly-vi-sol without iron, drops in the water), and especially B and E in the form of black oil sunflower seeds (lots). They are rich in protein, omega-6 fatty acids, and fiber, as well as B vitamins (thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, B6), vitamins A, E, K and folate, minerals and amino acids (read this - https://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/black-oil-sunflower-seeds.html). I believe this really helps, and I imagine the hens must know it because they love them and I assume it's not because they taste or smell great, but who knows.

I also gave her meat, which I think was a HUGE help (chickens are NOT vegetarians!), in the form of sardines (in olive oil, NO SALT) or high-quality cat food. Some may balk at this, but I've seen a chicken swallow a frog whole, so. I make what I call "hen haggis" - cat food mixed with corn kernels and oats. I'll add a bit of hot water and stir it up for their breakfast in the freezing cold. (This is all in addition to commercial mash as their regular winter feed.) EVERY TIME I've fed George meat she becomes bolder and more energetic, more confident.

Over the course of December and January, I spent a lot of time observing her, learning her behavior, trying to discern her wants and needs, moving her from place to place in the coop, helping her adjust. Occasionally as she improved and wanted to move more, I gave her 20-40mg buffered aspirin (baby aspirin or low-dose chewable, orange flavored worked well). I probably ought to have tried that earlier on. The physical therapy and also my benevolence and role as 'transport fairy' & defender against bullying all seemed to contribute to the confidence that helped her gain strength. I made sure she ate and drank plenty, distracting the others with treats while I fed her. I carefully trimmed her toenails, which had overgrown a bit from disuse.

So I stuck it out with George. I had no idea then and have no clear idea now whatever caused her mysterious lameness, and often I lamented that she might never get better. I can only guess it was either an odd injury, maybe to her back or pelvis, or vitamin deficiency. She has the same diet as the others, so perhaps she is just congenitally prone to require more of certain things. I have read that little chicks can suffer rickets, but never have found anything concerning older pullets or grown hens. I really don't know what happened.

Nevertheless, after two and a half months of care, she walks almost normally, maintains her balance without falling on her face, flaps her way up onto a hay bale and somehow makes it down again (I have yet to see that part). She has a dust bath, stretches without falling, shakes her feathers out, and just a couple days ago I saw her trying to scratch in the dirt on the floor of their coop. She couldn't do ANY of this up to about ten days ago. The past few days she seems to be recovering increasingly rapidly. Chickens are mysterious.

This was kinda long-winded, but I want to be detailed since I don't know how available I will be to respond to any comments or questions, as I am not the type to keep up with social media very well. But I will try to remember to check now and then. So please do ask questions or leave comments, and I hope that others who have had a hen recover from the mysteries of sudden lameness that seem a surprisingly common concern will also write about their little friend's recovery. I wish I'd had something like this to read two months ago.

The best outcome (apart from the fact that she is about 80% back to normal) is that I really got to know these creatures, and develop very individual relationships with them. I try to speak and understand their language, and I feel loved by them, and I don't believe as some people do that it's only because I provide food. I feel as though we know each other, and for me an interspecies bond is one of the great achievements a person can hope for in this life.

"I wish I'd had something like this to read two months ago."
I've dealt with two hens that have gone lame now. The story below is of one.
You invariably get told it's Mareks and the hen will probably die.
I was in a similar position to you and the only advice I could find on the Internet was sketchy and ill informed at best.
Interestingly my wonderful vet Gloria told me she thought Mareks very unlikely and had a bit of a rant about Internet advisors, a lesson I took to heart.
There are other reason for lameness and one of them is stress. Both the lame hens I've had have recovered. They didn't have Mareks, nor any internal problems that may have placed pressure on their nerves.
Well done you.:)
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/shadrachs-stories.1263724/#post-20314661
 
Thank you for posting the history of your hen’s injury and recovery. It ‘s good that you had time to help in rehabilitating and giving nutritional support.
 
Thank you so much for this story!! I am going through something very similar right now.

My girl went lame very similarly to yours (Hobbling at first, then worsening) back on November 24th, 2021, and I've taken her to two different vets, two times each. They couldn't find any swelling, and an x-ray showed no breakage, so they thought it was Marek's, but that Goose may be one of the few chickens that survive it, as she's two months into it and is still fine... just lame.

She has been kept inside (I have three aggressive roos that would hurt her... and I thought it was Marek's so I wanted to isolate) since showing symptoms, but I teach, so I don't work from home. I'm looking forward to the summer so that I can hopefully full-time work to rehab her, but I spend all of my time at home doing a lot of what you mentioned above. However, I'm going to start feeding her more meat, like you mentioned. I'd done that in the early stages, and the first vet (who I no longer trust or go to) was really weird about me doing that, though she couldn't tell me why she was so adverse to the idea.

Anywho, thank you so much for your account! It really is a beacon of light to think she can partially recover, as rehabbing her and taking care of a lame indoor chicken is a lot of hard work.
 
I would love to hear more about your defender of bullying tips. :)

I really enjoyed reading this. I have a chicken in the house and need to reintergrate her back to the flock. She has been out the flock probably around 2.5 months age to current and the flock is now around 5 months old. Everytime I have tried she gets bullied. I usually take her away at this point. Might not be the best option. :(
I have a small mobile coop that really doesn't give way for alot of modifications. They are in an electric fence section of free range all day long with no real hiding or get away options (to do list) but it all needs to be easily mobile as I move my chickens around the yard every couple weeks or month.
I let my girl out at points throughout the day and she has the rest of the yard and she can easily interact with the flock behind the electric fence.

I want for her to be back in the flock I know it's the best place for her but man she is a hoot in the house. I've learned alot about her and her behavior. 🥰
 
Hello! Not sure if you still check your account but I loved your story and am dealing with something similar. Do you know where I can find the account of this guy with a lame rooster? I would love to see the massages and other things he did. Thank you so much!
 
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I have a chicken who went suddenly lame, with no apparent initial cause, and who has been making a stunning recovery. I'm writing this for those folks who are, like I did, spending frustrating hours searching forums and articles trying to find an answer as to what to do with their bird.

My now 9-month old Ameraucana, George, is a pet -- one of six. She's not livestock, I am on very friendly terms with all my chickens -- so 'culling' was not my solution. It became clear fairly early on that she did not have Marek's, and that we were dealing with a peculiar injury, a virus, a vitamin deficiency, or perhaps a congenital defect. I don't know what else it could be.

I found so many forum posts by people with similar mysteries, questions, concerns, advice, but of course the resolution was almost never there, unless the chicken died or was put down. Every other post I read just ended in the midst of the dilemma, with unanswered questions - except one, a guy had a lame rooster and spent all winter caring for him, and by spring the rooster had recovered and was pretty much back to normal. It took three months or more, and the guy said he just stuck it out, gave his bird a lot of attention - vitamins, meat, leg rubs, range of motion exercises, chicken physical therapy basically - and it worked. I don't recall if he knew the source of the problem, injury or whatever. But this one single very-hard-to-find positive resolution was so encouraging that I put faith in his advice and now after almost three months my hen is doing great. So I thought it was important that I give the loving keeper of a lame hen a tale with a happy outcome.

It's now February 2nd, and her lameness began middle of November. She was at the time not quite 7 months old. I noticed one day she was stomping-shuffling rather than walking, not lifting her legs. Soon she could no longer climb the ramp to the roost, and so I was lifting her on and off every night and morning for about a week. She was getting around, she just had no ability to bear weight on each leg separately. She couldn't scratch or hop up or jump down and was tripping over her own toes.

After that first week she had a legitimate injury trying to launch off the threshold of the woodshed, which is about 8-10 inches high. She crashed into the side of the barn and hurt her left leg. A visit to the vet revealed neuropathy and inflammation on her hip and hock joints, and she began three weeks of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. There was no bone injury, though the vet suggested she may have had a pelvic problem before the leg incident. Marek's was quickly ruled out.

I am lucky in that I work from home so I could spend time taking care of her, and also their coop is a large open one that I can go inside (8x8x8 feet). I live in the mountains in Vermont so the winter has been pretty harsh. Anyway, these are some of the things I did to help her out, and though it was extremely challenging at times, I am so glad I persevered because she is a lovely creature and a great friend, and is doing very well now.

She was only confined indoors for about a week in early December. After the crash landing she was unable to stand at all, so after the vet I brought her in to try to keep her comfortable, make sure she took meds and had adequate food/water, and so I could figure out what to do. I rebuilt parts of the coop and made a handicapped roost, and on the first warm night I reintegrated her with her five friends, which was not easy, but not as bad as some stories I've read. It took patience and my presence, but they accepted her by the second day.

Every day I would go to the coop and sit with her on my lap and rub her legs, gently moving them through their natural motions. I would try to do this at least once a day, often three times. When winter set in it was hard, as the coop could get down to 0-10 degrees. I installed heat panels ("cozy coop") by their roosting area and a ceramic heat emitter overhead to help take the edge off.

Incidentally, my chickens live in converted woodshed (predator-proofed and winterized against wind and drafts), not a small confined coop, and they are doing just fine in the winter. I was very anxious about how they would fare (this is my first ever experience with chickens), as it is often below zero out and gets down to the negative teens-twenties overnight. Some days it doesn't go above single digits all day long. But their coop has stayed consistently about 15 degrees warmer than outside and they are fine. (I suffer way more than they do, haha.)

I experimented a lot to improve George's diet, giving her vitamin supplements (Poly-vi-sol without iron, drops in the water), and especially B and E in the form of black oil sunflower seeds (lots). They are rich in protein, omega-6 fatty acids, and fiber, as well as B vitamins (thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, B6), vitamins A, E, K and folate, minerals and amino acids (read this - https://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/black-oil-sunflower-seeds.html). I believe this really helps, and I imagine the hens must know it because they love them and I assume it's not because they taste or smell great, but who knows.

I also gave her meat, which I think was a HUGE help (chickens are NOT vegetarians!), in the form of sardines (in olive oil, NO SALT) or high-quality cat food. Some may balk at this, but I've seen a chicken swallow a frog whole, so. I make what I call "hen haggis" - cat food mixed with corn kernels and oats. I'll add a bit of hot water and stir it up for their breakfast in the freezing cold. (This is all in addition to commercial mash as their regular winter feed.) EVERY TIME I've fed George meat she becomes bolder and more energetic, more confident.

Over the course of December and January, I spent a lot of time observing her, learning her behavior, trying to discern her wants and needs, moving her from place to place in the coop, helping her adjust. Occasionally as she improved and wanted to move more, I gave her 20-40mg buffered aspirin (baby aspirin or low-dose chewable, orange flavored worked well). I probably ought to have tried that earlier on. The physical therapy and also my benevolence and role as 'transport fairy' & defender against bullying all seemed to contribute to the confidence that helped her gain strength. I made sure she ate and drank plenty, distracting the others with treats while I fed her. I carefully trimmed her toenails, which had overgrown a bit from disuse.

So I stuck it out with George. I had no idea then and have no clear idea now whatever caused her mysterious lameness, and often I lamented that she might never get better. I can only guess it was either an odd injury, maybe to her back or pelvis, or vitamin deficiency. She has the same diet as the others, so perhaps she is just congenitally prone to require more of certain things. I have read that little chicks can suffer rickets, but never have found anything concerning older pullets or grown hens. I really don't know what happened.

Nevertheless, after two and a half months of care, she walks almost normally, maintains her balance without falling on her face, flaps her way up onto a hay bale and somehow makes it down again (I have yet to see that part). She has a dust bath, stretches without falling, shakes her feathers out, and just a couple days ago I saw her trying to scratch in the dirt on the floor of their coop. She couldn't do ANY of this up to about ten days ago. The past few days she seems to be recovering increasingly rapidly. Chickens are mysterious.

This was kinda long-winded, but I want to be detailed since I don't know how available I will be to respond to any comments or questions, as I am not the type to keep up with social media very well. But I will try to remember to check now and then. So please do ask questions or leave comments, and I hope that others who have had a hen recover from the mysteries of sudden lameness that seem a surprisingly common concern will also write about their little friend's recovery. I wish I'd had something like this to read two months ago.

The best outcome (apart from the fact that she is about 80% back to normal) is that I really got to know these creatures, and develop very individual relationships with them. I try to speak and understand their language, and I feel loved by them, and I don't believe as some people do that it's only because I provide food. I feel as though we know each other, and for me an interspecies bond is one of the great achievements a person can hope for in this life.
I too have a lame bird. I have her in the house as I am trying to figure out what is wrong. I was bathing her the other night though and noticed she has mites. I have heard that mites can cause lameness. I am going to have to put her in the garage I think due to not wanting mites to spread in our house! It stinks that it is winter in MN however so wonder if I should set up a heat lamp like the chickens in the coop have. My question I guess I have is if the lameness is due to mites and I am able to get rid of them…will the lameness reverse? I can not find many articles speaking of this. I don’t want to put her down but don’t want her to suffer either if there is no hope of recovery. I will also have to attend to the fact that if she has mites I am sure that the other chickens in the coop do as well. She is my favorite hen who i garden with…makes me so sad to see her like this.
 
I’m here to say thank you for this, chickens are indeed mysterious, I’ve lost two bantams to lameness, and never figured out what it was. They were both from the same hatch so I chalked it down to genetics and psychology(?? - my second one had a scare from a hawk attack). I hope this never happens again, but if it does, I’ll try what you did and have more hope for the outcome. :hugs
 
I have a chicken who went suddenly lame, with no apparent initial cause, and who has been making a stunning recovery. I'm writing this for those folks who are, like I did, spending frustrating hours searching forums and articles trying to find an answer as to what to do with their bird.

My now 9-month old Ameraucana, George, is a pet -- one of six. She's not livestock, I am on very friendly terms with all my chickens -- so 'culling' was not my solution. It became clear fairly early on that she did not have Marek's, and that we were dealing with a peculiar injury, a virus, a vitamin deficiency, or perhaps a congenital defect. I don't know what else it could be.

I found so many forum posts by people with similar mysteries, questions, concerns, advice, but of course the resolution was almost never there, unless the chicken died or was put down. Every other post I read just ended in the midst of the dilemma, with unanswered questions - except one, a guy had a lame rooster and spent all winter caring for him, and by spring the rooster had recovered and was pretty much back to normal. It took three months or more, and the guy said he just stuck it out, gave his bird a lot of attention - vitamins, meat, leg rubs, range of motion exercises, chicken physical therapy basically - and it worked. I don't recall if he knew the source of the problem, injury or whatever. But this one single very-hard-to-find positive resolution was so encouraging that I put faith in his advice and now after almost three months my hen is doing great. So I thought it was important that I give the loving keeper of a lame hen a tale with a happy outcome.

It's now February 2nd, and her lameness began middle of November. She was at the time not quite 7 months old. I noticed one day she was stomping-shuffling rather than walking, not lifting her legs. Soon she could no longer climb the ramp to the roost, and so I was lifting her on and off every night and morning for about a week. She was getting around, she just had no ability to bear weight on each leg separately. She couldn't scratch or hop up or jump down and was tripping over her own toes.

After that first week she had a legitimate injury trying to launch off the threshold of the woodshed, which is about 8-10 inches high. She crashed into the side of the barn and hurt her left leg. A visit to the vet revealed neuropathy and inflammation on her hip and hock joints, and she began three weeks of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. There was no bone injury, though the vet suggested she may have had a pelvic problem before the leg incident. Marek's was quickly ruled out.

I am lucky in that I work from home so I could spend time taking care of her, and also their coop is a large open one that I can go inside (8x8x8 feet). I live in the mountains in Vermont so the winter has been pretty harsh. Anyway, these are some of the things I did to help her out, and though it was extremely challenging at times, I am so glad I persevered because she is a lovely creature and a great friend, and is doing very well now.

She was only confined indoors for about a week in early December. After the crash landing she was unable to stand at all, so after the vet I brought her in to try to keep her comfortable, make sure she took meds and had adequate food/water, and so I could figure out what to do. I rebuilt parts of the coop and made a handicapped roost, and on the first warm night I reintegrated her with her five friends, which was not easy, but not as bad as some stories I've read. It took patience and my presence, but they accepted her by the second day.

Every day I would go to the coop and sit with her on my lap and rub her legs, gently moving them through their natural motions. I would try to do this at least once a day, often three times. When winter set in it was hard, as the coop could get down to 0-10 degrees. I installed heat panels ("cozy coop") by their roosting area and a ceramic heat emitter overhead to help take the edge off.

Incidentally, my chickens live in converted woodshed (predator-proofed and winterized against wind and drafts), not a small confined coop, and they are doing just fine in the winter. I was very anxious about how they would fare (this is my first ever experience with chickens), as it is often below zero out and gets down to the negative teens-twenties overnight. Some days it doesn't go above single digits all day long. But their coop has stayed consistently about 15 degrees warmer than outside and they are fine. (I suffer way more than they do, haha.)

I experimented a lot to improve George's diet, giving her vitamin supplements (Poly-vi-sol without iron, drops in the water), and especially B and E in the form of black oil sunflower seeds (lots). They are rich in protein, omega-6 fatty acids, and fiber, as well as B vitamins (thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, B6), vitamins A, E, K and folate, minerals and amino acids (read this - https://www.understanding-horse-nutrition.com/black-oil-sunflower-seeds.html). I believe this really helps, and I imagine the hens must know it because they love them and I assume it's not because they taste or smell great, but who knows.

I also gave her meat, which I think was a HUGE help (chickens are NOT vegetarians!), in the form of sardines (in olive oil, NO SALT) or high-quality cat food. Some may balk at this, but I've seen a chicken swallow a frog whole, so. I make what I call "hen haggis" - cat food mixed with corn kernels and oats. I'll add a bit of hot water and stir it up for their breakfast in the freezing cold. (This is all in addition to commercial mash as their regular winter feed.) EVERY TIME I've fed George meat she becomes bolder and more energetic, more confident.

Over the course of December and January, I spent a lot of time observing her, learning her behavior, trying to discern her wants and needs, moving her from place to place in the coop, helping her adjust. Occasionally as she improved and wanted to move more, I gave her 20-40mg buffered aspirin (baby aspirin or low-dose chewable, orange flavored worked well). I probably ought to have tried that earlier on. The physical therapy and also my benevolence and role as 'transport fairy' & defender against bullying all seemed to contribute to the confidence that helped her gain strength. I made sure she ate and drank plenty, distracting the others with treats while I fed her. I carefully trimmed her toenails, which had overgrown a bit from disuse.

So I stuck it out with George. I had no idea then and have no clear idea now whatever caused her mysterious lameness, and often I lamented that she might never get better. I can only guess it was either an odd injury, maybe to her back or pelvis, or vitamin deficiency. She has the same diet as the others, so perhaps she is just congenitally prone to require more of certain things. I have read that little chicks can suffer rickets, but never have found anything concerning older pullets or grown hens. I really don't know what happened.

Nevertheless, after two and a half months of care, she walks almost normally, maintains her balance without falling on her face, flaps her way up onto a hay bale and somehow makes it down again (I have yet to see that part). She has a dust bath, stretches without falling, shakes her feathers out, and just a couple days ago I saw her trying to scratch in the dirt on the floor of their coop. She couldn't do ANY of this up to about ten days ago. The past few days she seems to be recovering increasingly rapidly. Chickens are mysterious.

This was kinda long-winded, but I want to be detailed since I don't know how available I will be to respond to any comments or questions, as I am not the type to keep up with social media very well. But I will try to remember to check now and then. So please do ask questions or leave comments, and I hope that others who have had a hen recover from the mysteries of sudden lameness that seem a surprisingly common concern will also write about their little friend's recovery. I wish I'd had something like this to read two months ago.

The best outcome (apart from the fact that she is about 80% back to normal) is that I really got to know these creatures, and develop very individual relationships with them. I try to speak and understand their language, and I feel loved by them, and I don't believe as some people do that it's only because I provide food. I feel as though we know each other, and for me an interspecies bond is one of the great achievements a person can hope for in this life.
Hi. I love that you were able to help your girl. I know this is an older post, but hopefully you will check and see my post. I have a girl that over a period of three days started with losing her balance for guest to her current condition… she cannot walk at all. I know it’s not Merck‘s and I know she did not have an injury so I have been treating her for the past three or four days for a vitamin deficiency using, vitamin B complex tablet daily… Doing leg rubs, some physical therapy, keeping her cleaned up, and in the roost with her other five friends, all girls, as often as possible. I’ve been feeding her every 2 to 3 hours, and she has a hearty appetite. The problem I have is having the time to feed her that often for three months. I love her and want to give her the best chance possible but have yet to see any improvement. I am hoping you can offer some hope…that she can still become well. She is a barred rock mix hen barely 5 months old and hasn’t even layed her first egg. I hope you see this and can offer some advice. I am unsure of what to do next for her and am trying to remain positive about healing. Appreciate your time.
 
I would love to hear more about your defender of bullying tips. :)

I really enjoyed reading this. I have a chicken in the house and need to reintergrate her back to the flock. She has been out the flock probably around 2.5 months age to current and the flock is now around 5 months old. Everytime I have tried she gets bullied. I usually take her away at this point. Might not be the best option. :(
I have a small mobile coop that really doesn't give way for alot of modifications. They are in an electric fence section of free range all day long with no real hiding or get away options (to do list) but it all needs to be easily mobile as I move my chickens around the yard every couple weeks or month.
I let my girl out at points throughout the day and she has the rest of the yard and she can easily interact with the flock behind the electric fence.

I want for her to be back in the flock I know it's the best place for her but man she is a hoot in the house. I've learned alot about her and her behavior. 🥰
Hi ,similar situation in uk.spent weeks looking up and reading threads to help.had 3 hand and a rooster, he had to be separated form the free orange as after lock down 2 males decided they now want to kill each other.long story but had temporary smaller pen where housed my disabled rooster who lived long but no longer with us.anyway....placed older softy in smaller oen got him 3 girls.after 3 yr happy disabled and health got really bad I fell.knackered ligament in thumb and hurt my back.friend looked after them for a week next thing I know pen flooded with mud.i feel so so bad as i rescue but 3 hens had massive concrete mud balls.took forever to remove at home but one hen we thought severed toe limped yet after a week at home in my bath recovered fine.one least trouble did last 💔 ended up week st gome she still limping.she is much better tho.yet tried return her same as other and one used to likp now fine tired to kill her then others joined in.retunred to my downstairs bathroom and pet carrier at night spare room to avoid heating as that's where my 2 rabbits are.typically she is the loving one renamed cuddles as this is what she does and am lost as solution hence the long reply on your post.not long term option as have 2 rescue dogs who arent bird friendly and culling def not xx
 

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